One of the gals I talk to on Twitter posted a note that the term "Word Whore" squicked her out.
This was in the last week, as we've been talking up the Word Whores blog. She tweeted it in general, not a direct challenge to me, but I saw it in the stream and replied to her.
I understood what she meant.
"Whore" is an uncomfortable term. It's right up there with a lot of slang terms for women that are grounded in how women behave sexually. A lady in the drawing room and a whore in the bedroom springs to mind. Of course, that's not the woman's perspective - that's the male view. I explained the Moliere quote, then suggested to this gal that by doing this, we're repossessing the power of the word. We both thought it sounded good.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines Whore as:
- now confined to coarse and abusive speech, exc. in occasional echoes of historical expressions, as the whore of Babylon. I. A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute, harlot. b. More gen.: An unchaste or lewd woman; a fornicatress or adultress; occas. applied opprobriously to a concubine or a kept mistress.
See? It's that whole Madonna complex that gets me. "Oh yeah, she's a prostitute. Or at least she's unchaste, which is the same thing." How women behave sexually has always been a subject of great public interest.
Interestingly, if you look at the root word of whore, it's KA-, which is:*
- to like or desire, whence the Latin cherish, the idiomatic charity (see below), and caress - what we often do to people or animals we like or desire. In Common Germanic, the root > a word = lover ("someone desired"), then adulterer (an illicit lover), whence whore - also illicit, but paid. Sanskrit kamah, love, desire, > the Kamasutra.
I love this bit that the author adds:
- In the Latin Bible, caritas = love: "Though I speak with the tongues of angels and have not charity [love], it is as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." Translated into English, the word gradually took on its present predominant meaning: demonstrating one's supposed love for one's fellows by giving them money.
It always comes back to the money, it seems to me.
Which is really why I'm a Word Whore. Yes, I love writing. If I don't write, I get depressed. I write about sex sometimes, othertimes not. But whatever it is, the writing gives me a thrill. The stories flow through me in a way that's creative, joyful, magical and not entirely from me. Just as the best sex should be.
And, damn straight I want to be paid for it.
I've been a professional writer for many years now. By professional I mean that I get paid for my work. I think it's an important distinction: If you give your work away, you're not a professional. I'm not talking about doctors donating their time in 3rd world countries - that's a different thing. This is about valuing your work. There are times it's right to give it away - out of love, perhaps - but otherwise, this is about earning a living. Even if other people would like it to be free.
So, yes, take a look at what I have to offer. My silky words, my voluptuous paragraphs. I'll give you pleasure, stimulation, the ride of your life. Step into my boudoir and let me carry you into my exotic world.
Just leave the money on the dresser.
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*The Roots of English, Robert Claiborne, 1989.
