Thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the phrase “love child” is splattered across newspapers and blogs around the nation to describe his (surprise!) son, as journalists struggle to find the right word to use to describe the ten-year-old boy.
Of course, illegitimacy is not a new phenomenon. In ancient Rome, the Latin phrase, mater semper certa est was a legal principle that indicated that “the mother is always certain,” while it’s much more difficult to identify the dad. Later, boys born without the benefit of a married father and mother were called “bastards.” Contemporaries of William the Conqueror, for example, called him (with apparently no insult intended) “William the Bastard” because of his birth’s circumstances.
In Shakespeare’s day, the word “bastard” was so offensive it was frequently written “b-d,” because lineage was highly treasured. But since then — even though it was actually a 1235 English legal term — the word has fallen on hard times.
“Having a child out of wedlock” became the more polite way to say it, but by the time the Supremes sang their 1968 hit, the phrase “love child” had also become popular. Later, after it was discovered that Rev. Jesse Jackson had a child out of wedlock, talk show hosts and journalists generally used “love child” as they reported the saga.
Similarly, reporters now avoid the “b word,” when writing about Schwarzenegger’s situation. In fact, the Toronto Sun catalogued over 3,500 Schwarzenegger news articles, to discover that only a few “fringe” media outlets used “bastard.” They even discovered that a question about the Schwarzenegger son which used the term “bastard” was deleted after being posted on Yahoo! Answers.
Ridding the language of “bastard” as it pertains to children is a positive etymological development, since these offspring obviously have no control over the circumstances of their birth. After all, society should value life, even if it’s conceived in less-than-ideal (or, as the church would say, sinful) circumstances. However, doesn’t “love child,” swing too far in the other direction? The phrase, perhaps, overly idealizes his or her parents’ relationship . . . forcing the word “love” into a place that it has never been and might not belong.
I’m not sure we should settle on “love child,” but chances are, America will have many more opportunities to tweak our terminology.
— Nancy French is the author of the upcoming Home and Away: A Story of Family in a Time of War and can be followed on Facebook here.
So, the Catholic Church says the child was conceived in "sinful circumstances".
And how is this better than calling him a b*stard?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAh, yes. Remember the good 'ol days? Antoine The Grand B-d of Burgundy, Member of the Fleece and a whole bunch of other cool things. Not to mention the whole Beuafort brood. To be fair they were not, I don't believe, characterized as b-s in the common usage.
I couldn't originally post this because spelling out the B word appears to be verboten. I suppose it accentuate the point of the post.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf these are "love children," what do we call children born IN wedlock? Hate Children? Duty Children? The future "B-Word" - Boring Children?
Thanks for asking this question, Mrs. French. I know B*****d is not acceptable - as you say, it's not the child's fault - but yeah, the pendulum has swung too far the other way.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Undocumented child"?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe media frenzy surrounding this story is interesting. I don't recall John Edwards getting a fraction of this coverage, even though Edwards is facing jail time.
I am aware that a Kennedy is involved, and that will always draw media attention for the same reason feces draws flies. Still, Edwards was a former Senator, a VP candidate, and was also seriously considered for the post of Attorney General in the Obama Administration. Until after she died of cancer Elizabeth Edwards certainly did not get a fraction of the sympathy Maria Shriver is enjoying. It should also be remembered that when Elizabeth Edward's cancer was made public, the Edwards campaign tried to use it as a fundraising gimmick (another fact the media ignored).
I have no sympathy for Schwarzenegger. He ran California into the ground with his wild overspending and kooky "green" policies. But if Ahnauld is to be hung out for public ridicule, what about Edwards?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseUnratified child
Born out of wedlock is probably the most complete term. "U.S. News & World Report states, "Studies of blood typing show that as many as 1 out of every 10 babies born in North America is not the offspring of the mother's husband." I perused a book from the early 1700s on intimate habits in early America. Their data came mostly from church records, which appeared to be filled with confessions before the congregation of fornication. The author pointed out that this was mostly due to birth occurring a bit to close to the wedding. So it was quite common to have conception out of wedlock but it was forgiven if birth was appropriately post-nuptials.
So really, the only children who get the b-d or "love child" label are those who are not ratified by marriage.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAt least there is a common, modern term for the b-d's father: "Baby 's daddy". Sad.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Illegitimate (child)" used to be common. Softer than bast*rd, though too hard for today. I think we should just say illegitmate child, as a descriptive term. Yeah, it can become a perjorative, but so can love child or any other circumlocution.
@Dude, referring to "in sinful circumstances" regarding such a child's conception correctly places the responsibility on the parents, not on the innocent child; whereas simply calling the resulting child a bast*rd omits the parents' key roles and leaves the child bearing all the burden. So there is a meaningful difference.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBa*tard (noun) (Slang, pejorative)
1. A man who cheats on his wife with a woman who cheats on her husband.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse2. A man who fathers a child out of wedlock.
3. An attorney who litigates an alienation of affection case on behalf of a cuckolded husband to relieve number (1) or (2) of his current and future fortune. Usually thought to be a lesser ba*tard than (1) or (2).
"Love Child" is a terrible term. It annoyed me that Jesse Jackson's was referred to as a love child. Seemed more like a child conceived on a tawdry affair, but I guess "Fruit of Tawdry, Ugly, Deceptive, One-Night-Hookup Child" doesn't sound as nice.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI just never understood why the fathers of these children out of wedlock were given credit for fathering the child out of love. Often it is just out of an abuse of power relationship.
"child out of wedlock" == "COW"
"offspring of parental singletons" == "OOPS"
"result of unprotected sex between uncaring individuals" == "RUSBUI"
"biological result of unprotected sex" = "BRUS"
Pick an acronym, make up a phrase.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe b_______ds are the parents, not the child. Michael Medved used to do a Celebrity B________d Babies bit. People complained because it seemed like he was making fun of the child. Medved clarified. The child is innocent. The parents are wrong for not getting married (when they can, or doing what they can when they can't get married)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLust child?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's been around as a black colloquialism for some time.
I remember the Supremes' song when I was a kid.
It always seemed like something coined by women to relieve the stigma of having a kid without being married.
It's only since rap and ghetto-culture went mainstream that it became more widespread.
The sad irony is the stigma it arose from has faded quite a bit during that time thanks in part to high-profile people of all economic strata.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnyone else heard the term "outside child"?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAlso, another word that's vanishing from the language: "Mistress." Plenty of people in the news actually have them, but I only recall the word appearing in stories about Saddam.
While there is a problem with "love child" I'd suggest there's an equally growing problem with the term "father".
A man who has nothing to do with "fathering" a child beyond the base act shouldn't be referred to actual fathers in any manner.
With so many children being born out of wedlock by men who sired them all too absent, maybe a term as pejorative as "bas..." should be created for this, unique, category of males.
Perhaps they should now be deemed the "bas..." in the process, no?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIs there any wonder why the Arnold turned against the defenders of traditional marriage.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm not one of these who get the vapors over profanity, but I completely agree the "b word" is unfairly derrogatory to those children who have no control over the indiscretion of their parents. I'd even go further to say any term applied to the child (including those noted in previous posts) are unfair and unnecessary. Let's apply the terminology exclusively where it belongs--the parents. And they already have a good old-fashioned term for that: adulterers.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy not just call him a child? Sheesh, we cannot figure out the relationship of the two parents contextually? Arnold had a child with his housekeeper while married to Maria. Simple,
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTheoretically, the child was the product of "love" between the woman and her husband.
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