“Vagabundo” or “vagabunda”? : swearing and gender relations

Abstract

This text aims to reflect about the act of cursing through the adjective “vagabundo” in Brazilian´s culture, when it is applied for a man (“vagabundo”) or for a woman (“vagabunda”). It´s pointed out, from de way opened by Wittgenstein (1991), in the philosophy of ordinary language, how the sense of this adjective is its uses. It acquires many different nuances of sense with its correlation with the sex of the subject offended. When it is applied for a man, the adjective acquires the sense of sloth, not productivity, passiveness, devaluated traces in the so called masculine “essence”. In the other hand, when the adjective is applied for a woman, the word acquires a sexual sense, indicating for an activity which is socially undesirable for her. Through these discussions we pointed out how the speaking is not neuter (Irigaray, 1985; 1990), it exercises control way and system reproduction through the power microphysics.