“The female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals” that is how Merriam Webster defines the word bitch. Yet, in today’ society you can find people using the word to describe a woman who is viewed as being a control freak, rude or if she is just not liked by someone. The term can be used for a man though as well. If a man is called a bitch most likely he is scared to do something or doesn’t want to. Therefore you might hear someone say “quit bitching” or “stop being a bitch”. Then lastly you might hear girls refer to one of their friends as “their bitch” or “yeah thats my bitch”. This is where things get tricky and lines get crossed in my opinion.
Most girls don’t like being referred to as a bitch or being called one in general. It is viewed as disrespect and taken as they are being called out of their name. The only time it is deemed as appropriate is when it is coming from a close friend. In which I can understand if that is the type of relationship you and your friends have built then by all means go ahead. But as a society when need to come together and stop using the word so loseley like we do. Because that is how fights and misunderstandings happen. But as I said earlier it is such a tricky topic because then you have people like Tina Brown who was the former editor of the New Yorker and Vanity Fair, who was talking about Hillary Clinton when she was running for president “told the BBC’s Today programme that the Democratic nominee needed to “own her inner bitch” in order to appeal to young women voters.” I feel like this right here is the perfect example of why this word and the multiple meanings it has is tricky and confusing at times to people. Because, here we have a woman telling another woman that she needs to “own her inner bitch”, and it seems to be okay because it is a woman saying to another woman. But, also because of the way she meant it nobody really has a problem with it. Yet, had it been a man who said those same exact words I feel like there would have been some backlash for him. But why if he was trying to give the same “encouragement”? Aside from the sex differences had Tina changed her words around and said something like that bitch needs to own it or something like that, then she to could have been in some trouble facing backlash. Because when the word is used in that context it longer seems encouraging. Now it seems more disrespectful as if she would have been calling Hillary weak. But why same word just placed differently.
To continue how being called a bitch can give off vibes of encouragement I came across a Ted talk on YouTube called ” Being Called a Bitch Can Be Empowering by Becky Woodbridge”. To sum up the video Becky talks about the first time she was called a bitch and how it made her feel. She the transitions into how the word has gained so many different meanings throughout time, and how famous hollywood actresses made the word seem empowering. Becky has a quote during the talk where she says “you only have the power of what you say it means to you”. That is a great quote and I agree with what she is getting at, but at the sametime that is where misunderstandings come into play. Because what I might define the term as another person might not and that is where a fight or an argument can take place. After watching Becky’s Ted Talk I went on Urban dictionary to see the many different descriptions there were and the multiple means like she talked about, and the top definition is “one of the most versatile words in the english language; it is used to express a multitude of emotions; anger, anticipation, despair, endearment, envy, excitement, fear, horror, joy, shock, surprise, warning; all achieved by one’s enunciation and intonation.” They even give example of the word being used in the many different ways .
Now to transition into something I feel like everyone can relate to is hearing the word said in music. For me personally I listen to a lot of rap and hip-hop and I couldn’t even tell you how many songs that I have heard containing the word or how times per song they say it. It is used in so many different ways it is unbelievable. Some good, some bad, both men and woman saying it. Like I said it, it’s a complicated word because of the many different ways it can be used. For example Meek Mill says it in his dangerous. In the song he says “The second time at the crib knowin’ I might not hit
You said, “What I look like?” Like my bitch.” Now the way he is saying it can be taken two ways depending on the type of person you are. Some might say he is calling the girl his bitch as in she’s his, but some would say it doesn’t matter because even if that is your girl no man should refer to his girl as his bitch. At the end of the day it boils down to the type of person you are. But then there are some songs where it is blatant disrespect such as this song by YG . The hook of the song says “Bitches ain’t shit, but hoes and tricks”. Now in this context I feel like it is obvious that the word is being used in a degrading way. But to flip things over to the other men aren’t the only ones using the word in their songs. For example Trina who is a female rapper has a song “Da Baddest Bitch”, where the hook of her song she says “Who’s bad? Who’s, who’s bad?
(Shit, I’m the baddest bitch)”. In which she is using the word to empower herself and boost her self confidence. Another example is PTAF “Boss Ass Bitch”. My last example of women using the word for both empowerment but also disrespect is by Lil Kim where she says “bum bitches know better then to start shit”.
So as you can see the word has grown so many different meanings can be take as disrespect or can be used as empowerment that it all boils down to the type of person you are and how you take it.
Censorship and Consequences 