:Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties

Christopher M. Fairman graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. He taught high-school-level history for nine years before returning to his alma mater, where he ultimately received his Juris Doctor degree. He worked as a clerk on the Texas Court of Appeals for the Third District for Justice J. Woodfin Jones. Subsequently, he was a clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for Judge Fortunato Benavides, and worked for the law firm Weil Gotshal in their office in Dallas.{{cite news|url=http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty/professor/christopher-m-fairman/|access-date=January 30, 2014|year=2014|title=Christopher M. Fairman|work=Professors|publisher=Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318094953/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty/professor/christopher-m-fairman/|archive-date=March 18, 2014}} Fairman became a professor at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law in 2000. He specialized in areas of freedom of speech and word taboo,{{cite news|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman|newspaper=The Washington Post|title= Saying it is hurtful. Banning it is worse. |date=February 14, 2010 |page=B01|via=LexisNexis}} and earned a reputation as an expert on the subject of legal ethics.{{cite news|title=Comments linked to judge's email discussed cases Saffold says she didn't post thoughts about attorneys and trials on website|work=The Plain Dealer|date=March 26, 2010|first=James F. |last=McCarty|location=Cleveland, Ohio|page=A1|via=NewsBank}}{{cite news|title=Cox hires justices' wives for staff|date=November 15, 2005|work=The Detroit News|first= Ronald J. |last=Hansen|page=1B|via=NewsBank}}

Fairman was motivated to conduct research on "fuck" after learning of a Columbus, Ohio, man who was arrested for using the word in an email to a judge in 2004.{{cite news|first=Kitty|last=McConnell|title=Professor takes on word taboo|page=46|work=The Other Paper|date=July 15, 2010}} Fairman delayed writing the article until he received tenure because he was concerned its publication would adversely affect his professional reputation. Nevertheless, his supervisors did not try to convince him to cease research into the topic. Government funding helped finance Fairman's scholarship.

His original 2006 article "Fuck" is an analysis of forbidden speech from linguistic and legal perspectives.{{cite news|title=In scholarly pursuit of the 'Queen Mother of dirty words'|first=Mike|last=Harden|agency=Scripps Howard News Service|date=September 27, 2006|location=Washington, D.C.|via=NewsBank}} It covers use of the word in case studies about sexual harassment and education.{{cite journal|title=Law Review Digest: Universities and Other Institutions of Higher Learning|date=October 2007|volume=36|page=567|journal=Journal of Law & Education|issue=4|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-1370472461/law-review-digests-universities-and-other-institutions|access-date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318142515/http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-1370472461/law-review-digests-universities-and-other-institutions|archive-date=March 18, 2014}} The article is 74 pages long,{{cite news|title=Curses: Treatise on taboo word a tough sell|work=The Columbus Dispatch|date=September 24, 2006|author=The Columbus Dispatch staff|via=NewsBank}} and the word fuck appears over 560 times. According to author Jesse Sheidlower in his book The F-Word, Fairman's work is the first academic article with the title of simply "Fuck".{{cite book|title=The F-Word|first=Jesse|last=Sheidlower|author-link=Jesse Sheidlower|page=xxviii|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-539311-8|title-link=The F-Word (book)}}

File:Christopher Fairman.jpg of the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University (2008)|alt=Man facing front wearing suit and necktie]]

Fairman made his article available as a working paper on the Social Science Research Network website on April 17, 2006.{{cite journal |ssrn=896790 |title=Fuck|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman |journal=Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 59; Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies Working Paper Series No. 39|date=March 2006|doi=10.2139/ssrn.896790 |s2cid=233747571 }} Initially the author unsuccessfully tried to have the article published by providing copies to multiple U.S. law reviews. The Kansas Law Review rejected his article 25 minutes after receipt. It was published by the Cardozo Law Review in 2007.{{cite journal|journal=Cardozo Law Review|title=Fuck|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman|volume=28|issue=4|year=2007|pages=1711–1772|url=http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty/articles/fairman_fuck.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627013645/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty/articles/fairman_fuck.pdf|archive-date=June 27, 2010|access-date=April 2, 2013|oclc=123736997}} The author wrote a follow-up piece in April 2007 titled "Fuck and Law Faculty Rankings".{{cite journal |ssrn=971103 |title=Fuck and Law Faculty Rankings|journal=Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 91|date=April 2007|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman|doi=10.2139/ssrn.971103 }} Fairman died on July 22, 2015.{{cite news|access-date=July 25, 2015|date=July 22, 2015|archive-date=July 23, 2015|url=http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/briefing-room/faculty/college-mourns-loss-of-professor-associate-dean-fairman/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723044323/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/briefing-room/faculty/college-mourns-loss-of-professor-associate-dean-fairman/|title=College Mourns Loss of Professor, Associate Dean Fairman|work=Briefing Room|publisher=The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law}} At the time of his death, Fairman's 2007 Cardozo Law Review article, "Fuck" was still classed with the 20 top downloaded works on the Social Science Research Network.

Fuck cites studies from academics in social science, psychoanalysis, and linguistics. Of the sixteen chapters in the book, eight use the word "fuck" in their titles. He discusses uses of the word from the 15th century onwards. Fairman establishes that most current usages have connotations distinct from its denotation of sexual intercourse,{{cite journal|pages=91–93|journal=Psychology, Public Policy, and Law|title=Do offensive words harm people?|first=Timothy|last=Jay|year=2009|volume=15|issue=2|doi=10.1037/a0015646|citeseerx=10.1.1.523.938}} and asserts that rather than having sexual meaning, the word's use is most commonly associated with power.{{cite journal|first=W. Wat|last=Hopkins|title=When Does F*** Not Mean F***?: FCC v. Fox Television Stations and a Call for Protecting Emotive Speech|date=December 2011|journal=Federal Communications Law Journal|volume=64|issue=1|url=http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol64/iss1/2/|access-date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318143254/http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol64/iss1/2/|archive-date=March 18, 2014}}

Fairman discusses the efforts of conservatives in the United States to censor the word from common parlance in the country and says these acts are opposed to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Fairman warns against a tendency toward self-censorship. He explains that those who choose to silence themselves tacitly encourage a process by which speech is forbidden through the legal process. He argues that this passivity has an impact of increasing the taboo nature of the word.

Fairman writes that legal precedent regarding using the word is unclear because of contradictory court decisions. He presents case studies of these conflicting applications of the law and uses them to analyze public perceptions surrounding freedom of speech. He provides examples of exceptions to the First Amendment, such as speech intended to cause violent acts, and discusses how federal and state governments sanction these exceptions. Fairman draws parallels between the protection of comedians' usage of taboo language and the ability of individuals in society to express ideas freely. He argues that once citizens allow the government to restrict specific words that can be used in speech, this will infringe upon freedom of thought.

Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties was first published in 2009 in paperback by Sphinx Publishing,{{cite book|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman|title=Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties|isbn=978-1-57248-711-6|year=2009|publisher=Sphinx Publishing|oclc=262433445|lccn=2009016762}} and in an electronic format for the Amazon Kindle the same year.{{cite book|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman|title=Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties|isbn=978-1-57248-711-6|year=2009|publisher=Sphinx Publishing }} The Seattle Post-Intelligencer called Fairman's paper compelling and amusing.{{cite news|first=Nick|last=Eaton|title=The F-word: Why can't we just effing say it whenever we effing want?|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=July 29, 2011|url=http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/07/29/the-f-word-why-cant-we-just-effing-say-it-whenever-we-effing-want/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920175005/http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/07/29/the-f-word-why-cant-we-just-effing-say-it-whenever-we-effing-want/|archive-date=September 20, 2011|access-date=April 2, 2013}} The Horn Book Magazine described the paper as a contemplative scholarly work which was simultaneously an engaging read.{{cite news|work=The Horn Book Magazine|date=May 1, 2007|title=The Sand in the Oyster: The Pottymouth Paradox|issn=0018-5078|location=Boston, Massachusetts|last=Campbell|first=Patty|pages=311–315}} In a 2011 article for the Federal Communications Law Journal, W. Wat Hopkins was critical of Fairman's article and subsequent book, writing that both appeared to be formats for the author to repeatedly use the word "fuck", rather than analyze the subject from a rigorous perspective.

A review of the book in Publishers Weekly called it a vibrant extension of his article. It described it as educational and assertive in promoting freedom of speech, particularly in the face of the controversial language discussed.{{cite journal|author=Publishers Weekly staff|journal=Publishers Weekly|url=http://new.publishersweekly.com/978-1-57248-711-6|access-date=March 22, 2013|date=August 31, 2009|title=Nonfiction Book Review: Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318150955/http://new.publishersweekly.com/978-1-57248-711-6|archive-date=March 18, 2014}} Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries reviewed Fuck and called it a stimulating book. The review concluded, "[h]ighly recommended. All readership levels."{{cite journal|journal=Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries|date=March 2010|title=Book Review – Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties, by Christopher M. Fairman|author=American Library Association|author-link=American Library Association}}

Library Journal described the book as a sincere analysis of "fuck" and its history of censorship. The review characterized the book as of a higher quality than The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of all Dirty Words (2009) by Jim Dawson.{{cite journal|first=Marianne|last=Orme|journal=Library Journal|title=Xpress Reviews: First Look at New Books |date=August 21, 2009|issn=0363-0277|oclc=36096783}} Ian Crouch of The New Yorker praised the cover design for the book. Crouch observed that the word Fuck was shown partially obscured by correction fluid but was still clearly evident in full. He concluded this was an appropriate image for a book on free speech and word taboos.{{cite magazine|first=Ian|last=Crouch|title=How Should We Put This?|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 2, 2010|access-date=April 12, 2013|url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/09/how-should-we-put-this.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905233307/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/09/how-should-we-put-this.html|archive-date=September 5, 2010}}

After the book's publication, Fairman was consulted by media sources, including CNN, on issues involving word taboo.{{cite news|title=Congress eliminates the R- word|date=September 27, 2010|work=CNN Wire|first=Madison|last=Park|page=Section: Med|url=http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/27/congress-eliminates-the-r-word/|access-date=June 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624130325/http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/27/congress-eliminates-the-r-word/|archive-date=June 24, 2011}}{{cite news|title=Ending the R- word : Ban it or understand it?|date=March 7, 2012|first=Emanuella |last=Grinberg|work=CNN Wire|page=Section: Living|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/living/end-r-word|access-date=June 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310020426/http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/living/end-r-word|archive-date=March 10, 2012}}{{cite news|title=Rich or poor, women juggle family balance|date=February 21, 2010|work=St. Petersburg Times|page=6P|via=NewsBank}} The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio invited Fairman to host its forum "Word Taboos" in 2010; his presentation was titled "Putting the 'F' in Free Speech". In a 2012 article on the word "fuck", The New York Times characterized Fairman as the foremost legal scholar in the United States on the word "fuck".{{cite news|title=A Word Heard Often, Except at the Supreme Court|first=Adam|last=Liptak|date=May 1, 2012|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 8, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/us/a-word-heard-everywhere-except-the-supreme-court.html|page=A16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502024611/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/us/a-word-heard-everywhere-except-the-supreme-court.html|archive-date=May 2, 2012}}

{{colbegin}}

• Censorship in the United States
• Cohen v. California
• Freedom of speech in the United States
• Fuck (documentary about the word)
• Seven dirty words
• Political correctness

{{colend}}

{{Reflist|33em}}

{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-Fuck Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties-article.oga|date=2014-11-28}}

• {{LCCN|2009016762}}
• {{cite news|url=http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty/professor/christopher-m-fairman/ |title=Christopher M. Fairman, Alumni Society Designated Professor of Law|publisher=Ohio State University Moritz College of Law|access-date=October 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318094953/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/faculty/professor/christopher-m-fairman/|archive-date=March 18, 2014}}
• {{cite news|url=http://works.bepress.com/christopher_fairman/|title= Christopher M Fairman|work=SelectedWorks|publisher=The Berkeley Electronic Press|access-date=October 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318121737/http://works.bepress.com/christopher_fairman/|archive-date=March 18, 2014}}

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