The sound and silence of the 'C' word: why such hatred for women?

'Terry admits that he said the words "f****** black c***" during the Premier League game …

'Cole, 31, who was, he said, just "a car's length away" from Terry when the alleged incident between the two men took place, said he "could make out" Ferdinand saying "Bridgey" and "black" and "c***" in the eight-second episode …

'The prosecutor Duncan Penny replied: "But if he [Terry] had said f****** black c***" [as an insult]?" Cole said: "I don't think racial abuse should be tolerated." …

'Penny said: "Did you not say "And yours, you f****** black c***", as in "I have shagged your missus as well"?'

On that same day, again in the Independent, footballer Ashley Cole's evidence once more had the 'c' word obliterated, apart from its first letter. The practice was followed in The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Telegraph and Evening Standard, as in other print and online media outlets. An exception lay in the reporting of the decision in full, several days later, where 'cunt', along with the other words allegedly used, was spelled out. The Telegraph,Scotsman and Guardian, as with others advising of an 'in full' decision, were constrained not to 'launder' the Chief Magistrate's words.

In trial coverage, at least one CNN story contained the warning: 'Editor's note:This report contains offensive language' yet it, too, declined to record the word in full, whilst reports made apparent, through numerous exchanges, the crucial nature of the word:

'When Cole first had to utter the word c*** he hesitated and instead spelled it out one letter at a time. Riddle instructed him that he should say the word in its entirety. "You don't have to be shy," he said, in an attempt to be reassuring. Smiling, Cole replied, "I'm not shy."'

The lip-readers faced a similar dilemma:

'… then there were also the two lip-reading experts … who were forced to pick their way through the "industrial language" of the two Premier League footballers for the benefit of the court. The first … Susan Whitewood, instinctively said "Excuse me" before she first uttered the phrase "black c****".'

Meanwhile:

'Ferdinand told … Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle that the four-letter abuse … began to fly freely. He said: "He called me, excuse my language, a ****. I called him a **** back and he gave me a gesture as if to say my breath smelled.'

So what is it about 'cunt' that propels it into the ionosphere in the media and now, as it appears, when referred to by the biological term, to be worthy of banning from legislative debate?

On 14 June 2012, Michigan news media reported upon the expulsion, from the Michigan legislature, of Rep. Lisa Brown. Her offence? Using the word vagina.

In a House debate on a Bill seeking to further regulate abortion providers and outlaw all terminations after 20 weeks, Rep. Brown referred to her Jewish faith, saying:

'Wherever there's a question of the life of the mother, or that of the unborn child, Jewish law rules in favour of preserving the life of the mother. The status of the fetus as human life does not equal that of the mother. I have not asked you to adapt and adhere to my religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adapt to yours.'