I love my $#%@% freedom of speech

There is much dispute over whether or not curse words should be allowed and aired on all the various medias in society, including: TV, radio, print, etc. But who decides which words are offensive and which can be spoken of in daily conversation. In “Offensive Language in Prime Time Television” by Barbara Kay, 2001, their research is based on television shows and its language from only a decade or two ago. However, in just a few short decades society has vastly changed. We have gone from a time where a newscaster such as, Arthur Godfrey, took heavy criticism because he said the word “damn.” Today, “damn” is a common response for feelings of frustration or anger, but despite this, damn is not considered an offensive word anymore.[1] So who is to say that in ten years, the curse word “fuck” won’t be one used in normal conversation. The funny thing is that most of these common curse words don’t have a dictionary definition that matches those that society puts on them. A look at the definition of bitch will reveal that the true meaning of the word is just a female dog. (dictionary.com) So is it right if I get suspended from school for calling a teacher a bitch? She is clearly not a female dog, but society puts a different meaning behind them. What would happen if a young, naïve foreigner were to mistake an offensive word for a normal adjective. We are more tolerant, as the article points out, of foul language than fifty years ago.(Kaye, 1)  But as the “Freedom’s Curse” article states, the federal government and its organizational limbs, such as the FCC have become increasingly strict with their control of indecent language. In response to an argument similar to mine, the FCC claimed that, “even when speaker does not mean a sexual meaning [or an offensive one], a substantial part of the community…will understand the word as frightened with a sexual connotation. “ But I still disagree, because this directly violates our right as Americans to the freedom of speech.  People in America love debating over controversy, but I feel that Americans should be able to say anything they want as long as the actual definition of the word is a direct attack at a race, gender or group of people. Eventually, new curses will be made and old ones will be forgotten and this argument over which ones I can and can’t say on the television will have to be made again.

 

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[1] http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=info:wR1D7BLnhV8J:scholar.google.com/&output=viewport&pg=1