The C-Word: Tracing the Roots of Misogynistic Language Through Claire Keegan’s “So Late in the Day”
By Luca Cavallo (Arts & Lit Editor)
Yes, that word. You know it, and I know it. It is a word created for the sole purpose of shocking those who hear it. As for those who say it, it can be the most offensive word in the English language. The most notorious use of it, of course, is by men towards women. Claire Keegan, author of groundbreaking books such as Foster and Small Things Like These, has recently published a little copy of her short story, “So Late in the Day”, originally published in the New Yorker in February of last year.
“So Late in the Day” follows Cathal, whose fiancé, Sabine, has cancelled their wedding. At first the reader naturally empathises with Cathal. Through small details, Keegan carefully reveals, how contemptible Cathal truly is. Throughout his relationship, he constantly moans about the cost of nice things, and shows no interest in Sabine’s personality, only noting her cooking skills and her freedom with spending money. When Sabine officially moves into Cathal’s house, he is appalled that she has brought her belongings with her. He says he “just didn’t think it would be like this, is all. [He] just thought about [Sabine’s] being here and having dinner together, waking up with [her]. Maybe it’s just too much reality.”
When Sabine tells Cathal that she has heard of how Irish men freely use the C-word towards women, Cathal shrugs it off, saying, “Ah, that’s just the way we talk here. It’s just a cultural thing. It means nothing, half the time.” Unfortunately, Cathal may be right. When Sabine finally leaves him, the only words Cathal says to express how he feels are “f—ing c—nts”. Of course, he refers to women in this exclamation. Cathal is unaware that he is one of many, many men among him who are ignorant of their own misogyny. When he is alone, he won’t wash his hands after using the bathroom, as he knows he hasn’t got a “nagging” mother or wife to scold him. He watches a documentary on Princess Diana, and is in awe of her appearance and ladylike behaviour on her wedding day. He doesn’t consider how harmful her marriage to Charles III was at all. And the crux of Cathal’s misogyny is the C-word.
The C-word has had a surprisingly long presence in literature. Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales has Nicholas, an Oxford student, grab Alisoun, a young woman, “by the queynte”. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark slyly suggests speaking of “country matters” with Ophelia. To some, the C-word has lost its personal offense. Rachel Braier writes in her article, “In Praise of the C-word”, that she “particularly like[s] using it to describe inanimate objects… Certain situations just cry out for it – keys breaking in the lock, not being able to find the starting point in a roll of sticky-tape, running out of bin-bags.” Considering that Braier is a woman, it may be acceptable for her to use a word so often used aggressively against her gender without caution. However, this cannot become an excuse for a misogynist to use the word, as they would naturally consider a different meaning behind its use.
The use of the C-word is most offensive when we consider the etymology of the word. Derived from the Latin word cunnus, meaning sword-sheath, the word is clearly a direct objectification of the female sex, as it lowers it to an accessory to an object of greater importance. Even if a man’s use of the word is not committed to causing harm, it may be harmful all the same when the roots of the misogynistic word are tracked down. Once the meaning is recognised and understood, the power of the word is revealed. Sadly, there was no one to tell this to Keegan’s woeful protagonist.
Cathal reminisces about his twenties throughout the short story. He thinks of how things were “simpler” when he was studying at U.C.D., living in a house occupied only by men. And in his family home, his father and brother’s presence dominated the domestic space. When his mother would move to sit down after making breakfast, his brother would pull her chair from under her. “So Late in the Day” scrutinises the small things that make a misogynist, and the even smaller acts that it takes to improve one’s attitude, behaviour, and language towards women.
