Obscenity Factories: Profanity and Community in Workgroup Cultures

Abstract

How does profanity contribute to community at work? While obscene talk might be viewed as contrary to the establishment of collegial ties, such discourse can, under the right circumstances, reinforce group sociality as well as challenge hierarchical control. In some sites of labor, participants are permitted—even expected—to use “bad language.” Rather than undermining local culture, this form of communication supports it by revealing the intensity of salient moments. We situate profanity as a means of deepening group membership (affiliation), defining a status hierarchy (division), and delineating boundaries (distinction). Not all workplaces are characterized by profanity, but those that are we label “obscenity factories,” emphasizing the production of community through conversational deviance. To examine this process, we utilize descriptive ethnographies of trauma doctors in war zones, restaurant cooks, wildland firefighters, and correction officers.