It’s Thursday again, and time for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. The prompt I chose today is, quite possibly, a controversial one:
3.) Opinion post: Write about how you feel about cussing in blog land? Acceptable? Unacceptable? Do you keep reading?
To understand my feelings on this subject, you’ll probably need a little background.
My sisters were teenagers when I was born. Therefore, I became an aunt at 2 1/2 when my first nephew was born. Another nephew came along when I was 3 1/2, a niece when I was 5, another nephew when I was 7, a niece when I was 9, and my youngest niece was born when I was 12.
Since they all lived nearby, they visited often, and were just about the equivalent of my siblings. My mom and their moms agreed on many of the rules in our upbringing. One of those rules involved what words we were and weren’t allowed to say.
Here are the forbidden words and their acceptable alternatives:
Not Allowed Allowed
You lied You told a story
You cheated You’re not playing fair
You’re stupid You’re being silly
You’re crazy You’re being silly
I hate….. I don’t like….
(*and one more that my sister reminded me of after posting this: we were never allowed to say “shut up”. Instead, it was “be quiet” or “hush”. And, to set the example, we were never told by our parents to shut up.)
Admittedly, since I’ve been an adult, those words aren’t off limits. But having had it instilled in me from an early age that certain words are better left unspoken has had a lifetime effect on the language I use.
Now, for how that applies to MY blog world. You won’t ever find a swear word or profanity on my blog. And if I catch it in time, you won’t find one in the comments that are left here. Thankfully, that hasn’t been a problem so far.
When I read a blog with a “bad” word, here’s how I deal with it. If it’s one of the blogs I visit on a regular basis, and the use of words like that is a rarity, it won’t stop me from reading that post or continuing to follow that blog. (Although I will probably cringe a little.)
If I happen to visit a blog with profanity, I stop reading it. Period. I don’t save that site to favorites, I don’t become a follower, and I don’t subscribe.
As for Facebook, if you’re one of my “friends”, and most everything you post is laden with profanity – poof! You’re hidden.
Not that I’m a good two-shoes (far from it), but there’s no place in my life for profanity. I believe that saying (and writing) those type words shows a lack of self-respect and respect for others. One of my friends once said to an acquaintance: “You’re too beautiful a woman to have a potty-mouth”. That sums it up for me.
It’s my computer screen, and I have the ability and right to choose what I read and what I don’t. Just like blog authors (and folks with Facebook pages) have the right to use whatever language they choose.
That doesn’t mean I have to read it.
And that, folks, is just my humble opinion.
these days of mine 