Sweary law
As I've previously made clear, I dig the sweary. And god knows a little legal analysis is just the extra spice needed to get a really good swear on. This is the abstract to a law paper titled 'Fuck' (via always fucking good boingboing).
This Article is as simple and provocative as its title suggests: it explores the legal implications of the word fuck. The intersection of the word fuck and the law is examined in four major areas: First Amendment, broadcast regulation, sexual harassment, and education. The legal implications from the use of fuck vary greatly with the context. To fully understand the legal power of fuck, the nonlegal sources of its power are tapped. Drawing upon the research of etymologists, linguists, lexicographers, psychoanalysts, and other social scientists, the visceral reaction to fuck can be explained by cultural taboo. Fuck is a taboo word. The taboo is so strong that it compels many to engage in self-censorship. This process of silence then enables small segments of the population to manipulate our rights under the guise of reflecting a greater community. Taboo is then institutionalized through law, yet at the same time is in tension with other identifiable legal rights. Understanding this relationship between law and taboo ultimately yields fuck jurisprudence.
I suspect the last person to use the words 'fuck' and 'jurisprudence' in that order was probably this chap.
The backstory: Supreme Court Justice and all-out conservative nutter Antonin Scalia was recently pictured giving the 'vaffanculo' gesture - right after a special mass for lawyers and politicians in a church, no less - to a Boston Herald reporter who "asked the 70-year-old conservative Roman Catholic if he faces much questioning over impartiality when it comes to issues separating church and state. 'You know what I say to those people?' Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining 'That's Sicilian'." Scalia later wrote in a letter to the Herald's editor that the gesture was not obscene, and quoted from the Luigi Barzini book, The Italians: "The extended fingers of one hand moving slowly back and forth under the raised chin means 'I couldn't care less. It's no business of mine. Count me out'." However, the freelance photographer that got the pic said Scalia had also uttered "vaffanculo" and then added "Don't publish that". Good summary at wikipedia.
I know at least one or two Italians might read this. Any input?
This Article is as simple and provocative as its title suggests: it explores the legal implications of the word fuck. The intersection of the word fuck and the law is examined in four major areas: First Amendment, broadcast regulation, sexual harassment, and education. The legal implications from the use of fuck vary greatly with the context. To fully understand the legal power of fuck, the nonlegal sources of its power are tapped. Drawing upon the research of etymologists, linguists, lexicographers, psychoanalysts, and other social scientists, the visceral reaction to fuck can be explained by cultural taboo. Fuck is a taboo word. The taboo is so strong that it compels many to engage in self-censorship. This process of silence then enables small segments of the population to manipulate our rights under the guise of reflecting a greater community. Taboo is then institutionalized through law, yet at the same time is in tension with other identifiable legal rights. Understanding this relationship between law and taboo ultimately yields fuck jurisprudence.
I suspect the last person to use the words 'fuck' and 'jurisprudence' in that order was probably this chap.The backstory: Supreme Court Justice and all-out conservative nutter Antonin Scalia was recently pictured giving the 'vaffanculo' gesture - right after a special mass for lawyers and politicians in a church, no less - to a Boston Herald reporter who "asked the 70-year-old conservative Roman Catholic if he faces much questioning over impartiality when it comes to issues separating church and state. 'You know what I say to those people?' Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining 'That's Sicilian'." Scalia later wrote in a letter to the Herald's editor that the gesture was not obscene, and quoted from the Luigi Barzini book, The Italians: "The extended fingers of one hand moving slowly back and forth under the raised chin means 'I couldn't care less. It's no business of mine. Count me out'." However, the freelance photographer that got the pic said Scalia had also uttered "vaffanculo" and then added "Don't publish that". Good summary at wikipedia.
I know at least one or two Italians might read this. Any input?
posted by James B. Martini | 10:22 PM
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