%*#$@^!

A while back, I saw that one of Margaret Cho's performances would be on Logo, so I tivoed it to watch later. It was the Notorious C.H.O. and I had the pleasure of actually seeing her perform it when I lived in Houston. I sat in front of the woman who was signing for the deaf and hard of hearing, which made the show a hundred times more entertaining. FYI, the sign for "fisting" is making a small hole with the fingers of the left and and plunging the right fist through it with a bit of force. Margaret used the word 'fisting' so often in her show that the woman who was signing began to take artistic license, adding a little shake of the fist after she plunged it through.

I got all ready to enjoy the show through the magic of tivo, until about two minutes into it where she talks about giving blowjobs to rescue workers at ground zero. The wonderful Logo network, which I love three days out of the week and spend the rest of the time vexing, bleeped out the word 'blowjob.' It didn't stop there. Other words that were bleeped (aside from the obvious 'fuck,' 'pussy,' and 'shit') were anus, fisting, and cum. For those of you who have seen the show, you'd know how annoying this would be during Margaret's rant about how she can't "cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum" when her boyfriend fucks her.

I think that it's just wrong that all of those words were bleeped. Bleeping all of the curse words in a Margaret Cho show is like taking all of the almonds and marshmallows out of rocky road ice cream. Without it, it's just not that exciting. It's a fucking GAY network on cable, for crying out loud. It's not like they have a responsibility to protect the fragile minds of children. People who are old enough to know that they're gay aren't going to care if they hear a few curse words every now and then. They're more worried about holding hands with another gay person in public without being pelted with small rocks and various foodstuffs.

I have no problem with the use of profanity. Used correctly, I believe that it can enhance a situation. Shy people NEED to swear when they're really upset or else the world would just continue to ignore them. Naval officers need to swear so that we can use the term "swear like a sailor" without sounding dumb. I need to swear in order to keep up the 'tough gay boy who's had a difficult childhood' facade that I started when I was a wee lad swearing on the playground and to my mother.

Profanity in children is absolutely vital because it marks the turning point in childhood that separates the kids who ride in the back of the school bus with the smokers from the kids who still need an adult to cross the street. Remember the first time you called your mom a bitch? Didn't you just feel so grown up and tough? Nothing would be the same after that!

What I love is that you can see South Park in syndication and hear the word 'pussy,' but you can't hear the word 'fisting' on a cable network. Boo! Maybe in about ten years when America has become completely desensitized, we can finally watch a comedy routine the way it was meant to be seen. Until then, we're at the mercy of the dumbasses in Standards and Practices for all of the networks.