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Cursing, Sexual Harassment, Profanity, Obscenity and Epithet in Dallas Buyers Club Movie

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Cursing, Sexual Harassment, Profanity, Obscenity and Epithet in Dallas Buyers Club Movie JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature) Vol. 5 No. 1, 2020 ISSN (print): 2502-7816; ISSN (online): 2503-524X Available online at https://ejournal.unib.ac.id/index.php/joall/index doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.33369/joall.v5i1.8920 CURSING, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, PROFANITY, OBSCENITY AND EPITHET IN DALLAS BUYERS CLUB MOVIE Imelda Woa Wene1; Ouda Teda Ena2 Sanata Dharma University1,2 Corresponding email: [email protected] Abstract Taboo words are words that are strictly prohibited to be used due to the fact that they may cause misunderstanding or conflict and are not appropriate. Therefore, it is important to understand taboo words in order to avoid using inappropriate words.This studyexamines the use of taboo words by the characters in Dallas Buyers Club movie. It focuses on the types of taboo words and reasons that influence the characters to use taboo words in the movie. This study used content analysis method as the research method. The sources of data were the movie and its transcription. The researchers obtained the data from the characters‘ utterances. This study finds there are five types of taboo words, namely cursing, profanity, obscenity, epithet and sexual harassment. Cursing is the most frequently taboo word used by the characters in the movie. The researchers also find that he reasons for using the taboo words are humor, psychological condition, ethnic group identity and social class. Psychological condition is the dominant reason for the characters‘ use of taboo words. The result of this study provides an in-depth understanding of the usage of English taboo words in movies that might influence young English learners. Keywords: Characters, Dallas Buyers Club, Taboo words, Utterances INTRODUCTION Language has dynamic characteristics. It means that it changes over time. In modern era, the norm of using language is changing. The words that are considered as taboos in the old times are now considered to be common words. The use of taboo words nowadays is intense. People from different social status and ages may use taboo words during the conversations. From generation to generation, taboo words are strictly prohibited to be used in society since it may cause misunderstanding or conflict. Radclifee Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol 5(1), 2020 71 Imelda Woa Wene, Ouda Teda Ena and Brown (in Allan & Burridge, 2006) state that taboo words mean simply ‗to forbid‘, ‗forbidden‘, and can be applied to any short of prohibition. Yule(2014) states taboo words are defined as words and phrases that are inappropriate for use in social communities, that is, words that are considered sacred, prohibited, or just inappropriate. Klerk (1992) enriches the definition of taboo words in the following way: ―... tabooed words generally being culture-specific and relating to bodily functions or aspects of a culture that are sacred. Such words are avoided, considered inappropriate, and loaded with affective meaning‖ (p.277). Furthermore, Olsen (2018)accounts taboo words are prohibited or strongly discouraged from using them in connection with social relations. The use of taboo words is subject to sanctions and is limited to institutional and individual levels assuming that some harm will occur if the taboo word is pronounced (Jay, 2009b). Many words and expressions are viewed as ‗taboo‘, such as those used to describe sex, our bodies and their functions, religion matters and those used to insult other people.This is in line with Crystal‘s opinion (in Purba, 1998)that taboo word or linguistic taboo is any words that are generally related to sexual organs, the supernatural, excretion, religion matters, and death, but quite often they extend to other aspects of domestic and social life.Jay (2009)mentions that there are hundreds of taboo words and phrases. Knowing this fact, it is very necessary for language users to know the types of taboo words in order to have a deep understanding before using them in communication. Ningjue (2010)formulates five types of taboo words, namely, cursing, profanity, obscenity, epithets, and sexual harassment. Cursing, according to Jay (1992)in his book Cursing in America: ―The intent of cursing is to invoke harm on another person through the use of certain words or phrases‖ (p.2). Ningjue (2010)supports Jay‘s idea by stating: ―Cursing is throwing negative hurtful damning words at somebody‖. When cursing, both the speaker and the listener understand what is going on. The speaker knows that the taboo words are expressed and the listener knows that the target of the taboo words is himself. Examples of cursing are fuck, damn, eat shit and die, and i hope you break your neck. Profanity is a religious term that usually leads to irrelevant words related to the use of the name of God or Deity and other religious terms. According to Battistella (2005), profanity involves the rough use of what is considered sacred. ―The range of it is wide, from a mild hell or damn to a more emphatic goddamn‖ (Ningjue, 2010, p.6). Moreover, Jay (1992) describes:―An example of profanity would be a word or phrase which seeks not to denigrate God, religion or holly affairs but would be based more on ignorance of or indifference to these matters‖ (p.3). The common profanity 72 Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol 5(1), 2020 Cursing, Sexual Harassment, Profanity, Obscenity and Epithet… expression employing religious terminology are Jesus fucking Christ, hell you, goddamn, and holly shit. Obscenity, according to Battistella (2005), is words and phrases that characterize gender anatomical differences or sexual function and excretion in a crude way. Jay(1992)argues obscene words are considered to be the most offensive and are rarely, if ever, used in public media. Those words are motherfucker, cocksucker, fuck, shit, tits, or cunts. Epithets are harsh words that refer to one's appearance, disabilities, and other characteristics that are considered lacking.‖Epithets are various types of slurs, such as wop, raghead, bitch, or fag. Usually these refer to race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality, but they may also refer to appearance, disabilities, or other characteristics (as for example with the epithets midget, gimp, and retard)‖ (Battistella, 2005, p.72). The use of epithet is usually driven by frustration and anger directed at people and other objects. Jay (2009)also shares the same idea by stating: ―Epithets are offensive emotional outbursts of single words or phrases used to express the speaker‘s frustration, anger, or surprise (Holy shit! Fuckme!)‖ (p.155). Sexual harassment is distinguished verbally and physically. This type of taboo word has a great negative effect on the victim.Jay (2009) explains: ―Verbal sexual harassment amounts to unwanted jokes of a sexual nature; references to a person‘s sexual behavior, body, or clothing; or pervasive offensive sexual comments. The mere utterance of an offensive word does not meet the conditions of sexual harassment, nor is speech that is not severe or pervasive enough to create an objectively hostile or abusive work environment—one that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive‖ (p.82). In addition, Jay (1996a) also states that sexual harassment also relates to references that demean someone based on gender. Examples of sexual harassment arekiss myass, fuck meanda dumb ass woman. These words are inappropriate to use in social interaction. Although taboo words are considered taboo in society, using taboo words is also needed in some contexts. Olsen (2018) argues the use of taboo words, or swearing, can be considered a necessity in language, especially when studying it from a sociolinguistic perspective. This shows that besides having negative sides taboo words also have a positive side. There are many reasons that encourage people to use taboo words, and one of them is to express their feelings. ―People, as a kind of emotional animal have a desire to express their feelings, relieve their negative stress, and establish their identities and status through their speeches‖ (Jay, 1999,p.84). He argues that the use of taboo words can help them achieve this goal effectivelysince language is a tool used by everyone. In this study, the researchers list the reasons for using taboo words. The first reason is humor. Although it is considered taboo and not polite, the jokes about sex are very popular among Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol 5(1), 2020 73 Imelda Woa Wene, Ouda Teda Ena males and females on the internet (Ningjue, 2010). Mentioning something that is usually prohibited can reach a humorous effect. According to Jay (1999) the usage of taboo language could be positive when it occurs in circumstances like joking and sexual enticement. The second reason is psychological condition. Psychological condition is the most influential factor in using taboo words. Jay (1999) in his book Why We Curse: A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech explains: ―The aggressive person learns aggressive curse words and uses them to express his/her aggression towards others; he/she perceives others on the basis how others use aggressive language. The sexually anxious person uses sexual terminology in a manner that exposes his/her underlying anxiety through hesitation, word choice, and avoidance. The sexually anxious person experiences and interprets sexuality of the self and others through a forbidden language of sexuality‖ (p.87). Furthermore, Crystal (in Jay, 1999), asserts that there are many daily examples of taboo words, usually profanities or obscenities, which express emotions such as hatred, antagonism, frustration, and surprise. By stating the statement, the two experts indicated that using taboo language by saying forbidden words, negative emotions such as anger, dissatisfaction, depression, can be very relieved. In this context, we can see that the use of taboo words can be both positive and negative. Next is ethnic group identity.
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