KK Shailaja: ‘COVID became a litmus test for governance worldwide… Wherever there was a strong public health system, we could fight the virus, reduce mortality rate’.Soldier killed in Rajouri cremated with military honours in Kangra.Leave for office early as traffic diversions on the cards due to Rajnath’s visit today.Army to conduct major exercise in western Punjab.Less possibility of rain in state till May 10: Met.Requested Canadian authorities for lookout notice for accused: Cops.Manipur burning due to BJP’s politics of hatred: Rahul hits out, questions PM ‘silence’ on graft.‘Arrest WFI chief by May 21, give justice to our daughters’: Farmers issue ultimatum to Centre.Chorus at Jantar Mantar site: ‘Fight is for safety of country’s daughters’.Tillu murder fallout: 7 Tamil Nadu cops posted at Tihar sent back to state.ED excise policy case: Delhi court grants bail to two accused.BJP says misrepresentation as CM calls liquor case ‘bogus’ after court order.If she swears in front of other women, it could either be accepted or she could be dismissed, based on the kind of social conditioning those women have experienced. In a male-dominated setting, a woman who swears is likely to bond well with the boys. Studies have shown us that women don’t swear less than men, but the consequences are very different. When it comes to swearing, there’s a double standard when it comes to men and women. It shouldn’t be about censorship, because that erases history and the stories of people who were oppressed. Whenever anybody starts pleading for a single discourse, it comes from a position of immense privilege. There’s a difference between speech that’s designed to intimidate and marginalise people, and swearing. It polarised readers, academics and historians.

In 2011, a new edition of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn was published without the n-word, which appears 200 times in the original text. But it’s sort of taboo now, especially in the generation of women who are about 10-15 years younger than me. For example, the c-word was used by both men and women when I was growing up. It differs from generation to generation, though.

Later, as I grew up, I also discovered that some words were gendered. But I realised that some words were more powerful than others, that you couldn’t say them without consequences. Your book begins with the memory of you being smacked for calling your younger brother a ‘twat’ - you’d thought it was a funny way of saying ‘twit’.

Swearing Is Good for You by Emma Byrne