FCKH8

If you haven't seen this around, it stands for "FUCK HATE", but it also refers to California's Proposition 8 that sought to ban gay marriage in the Golden State. FCKH8 is campaign and has a website where they're selling shirts and other items in an effort to fund-raise in order to both fund the fight for equal marriage, and also fund youth queer counseling for suicide prevention in light of the recent tragedies among gay youth.

The commercials have received many hits on YouTube, especially for their very blunt message: "Fuck hate". We know that in our society and culture the word "fuck", also known as the "f-bomb", has the connotation of being among the worst or strongest obscenities in the English language. This one word is the reason so many movies are rated "R" in theaters. What's more, to speak honestly, is how this word has various grammatical functions. It can be a verb, an infix, an adjective, a noun, and especially an interjection. Search "fuck" on Wikipedia to learn more about its grammatical functions. I'm serious. It's provided. I checked.

I've received an e-mail in the past that said the word used to be an acronym for "Fornication Under Consent of the King". I don't know how true this is, but it implies that centuries ago, if a couple wanted to engage in sexual relations out of wedlock, they needed royal consent as the king was ordained by God. However, after checking Wikipedia, this etymology has been debunked as an urban legend.

Over the years, it has evolved into an obscenity that many people use in social settings. It's most often used when people express intense over any situation. I'll admit I use it myself, in personal situations, when I'm either proud of something, upset, inconvenienced horribly, and other related situations. It expresses my frustrations well, and as long as I don't use it to offend someone else, I don't see anything wrong with it other than it bothers people who are uncomfortable hearing profanity.

Bbeing an educator, especially in an elementary setting, it bothers me to listen to young children use obscenities. Education has turned me into somewhat of a professional prude (despite how socially liberal I am), and that prude comes out a bit when I watch these FCKH8 commercials. I truly agree with, enjoy (entertainment-wise), and appreciate the messages conveyed, and the way in which they're using the word. But what troubles me a little is seeing that they have featured some very young children using the word in the commercials. I try to calm myself by hoping that these kids' parents gave them permission to use the word for the sake of the message of the campaign.

That being said, the goal of the FCKH8 campaign is to apply the word "fuck" (particularly its meaning) against the word "hate". Those behind the project have a goal to "fuck hate". They're taking one of the strongest, most omnipotent obscenities in our language and using it against a human emotion that has caused so many of the world's problems.  Part of what's in their favor, socially, is that despite how vulgar the word is (it's often censored in modern media), it's been used so much to the point where some social settings are...numb to it. It doesn't necessarily change the extremity of its vulgarity, but the reaction to it may no longer be as strong as it once was.

All this being said, judge for yourself. I love both videos, and the video about the bullies has a drag queen who speaks with a...very intimidating voice. And it cracks me up each time!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=1amIrR-VMAI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjFafCR6FOI&feature=player_profilepage