WHAT did you say???

I've talked about profanity before, but only as pertains to the language I use in my blog. But I think this is an interesting subject that many readers have issues with.

How do you feel about certain language used in books, in particular, coarse language and cursing? Erotic romance certainly demands blunt language. Male and female genitalia are called what the are, and purple prose is NOT welcome. No man root or woman's flower, but c**k and p***y and words of the like.

What fascinates me more than the language that's used is who's using that language. I think it's interesting that in this day and age, with the many sexual freedoms women seem to share, that I'm bothered by a woman referring to her private parts as "p***y or c**t." I mean, I'm certainly no prude. I write erotic romance, for heaven's sake. But I have a hard time having my heroines refer to their parts as the p-word and the c-word. Frankly, I've only ever heard the c-word used in a negative context toward women. But I've read it in a lot of books. Granted, I'm married and no longer in my twenties, so Sex and The City I'm not, but even when I was swinging single and on the dating scene, my language was a lot more tame than what I read.

If a woman is talking dirty in a sexy scene, I can deal with it. And I've spent the majority of my adult life around men, particularly Marines, so I totally get how guys talk. And yes, they use the p-word quite frequently. The c-word (c**t) less, unless they're cursing someone out.

And that brings me to another point. How do you feel with the heroine who's a potty-mouth? That turns me off to a book, when the heroine keeps telling the hero to f-off, or sh*tdam*f**k-- run-on cursing. It's just laughable, to me. Because how many of us really talk like that?

And most people that use excessive profanity in their everyday lives are ignorant, likely unable to think of intelligent descriptives. (So again, more power to the versatile word f**k. A verb, a noun, an adjective..hahaha) I find profane characters boring. Yet, a male detective or SEAL who runs around chasing bad guys who can't say more than, "Darn it, I missed him again," does not ring true. Nor is the alpha hero who refers to his penis as "my one eyed dream chaser." Ack.

If characters speak they way they're actually portrayed, it all works out. No potty-mouthed heroines or mealy-mouthed heroes for me. And please, let's save the c-word (not c*ck but c**t) for those villains or prostitutes being paid to say it.

My humble opinion. :)