Fuck as a Metaphor for

Male Sexual Agression

Pamela Hobbs (2013)
Presented by:
Siti Ayu Bistari (S814265)
Methodology
Based on Aghas Model (2007) of the
social meaning of language which claims
that in human society, certain uses of
language convey specific information
about social roles and relationships.
Taboo Language
Taboo: denotes anything that is
prohibited or forbidden
Taboo language : set of words and
expressions whose use is culturally or
socially proscribed
E.g. for taboo categories in English:
epithets, profanity, vulgarity and obscenity
Often used as cursing or swearing
fuck is the most disreputable of all English
words the colloquial verb and noun,
universally known by speakers of English,
designating the sex act

(Read, 1934, as cited in Hobbs, 2013)
Evidence for the Origin of the
Word Fuck
A verb used literally and figuratively:

He fucked her vs Fuck you

Germanic languages: ficken and vicken
which mean to knock, to strike or to
thrust.
Latin: futuere which means to copulate
with
French : foutre which is considered to be
obscene
First appearance in a poem before 1500:
Non sunt in coeli, quia gwddbou xkuzt pg ifmk

Fuccant wivys of heli
Translated: They are not in heaven, since they
fuck the wives of Ely

Another example of poem by William Dunbar
(1503):
He clappit fast, he kist, he chukkit,
As with the glakkis (foolishness) he wer ourgane
(overcome)-
Yet be his feiris (behaviour) he wald have fuckkit:
Ye brek my hairt, my bony ane (one).
The meaning of the word fuck
1 usu obscene: COPULATE 2 usu vulgar: MESS
3 used with with ~ vt 1 usu obscene: to
engage in coitus with sometimes used
interjectionally with an object (as a personal or
reflexive pronoun) to express anger, contempt,
or disgust 2 usu vulgar : to deal with unfairly or
harshly : CHEAT, SCREW
Merriam Websters New Collegiate Dictionary (11
th
ed.).
Verbs that have common meaning of to
have sexual intercourse with ball, bang,
do it with/to, fuck, have, hump, lay, make
love to, screw and sleep with.

The differences between the verbs are:
Certain verbs require a male subject in active
constructions whilst certain do not
Certain verbs are used metaphorically to
denote someone who has been deceived or
taken advantage of
Mutual vs assaultive
The Meaning of Fuck You
Constructs an image of male-on-male sexual
assault
one of the strongest possible ways of telling
someone that you wish to harm him is to tell him to
assume the female sexual role relative to you
(Baker, 1974)

Metaphorical expression of male sexual
aggression which the speaker is dominant and
the recipient is feminized and degraded
However, today, Fuck you does not refer to
physical sexual attack, instead, the attack takes
the form of words to inflict humiliation and
degradation
The Metaphorical Structure of
fuck
Describe domination : to fuck is to
dominate
is penetration a subcategory of
dominance?

Why it is metaphoric?
There is no actual sex, rather the aspects of
the Roman model of passive sex are being
mapped onto the situations
Attribute
s of
Roman
Model
Being
overpowere
d
Being
violated
Being
humiliated
Being
dehumaniz
ed
Used and
objectified
Being
victimized
Derivative Forms of Fuck
Verbal form
Message of sex, anger and violence
E.g. Dont fuck with me, fuck you, the whole
brake system is all fucked up.
Examples of other derivative forms:
I dont give a fuck, (oh) fuck!, What the fuck?
Expressions of something that is very bad
however
The word fucking can be used in positive
expressions as well
E.g. Thats fucking brilliant, thats fucking
awesome.
Sexual experience may be either
intensely positive (willing participant,
achieving orgasm) or intensely negative
(unwilling or coerced participant, failure to
achieve orgasm), so, when transferred to
other domains, it can refer to something
intensely good or intensely bad.
Taboo, Denotative Meaning and Near
Synonyms
Vulgar (Transitive) Non-Vulgar (Intransitive)
- Vulgar colloquialisms

- e.g. fuck, screw, hump, ball,
dick, bonk, bang, shag,
pork, shtup

- An agent that deliberately
carries out an action.

- Direct object is negatively
affected

- Taboo

- Polite terms for sexual act

- E.g. have sex, make love,
sleep together, go to bed,
have relations, have
intercourse, be intimate,
mate, copulate.

- Sex is a joint activity which
is mutually engaged in by
two equal partners

- Approved for public
discourse

Strongly associated with male speech
community
Use by women is less acceptable
Express a male point of view regardless of
the gender of the speaker.
The Diverging Attitudes about the
use of the Word Fuck
Post-World War II era- sex was seen as
something dirty, unspeakable and
offensive
As time changed and due to feminism,
the attitudes towards both talking about
and engaging in sexual activities relaxed
considerably
Results in the evaluation of the word fuck
as a taboo word to a focus in its
connotative meanings
Users VS Non-users
NON- USERS USERS
- Fuck is vulgar and offensive

- Do not tolerate its use in their
presence

- Do not use it themselves

- Evokes the core sexual
meanings and associated
sexual imagery that motivate
the taboo

- Do not distinguish between
literal and metaphorical usage
- Frequent or casual users of
vulgar language

- Rely on contextual factors to
assign offensive or inoffensive
meaning

- No more evokes images of
sexual intercourse

- Fuck is a dead metaphor

- Distinguish between literal and
figurative uses
Conclusion



Are you going to use this taboo word now?
- THANK YOU -