when a female friend made it known that she hated the word. Before that I had read the word frequently in various fiction from Chaucer to modern fiction. Before I had never differentiated between cunt and other sexual obscene slang such as quim, pussy, twat, etc.

I realize that the word has come to be used in a derogatory way similar to dick, prick but it has attained a level of offensiveness similar to the n word with blacks. As close as you can get to a male equivalent is probably cock-sucker.

I read somewhere that the reason has to do with the fact that men created all the obscene slang and thus the words they have applied to themselves do not carry the weight of the names applied to women without their input or permission

In any case, whether it is the n word or the c word, I have no problem in not using a word that hurts feelings. That is all I really need to know.