Taboo words produced by male and female characters in the movie boys don't cry

Wati, Yohana (2002) Taboo words produced by male and female characters in the movie boys don't cry. Bachelor thesis, Petra Christian University.

Abstract

Generally, taboo words are words which were 'not only considered inappropriate for certain context, but were also forbidden in most communicative events' (Trudgill, 1974:29-3 1 ) However, regardless the fact that taboo words were condemned to use, their presence was undeniable, and it did, in fact, exist in our community. The traditional conception said that females were forbidden to use it for any reasons, while males had their freedom because of the context of masculinity involved. Since the condition became more flexible toward males and females, the pressure got more relaxed. Therefore, the writer was curious to know the kinds of taboo words that males and females used, their tabooed subjects, and their primary purpose to use it. The data was taken from the movie Boys don?t cry, and the approach used was a qualitative-descriptive approach. On the other hand, the theories used to analyze the data were divided into two main theories and one supporting theory. The main theories were taken from the combination between Liedlich and Wardhaugh?s theory about the classification of taboo words and Liedlich?s theory of the purpose. Meanwhile, Hymes? theory about the factors exist in communicative events was also taken to support the analysis of the user?s purpose in using taboo words. The final result of this study was that the taboo word that was often used by both males and females was fuck, and they shared the same tabooed subject, which was Sex. The purpose was quite different. While males used taboo words for the purpose of identification, females used them to provide catharsis.

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