Thread by @monaeltahawy

I love that the NYT is covering the sweary cheerleader victory because when I was still a contributing opinion writer for the NYT, James Bennet, the editor of the opinion pages, insisted that I stop saying “fuck" on Twitter. So I launched #WhyISayFuck feministgiant.com/p/essay-why-i-…

He insisted I especially stop saying “flying fuck,” as in “I don’t give a flying fuck” on social media. Not in the columns that I wrote for the paper, but on Twitter. I was never an employee of the Times. He said the word “fuck” wasn’t conducive to conversation.

The next day, I launched #WhyISayFuck on Twitter, published an essay--in another publication--about why I say “fuck,” and wrote a proposal for a book that called on women to practise 7 “sins” I believe are necessary to destroy the patriarchy. #WhyISayFuck penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609114/t…

And you’d better fucking believe that Profanity was one of those sins.

feministgiant.com/p/essay-why-i-… #WhyISayFuck

And it is why launched FEMINIST GIANT - to write as I speak, fuck's and all.

And to make my work available to all, no paywall or ads. If you can pay, it helps keep it free. feministgiant.com #WhyISayFuck

Bennet’s pearl clutching was particularly laughable considering the opinion pieces his page published. You will remember that he exited the NYT after the Tim Cotton, Erik Prince, etc fascist fuckery.

What is really more offensive: my saying “I don’t give a flying fuck” on Twitter or opinion pieces calling for fascist violence that Bennet approved?

In the pages of NYT in 2017, war criminal Erik Prince advocated the use of “contractors” aka mercenaries in Afghanistan; and in 2020, Senator Tom Cotton called for the military to invade American streets and crush the Black Lives Matter uprising. Bennet was pushed out soon after.

My run in w/Bennet was just one example of the ways white men in power use civility to comfort the powerful & censor the rest of us. At this most uncivil of times, giving Prince & Cotton a platform is dangerous, but to Bennet et al, it was simply a visit to “marketplace of ideas”

And we--whose lives are directly threatened by the fuckery of Erik Prince’s promotion of mercenaries and Tom Cotton’s promotion of effective martial law --are expected to behave, as if saying “flying fuck” is much more offensive than war crimes or that martial law.

Fuck that.

Profanity is political. We are not obligated to show respect to those in power. I refuse to allow those who don't recognize my full humanity to expect politeness of me.

I wrote this about Polish feminists who protested in 2020 saying “Fuck” loudly feministgiant.com/p/fuck-is-a-fe…

And a large part of the chapter on Profanity in The Seven Necessary Sins For Women and Girls is about @drstellanyanzi, the Ugandan feminist scholar who has perfected the art of profanity as a political tool. She’s been imprisoned for it. lithub.com/mona-eltahawy-…

"If decent language has not been used to effect change…of what use is it? I would rather insult and change things, revise the balance of power, than keep quiet or be polite in ways that do not change anything," @drstellanyanzi #WhyISayFuck

Bonus videos:

Fuck civility in 2 mins

From an Australian TV show in 2019. This episode has now been banned because (white) Australians (not known for their politeness) complained because I said “fuck” 10 times #WhyISayFuck

Fuck civility in front of the White House in January 2020 🎥 @rerutled #WhyISayFuck

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