Filed under: book reviews, nonfiction | Tags: cunt, feminism, inga muscio, memoir, nonfiction, quotes
“‘Cunt’ is very arguably the most powerful negative word in the American English language. ‘Cunt’ is the ultimate one-syllable covert verbal weapon any streetwise six-year-old or passing motorist can use against a woman. ‘Cunt’ refers almost exclusively to women, and expresses the utmost rancor. There’s a general feeling of accord on this.”
Cunt by Inga Muscio is “a declaration of independence” for women. It’s a pro-cunt, pro-sex, pro-woman, and pro-education book that traverses the linguistics, hidden meanings, violence, and reclamation of “cunt.” Written as an informative and persuasive piece, Muscio’s book also is part memoir that concludes with a handy list of references of women-focused news sources and products.
A great book for progressive minded people that crosses the boundary from theory into practice. I keep thinking this would have been a great book to read as a teenager, not that I didn’t enjoy reading it now, and Muscio even goes into the “what ifs” of someone explaining the spectrum of the cunt to a young person. Whether or not you agree with all of Muscio’s arguments, Cunt is an informative and thought-provoking book.
Conclusion: Bookmooching (comment with your Bookmooch name to reserve this book).
4 Comments
Adventures in Reading 
oh, this looks interesting! I wrote a paper in grad school about the use of “queynte” in the Canterbury Tales, and learned ever so much about the “c word.”
Comment by Jena September 25, 2008 @ 12:44 pmooh I’ll mooch it from you! my bookmooch name is Heatherlee.
Comment by Heather September 26, 2008 @ 10:24 amthanks :)
Jena: It’s a very interesting book if only because it deals with the subject in such a straightforward manner.
Heather: It is all yours Heather!
Comment by bookchronicle September 28, 2008 @ 4:55 pmI had this book on my wishlist for a very long time, but it sort of fell by the wayside along the way. Thank you for the reminder!
Comment by Andi September 28, 2008 @ 5:35 pm