Editing Cunt (section)

===Feminist perspectives===
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Some American [[Second-wave feminism|feminists of the 1970s]] sought to eliminate disparaging terms for women, including "[[Bitch (insult)|bitch]]" and "cunt".<ref>{{cite book | last = Johnston| first = Hank|author2=Bert Klandermans|title = Social Movements and Culture | publisher = Routledge| year = 1995| page = 174 | isbn = 978-1-85728-500-0}}</ref> In the [[feminist views on pornography|context of pornography]], [[Catharine MacKinnon]] argued that use of the word acts to reinforce a [[dehumanisation]] of women by reducing them to mere body parts;<ref name="Lacombe">{{cite book | last = Lacombe | first = Dany | title = Blue Politics: Pornography and the Law in the Age of Feminism | url = https://archive.org/details/bluepoliticsporn0000laco | url-access = registration | year = 1994| publisher = University of Toronto Press| page = [https://archive.org/details/bluepoliticsporn0000laco/page/27 27] | location = Toronto| isbn = 978-0-8020-7352-5}}</ref> and in 1979 [[Andrea Dworkin]] described the word as reducing women to "the one essential – 'cunt: our essence ... our offence'".<ref name="Lacombe" />

Despite criticisms, there is a movement among feminists that seeks to [[reclaimed word|reclaim]] ''cunt'' not only as acceptable, but as an [[honorific]], in much the same way that ''[[queer]]'' has been [[reappropriated]] by [[LGBT]] people and ''[[nigger]]'' has been by some [[African-Americans]].<ref>
{{cite web |url= http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2000/december_2000_1.html|title= Penn State Feminists Stage X-Rated Event on Students' Dime |access-date=6 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928085802/http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2000/december_2000_1.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 28 September 2007}}</ref> Proponents include artist [[Tee Corinne]] in ''The Cunt Coloring Book'' (1975); [[Eve Ensler]] in "Reclaiming Cunt" from ''[[The Vagina Monologues]]'' (1996); and [[Inga Muscio]] in her book, ''[[Cunt: A Declaration of Independence]]'' (1998).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ingalagringa.com/cunt/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051001061744/http://www.ingalagringa.com/cunt/|url-status= dead|archive-date= 1 October 2005|title= Cunt: A Declaration of Independence|access-date= 6 March 2008}}</ref>

[[Germaine Greer]], the feminist writer and professor of English who once published a magazine article entitled "Lady, Love Your Cunt" (anthologised in 1986),<ref>anthologized in Germaine Greer, ''The Madwoman's Underclothes: Essays and Occasional Writings'', (1986)</ref> discussed the origins, usage and power of the word in the BBC series ''[[Balderdash and Piffle]]'', explaining how her views had developed over time. In the 1970s she had "championed" the use of the word for the female genitalia, thinking it "shouldn't be abusive"; she rejected the "proper" word [[vagina]], a Latin name meaning "sword-sheath" originally applied by male anatomists to all muscle coverings (see [[synovial sheath]]) – not just because it refers only to the internal canal but also because of the implication that the female body is "simply a receptacle for a weapon".<ref name="Balderdash & Piffle vagina">{{cite episode |title= The C Words |series= Balderdash and Piffle |series-link= Balderdash and Piffle | network= [[BBC Two]] |airdate= 30 January 2006 |series-no=1 |minutes=26 |quote = ... in the 1970s I thought this word for the female genitalia shouldn't be abusive. I believed it should be an ordinary, everyday word ... it refers to the internal canal only; all the bits that make it fun are left out. ... I refuse to think of my sex as simply a receptacle for a weapon. |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMckJrxxY6I}}</ref> But in 2006, referring to its use as a term of abuse, she said that, though used in some quarters as a term of affection, it had become "the most offensive insult one man could throw at another"<ref name="Balderdash & Piffle offensive">{{cite episode |title= The C Words |series= Balderdash and Piffle |series-link= Balderdash and Piffle | network= [[BBC Two]] |airdate= 30 January 2006 |series-no =1 |minutes=31 |quote= ... unlike other words for women's genitals, this one sounds powerful – it demands to be taken seriously. In the twentieth century, its strength didn't diminish. ... it became the most offensive insult one man could throw at another. In 1987, at a test [cricket] match in Pakistan, the umpire [[Shakoor Rana]] accused English captain [[Mike Gatting]] of unfair play. When Gatting denied it, Rana called him 'a fucking cheating cunt'. The fracas caused uproar. Yet only one newspaper, ''The Independent'', dared print the expletive-laden exchange in full. Nearly twenty years later, in some quarters, it is used as a term of affection. Yet for most people the C-word is still a very offensive term&nbsp;...". |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMckJrxxY6I}}</ref> and suggested that the word was "sacred", and "a word of immense power, to be used sparingly".<ref name="Balderdash & Piffle sacred">{{cite episode |title= The C Words |series= Balderdash and Piffle |series-link= Balderdash and Piffle | network= [[BBC Two]] |airdate= 30 January 2006 |series-no=1 |minutes=31 |quote= I love the idea that this word is still so sacred that you can use it like a torpedo: you can hole people below the waterline; you can make strong men go pale. ... It is a word of immense power, to be used sparingly.|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMckJrxxY6I}}</ref> Greer said in 2006 that {{"'}}cunt' is one of the few remaining words in the English language with a genuine power to shock."<ref name="Balderdash & Piffle sacred" />