I hear it walking to class. It’s all throughout media — television, social media, music — you name it. Bad words seem to be unavoidable. The internet has allowed for profanity to appear everywhere and to appear uncensored, thus making these words lose their head-turning value.

My professors — authority figures — sometimes swear during class, yet it doesn’t even phase me anymore. In order to gain attention these days, a person must use a myriad of words strung together creatively in order to cause an effect of maximum vulgarity.

It starts out slowly — you begin to say swear words in your head, then out loud on occasion and then out loud on a regular basis. Some curse as a way to blow off steam in negative situations. Some use profanity because everyone else seems to be doing it. And still, some swear because they’re joking around with their friends.

What is this culture of cursing doing to society?

For starters, most swear words are derived from an intent to insult another person. Interestingly enough, many of these words have very feminine connotations.

Yes, context is everything, but as recently proven to me through a discussion in one of my classes, these derogatory comments are the seemingly invisible impact of the mentality society holds that women are less than men. Why continue to perpetuate that stigma?

Another issue is the nature of profanity itself. Discussions with topics of a sensitive nature can quickly turn to arguments, leading to violence if things get out of control. This is because swearing can create a more hostile environment than one where foul language is absent.

Curse words slowly creep into our vocabulary without us realizing until they become a natural reaction in a variety of circumstances. Swearing can leave someone with a bad impression, signal a lack of control and indicate a bad attitude or immaturity. This is even truer when it comes to our generation interacting with members of older generations.

We should be conscious of the situations in which we choose to use profane language, and try to limit it all together. Nobody wants to be the person who has a slip-up at an important event within a professional setting or in front of the entire family at a holiday dinner.