“After that last comment re the word …cunt…neither he nor we can claim he was just using that word as some insider term of endearment or fierceness…he likes it as the last great truly shocking curse. And it’s a female reference…given what is going on against women and their rights, it is no wonder it is the ultimate insult “…(MSZUE”)
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“I never bought that "fierce" excuse in the first place no matter how some use it. It is a negative and disrespectful word generally directed at women and I'm sure most people, including Adam, know that. Some gay men seem to have a disdain for women and often show it thru mockery and disrespect in the name of fun and being themselves. Maybe some have been mocked for being too effeminate and disrespected so often that they need to treat another class as inferior. Never felt that way about Adam and women love and support him. He is as sexy and handsome as any straight man and more than most. HA. But he hangs out with some immature people and they have absolutely nothing to lose by turning off some fans. As long as they have his attention (and the attention of some of HIS fans) and are in his circle, they are good. But I wish he would influence them to be more mature and thoughtful instead of the other way around. Nothing wrong with acting like an adult when obviously that is what you are” (Lurleene)
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😩👩💻🤷♀️For some reason, I couldn’t get the original posts to copy, so I did the whole “cut and paste” thing because I wanted to have these posts as two that I thought were representative of much of my “inner dialogue”. I think I might have made a couple of posts during the initial discourse about this topic. I also realize it is so late/early for many people, so my comment will have passed by the wayside. Still….
Adam has indeed gone to lengths to explain what “cvnty” means to his community. So I would, instead, point out that he has never, to my knowledge, put “cvnt” directly into a new context, claiming it as a new word expressing a specific attitude for his community. He has used it before. He has told at least one reporter, way before “Afters”, that it was his favorite swear word. In a very recent live, he called a woman a “f#####g c##t” when she asked him about himself and Botox.
I thought it might be enlightening for me to look at how a couple of credible sources define c##t and its connotations. I’m not going to retype what was written, but if anyone wants to take a very few minutes looking at these sources for their take, here they are: (1) Merriam-Webster (2) Cambridge American (3) Dictionary.com —pretty basic, but usually pretty credible, and even Wiki points to it as an insult. One source I consulted said it is akin to using the “N “ word or that it should be. What I find most interesting, though, and I look at it a few times yearly is “Hi Native”, a site where ESL speakers/writers go for advice on certain words, often because they don’t wish to accidentally insult their audience. There are some interesting exchanges about “cvnt”. Several people point out that in America in particular, it is arguably the most offensive term to call a woman / women. Some advisors just resort to, “Just don’t ever use it”, and there were a couple of poor souls who were very concerned that’ their accents might make “can’t “ sound like “cvnt”. There are some scholars (e.g., women’s studies professors, playwrights, etc…) who aren't only pushing back but are also reappropriating “cvnt” so it can be considered as having other kinds of meanings, too.
One of the cornerstones of Adam’s stock in trade is words. He carefully chooses the very best word that he can to express himself as an artist. He knows the power of words. And if you put a word “out there”, you can’t control the manner in which every person will take it or respond to it. For example, my nineteen year old nephew” (it is an understatement to say he has been going through a rebellious, troubled phase for about six years now) came in with the word “f##k” tattooed in big letters on the inside of his lower arm. His moms, my husband and one of his two sisters were all over him about it. In the meantime, my other niece and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie. He came over to us and asked what we thought. K replied that it was predictable. I replied that it was boring. He could tell that we meant it. His demeanor changed, and he quickly made his way back into the room where the angry and upset people were. Obviously, he is young and gets a kick out of shock value.
Well, I guess Adam got shock value from me. Many years in which one of my regularly taught classes was women’s studies still adds a bit of duty and urgency to point out and push back against both institutionalized and non-institutionalized disrespect. But Adam isn’t nineteen, inexperienced in the English language, and he has been dealing with the press since American Idol in a big way. I think that I’m just about ready to treat this “Afters” era like I did M’s tattoo. I don’t adore EDM, so I’ll just wait for “Cabaret” and hold out some hope for a rock album.
