Something We Could All Learn From Our Daughters.
- Feb 4
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 8
Warning: Explicit language ahead!
When my 24 year old daughter told me, "You know I'm not a feminist, don't you." I panicked for a second wondering what had happened to the girl who joined me on women's marches and forced her school to change their uniform code.
"I'm a misandrist!"
(This may be a word you are unfamiliar with but we all know its antonym — misogynist!)
"I don't hate men, I just believe they're inferior and they should just get out of the way and let us run the world."
And I thought I was a radical feminist! She's something else entirely. She's cunty. And it's actually a very, very good thing for modern women and something the matriarchy needs to be in on as we deal with a patriarchal mess on almost every front.
Cunt is one of the oldest words in the English language originally it simply meant vulva. In medieval England it appeared in street names like Gropecunt Lane which described the trade offered there. Doctors used it. People said it out loud. It named a body part. Nothing more.
Then along came the church. Words associated with our sexual autonomy were pushed out of polite speech. By the 17th century, cunt had begun its slide from neutral descriptor to taboo. By the Victorian era it had become unspeakable.
In the 21st century the word has taken on a whole new meaning. Cunt is no longer just a noun, it's a whole new adjective with a fierce attitude. 'Cunty' emerged in the drag and queer scene and spread like wildfire with the Gen X feminists on TikTok.
It reclaims the word not in its original form but as command. Precision. Nerve. The feeling that someone knows exactly what they’re doing and is enjoying the audacity of it.
Sounds just like us matriarchs with zero fucks left to give.
A cunty look is immaculate, intentional, slightly dangerous. A cunty walk has attitude without apology. A cunty moment lands because it is sharp, controlled and self-possessed. There's humour in it, but never self-deprecating.
The matriarchs have mastered the look (usually a withering stare), we've walked the walk and when we talk the talk, it lands. Hard. This is definitely a descriptor for us.
Especially since cunty is not about pleasing anyone. It's femininity with teeth.
We could all do with a lot more of that. Doing unpaid emotional labour in the office/home/community? Be cunty. Say no. Own it. Celebrate it. It's cool.
The reason it works so well is because it signals in-group knowledge. To call something cunty positively is to show you understand the code. Outsiders often misread it as misogyny or shock language because they hear the root word but miss the cultural context. Inside the culture, it reads as admiration.
What cunty really names is female-coded power that is visible and uncontained. Which can be really tough for those of us who were taught to be nice girls, good wives and helpful employees. But at a time when we see the President of the United States telling one of the country's most successful female reporters to "smile more" and Andrew Tate laments the dopamine fix he got from trafficking, there can be no doubt there is a war on women. We all need to be a bit more cunty!
And we need to get together and get strong, because if we all act in unison with the same message and actions we can take down the global cabal of pedophiles and misogynists. We can support the women on the front lines in Minnesota and guard the rest of the world from this early foray into fascism. But most importantly, we can protect everyone's children from the patriarchy's bombs, surveillance and predators.
Been There? Done That? Get The T Shirt.
The matriarchs are in the perfect position to lead this charge because we've seen everything happening in the world — just not everything everywhere all at once! Now we have the coded T Shirt! Those who are in on the trend will see a woman who says: "I see the rules, and I am not playing by them."
And if anyone asks what it means just say "Can Not Tell You!"
Join the Beautiful Rebellion
If you believe the matriarchs can really be the force to bring about a fairer world, please join us for our Beautiful Rebellion series of 7 weekly workshops which begin on the 25th Feb. The first session is about withdrawal of free labour, we give you practical ways to explore how much you do for free, how to say no and how to be cunty without being seen as a bitch!
You can buy individual sessions or buy the whole package for the price of 5.
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