"Sex sells, but does that mean we should sell sex?" - me

What is 'sex' --- exactly? Is it a body function, like spitting or eating? Is it an emotion, like love or abuse? Is it a relationship, like best friends (better and improved, Version 2.0)?

Or, is it all of the above?

The picture I posted yesterday got me to thinking. I mean, its just a hot dog weiner that got overcooked on someone's barbeque, after all. So I started wondering about sex, and humour, and swearing.

I don't understand swearing, profanity and a bad taste in humour, and how to tell one from the other. When I lived in Montreal, and was working with both French and English all day, and had both as friends, I noticed that French people, when they swear big-time, use words that are normally associated with their church or religion, whereas we English blokes use bodily functions mostly. Just the other day, I saw a documentary about a church in Quebec that is posting one of these "swear" words each week and explaining it's connotation within the context of the church, trying to win back the word for god, I suppose, to go along with the word of god.

The irony of the documentary was that, normally, no one would get away with saying these words on tv, and here was a priest no less, doing exactly that. Context. It's like on English tv, it's okay if the word 'fuck' is used in a courtroom case or on the news (and they always tend to show the clips where someone says it), but catch a kid saying it to his friend, and his mouth gets washed out with soap (well, in the old days, it did!). Maybe that's the difference between swearing and a bad taste! (see above!)

Funny how possessive we become of the actual words themselves, as if they are things, instead of what we're really getting at, which is the meaning and context. We even get so sensitized and sensitive (or offended by or attracted to) some words, that we change their spelling and pronunciation, and then agree that we're all just being politically correct, and everyone knows that we really meant what we would have said the first time anyway. Like 'the f-word'. As if there's some reason uck is offensive. Do ducks offend us? Then why does making passionate love to someone? Maybe we should just use another arbitrary word or something, I don't know, something like {looks around workshop for some arbitrary article--- "I spy with my little eye..."} --- 'screw' for instance. Yeah, just substitute any non-offensive, arbitrary word, and everyone will know what you mean anyway.

So why not just say it, get it over with, let others know what you want to say, exactly, and let THEM drop any degree of offense they might suffer? Tabla Rasa.

I mean, c'mon. If you're going to use a word that you know or suspect is going to piss off someone (oops, sorry, I mean 'offend' someone), then your intention is obviously to offend them, or you'd say other words, yes/no?

I think it's not 'offending' that we're talking about, it's the degree of offense. Or the quantity of offense. Wish we could measure that somehow, so I could say "I'm pissed off today", and by doing so, I've said what I wanted to say, and don't have the added burden of worrying that one of you is going to get really pissed that I use the letters (p-i-s-s) to convey mood instead of the letters (u-p-s-e-t) or (a-n-g-r-y). [just a tad of an aside: piss contains 'i', which is the letter standing for 'me', so I'm right wrapped around the emotion when I say it with the letters p,i,s and s. I'm not even part of the emotion when I'm 'upset' or 'angry' (i.e. neither word contains the letter 'i'), so 'i' don't even want to go there. I get really angry and upset when I do, because I can't be a part of them. I can't really be the emotion...and then, having felt it, simply let it go as just a word, and get on with my life! That's an example of applying 'is' to adjust your emotional outlook. It's just a simple 'crutch' to stay grounded when you forget to, that's all.].

Here's why. When I use the words upset and angry, I inevitably end up getting upset and angry, because I've brought those words and all they imply into my conscious mind. I don't like going there, even when I'm pissed off. [compare: "I'm pissed" with "I'm pissed off". Then compare "I'm pissed" with "I'm drunk" and "I'm upset"]. Context.

It's a metaphor, okay?

That's all I'm saying.

What's that got to do with the sex of mice? Marketing, my friend. It's all about marketing.
Sex sells, remember. I got you to read this far didn't I?

We use lab rats and mice to experiment on, before we try things out on humans.

{smile!}



(Note: the picture that a friend sent me was a .gif, so there was a little rocking action, too! Funny! When blogger uploads, it changes it to a .jpg, so you only get the still shot. Bummer!)

PEACE.

P.S. If you've been following along with my 'is' stuff, I'm starting a new, occasional feature today. Whenever you see a link at the bottom of a blog to Thoughtlines, it'll be an interpretative blog relating 'is' to the blog. Obviously, if you're not interested, don't link! It's like putting your own PG rating on yourself.

Posted by Evydense on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 7:50 a.m. | Permalink