A reader writes:
Here's something I've observed about profanity on television: when it's wiped clean from a show, the dialogue feels inauthentic. You're really telling me that in twenty whole seasons of "Law & Order" no person on that show ever got pissed off enough to drop the f-bomb? Scripted cable shows are more honest when it comes to language. And take "Louie." It's a terrific show, not just because it's funny, but because it delivers brutal truths about life. And yes, profanity is part of it. Anyone who doesn't think profanity is mainstream in American life is living in a fucking fantasy land.
Sex was once a network taboo, but I didn't hear anyone complain about that "Good Wife" scene. And aren't half the women on "Desperate Housewives" basically nymphos? Network TV is okay with sex and violence, but those things are more about actions than words. We're more honest about our actions than we are with our words, because no one wants to acknowledge the brutal truths of language.
Another:
Contrary to Alyssa Rosenberg's assertion that "'bitch' has essentially no uses except to degrade people," the term can be also used in the context of just complaining, as in bitching about the weather. When I was in college in the 1960s, our campus held a Bitch-In, which had nothing to do with women. Bitch is the only word that has gone from acceptable in casual conversation to unacceptable within my adult lifetime. Everything else has become MORE accepted.
Another:
While it's true that the uses for the word "fuck" vastly outnumber the uses of the word bitch, to say that it "has essentially no uses except to degrade people" is simply not true. The term "son of a bitch" is not only used to insult a man but also a synonym for phrases like "God damn it". As an avid viewer of South Park, you should be well aware of just how often Cartman uses the term in this manner.
Though his application towards Kyle's mom would surely raise Alyssa's ire. Another reader:
Your post on "fuck" made me think immediately of this classic scene [NSFW] from the first season of The Wire that shows how the word communicates in a surprising variety of ways. The writing is brilliantly simple.
The Dish 