Earlier today I found myself on Blogher reading Little Miss Swears A Lot. HeatherB wrote a great post about swearing in the workplace and the gender gap when it comes to swearing. Apparently studies have shown that people think it’s acceptable for men to swear in the workplace, but for women it’s frowned upon. I’m with HeatherB and think that’s bullshit.

I admit it. I curse. Often. Even in the workplace. I do try to refrain from cursing on conference calls or calling my boss vile names [at least to her face ;)], but it’s not uncommon to hear a few choice words escaping from my lips as I sit in my cube. I share a cube with the girl who has been my best friend since high school. I often go out for drinks with a couple of my other co-workers. We’re friends and I feel comfortable with them. I rely on them to help me wind down when I’m frustrated.

So when I got to the comments on HeatherB’s post I was a little miffed by one of them. Apparently I’m not very intelligent because I sometimes swear. Apparently I need to go back to school and learn a new vocabulary. Seriously? Don’t you think that’s a tad bit judgmental?

I can assure you I am quite intelligent. I graduated from high school with honors after spending several of my younger years in ELP [extended learning program] and completing a few AP [Advanced Placement] classes in the years before graduation. I was accepted to a top ranking business college that has a fairly selective admissions process and where I currently have a pretty impressive GPA; especially for a girl who has a full-time job and five kids. I have a Superior IQ score. And I’m pretty sure my boss would agree that I’m a pretty smart cookie. I’m not trying to brag. I’m just saying you can be both smart and a swear like a sailor.

In fact, I believe there are some occasions where swearing is down right necessary. When I broke my toe it just didn’t feel right to yell out “oh fudge” as I was laying on the floor, curled in the fetal position and crying. “Fuckity fuck fuck fuck” seemed more appropriate. And then a “Who left this damn mop laying here?” was necessary. Maybe if I had a Ph.D. I could have come up with better words to express my intense pain, but in the moment screaming FUCK did the job.

Speaking of Ph.D.s, my professor at school has a Ph.D. and he is not only boring as fuck [oh, there I go again being stupid], but he also spouts out an occasional curse word in class. He has a Ph.D. He must be intelligent. And yet he swears. Hmmm…

But then I guess he’s a man and it’s acceptable for men to curse. They don’t have to be dainty and proper. Fuck.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 11:05 pm and is filed under In my humble opinion. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.