Strong Language Warning
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It has come to my attention that there has been some debate about the word CUNT. Hopefully I can add some clarification. When you see how it was originally used and how it became associated with vulgarity, there isn't a woman in the word who should approve of the fact that it's now seen as one of the most vulgar and insulting words in the English language. The literal definition of CUNT is the vagina, the doorway to life. How can we possibly say it's a bad thing? That's just about the highest level of misogyny a society can achieve. It says a lot about mammalian life in general when most of it comes from CUNTS.
CUNT was in common usage until almost two and a half centuries ago, even by medical professionals, in medical manuals. The word itself was not officially associated with vulgarity until 1785 , when a man called Francis Grose wrote A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
Let's have a closer look at this Francis Grose. He was an English soldier who was injured in the American War Of Independence, and so took an appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales and Commandant of the New South Wales Corps. He physically reached Australia's brand new penal colony in 1792, and went on to be an Australian historical figure. He was a bit lazy and somewhat easy going towards the way the the colony was really run as opposed to what he was officially supposed to be doing. He didn't see the world through the eyes of privilege as much as some senior officers in the military of the day. Yes, he set the importance of his men above that of the non-enlisted, and convicts, but I don't think feudalism was a main motivator for his actions (Of course your opinion will depend on which historical records you choose to research). I think he had a fair amount of larrakinism in him, which would account for his known lackadaisy attitude towards his official orders. He had spent a lot of money before his days in Australia and was only on half-pay, due to his injury, which led to him being in debt to other officers, which then led him to supplement his income by writing a few books. It appears he had a sense of humour, which can be seen in the tongue in cheek writings in his other books on the lesser known vocabulary of the time. And his humour was tainted by the general English misogyny, stemming from ignorance and fear of women's bits, of the 18th century.
Prominent works on the etymology of the word CUNT seem to concur, that he was joking when said a CUNT was "A nasty name for a nasty thing."
But there you have it. That's when it was first officially declared a "vulgar" word, by this guy, as a joke, in an attempt to pay off his debts. Why oh why is everyone taking it so seriously? we, as women, offended by it? I'm not. I am offended by the intent behind the usage of it as a pure insult, but the word itself is just an innocent victim of exploitation and ignorance.
There are two very interesting videos that cover the issue simply and creatively.
The second is from the original Vagina Monologues and the relevant part starts at 2:27 through to 6:32.
Reclaiming Cunt - 2:27 to 6:32