The Vulgar Language of Campaign 08: “Balls” and “Fuck,” Synonyms for Courage and Rape

Just a thought this wintry morning in St. Paul as this intense week winds down. In following the presidential campaign and its aftermath, I’ve been repeatedly offended by a couple of sexist terms used freely throughout the blogosphere on both the left and the right.

Let’s begin with “balls,” as in male testicles. Earlier I linked to a post by Michelle Malkin in which she defended Sarah Palin against the attacks of McCaine aides. Malkin wrote: “Shame on the smearers who don’t have the balls to show their faces.”

Although I appreciate Malkin’s defense of Palin, I object to the increasingly common usage of “balls” as a synonym for bravery or courage. Using a slang reference to testicles strongly implies that courage is primarily a characteristic of males.

I’m reminded of a story I read years ago in MS Magazine. It seems Norman Mailer was heard to remark: “In order to be a good writer you have to have balls.”

A feminist reporter asked, “And in what color of ink do you dip them, Norman?”

“Fuck” is the other ubiquitous crude term that I find offensive. An old English word, referring to sexual intercourse, fuck literally means to take unfair advantage of, i.e., rape.

In an election year when party leaders and the media have clearly demonstrated that sexism is alive and well in America, it’s not surprising that the vulgar language of male superiority and related issues of violence against women continues to dominate the national discourse.

It’s been said before in Campaign 2008, but I’ll say it again: America, we can do better.