Thread by @monaeltahawy

My essay on the importance of profanity is out! (Read the editors note and know that I spell f**k without **) nbcnews.com/think/opinion/… #WhyISayFuck

Isn’t interesting that in response to my essay on the importance of profanity for women, the dogs of patriarchy bark extra loudly

It is instructive that in the era of Trump — a man who has torpedoed the notion of civility — women are still expected to be polite and demure. “She did not cater to the room” was an actual criticism of Michelle Wolf’s performance at #WHCD

That is the power of profanity — and why it is important for women to not shy away from it. Whenever I stand at a podium to give a lecture, I begin with my declaration of faith: “Fuck the patriarchy.”

I say fuck to honor the power of “radical rudeness,” as perfected by Ugandan scholar and feminist Stella Nyanzi.

“What other avenues do we have left to us?" Stella Nyanzi. “We don't have guns or money. But I can still write and think and insult and abuse."

I say fuck to challenge patriarchy’s stranglehold over what is and is not offensive. Remember when a woman lawmaker was banned from addressing her colleagues because she had said “vagina” in a debate over abortion?

What would the world look like if the energy spent policing language, especially female language, was invested instead into policing the very real harm of patriarchal violence? #WhyISayFuck

Let’s teach all our girls to say “fuck,” loudly, proudly, unfiltered and uncensored. #WhyISayFuck