The word bitch has been apart of our culture for so long and much like the word queer it originally had a negative connotation behind it. Also like the word Queer and the LGBTQ community women everywhere are getting in front of the word bitch and using it to empower themselves or compliment one another. Bitch used to be one of the most demeaning things you could call a woman but now the terms "Bad Bitch" "Head Bitch In Charge" (HBIC) and "my bitch" are changing the stigma or at least they think they are.
The re-branding of the word bitch first surfaced in the 90's according to an article on Vice.com exploring the evolution of the word. Now there is nothing in my opinion, wrong with stripping the word of its negative meaning and re-branding it as something completely different. The problem i have and the problem I believe more women should have is the fact that the more negative meaning of the word still flourishes dimming the shine of the rebranded word. A vast amount of people continue to use the word as way of putting women down and as an insult to men. Women can call another woman they don't like a bitch and there will likely be a fight but those same women can post instagram pictures like the this one
and get hundreds of likes. Where is the line? Where is the line with the word Bitch, just like with the word Queer and the "N" word. Who is allowed to say it and who isn't? How do we know when its being used positively or not?
The Music community I think plays a really big role in the word as a whole. Some of the most popular female artists like Nicki Minaj, Trina and even Brittney spears have tried to get in front of the word and make it mean something positive for women, but for every positive reference there's twice as many negative ones out there eating up the limelight. Rappers specifically continue to use the word to objectify and degrade women; in a world where women are trying to wash the negativity away this is not helpful. Some of the very people who are trying to empower women through the use of the word still continue to use it in a derogatory way in their music and everyday life. The solution to the problem should be much like the solution for the N word: NO ONE SHOULD USE IT. However we all know it's not that simple, everyone use the word Bitch whether in a positive light or a negative one, the word gets used no matter what. The question of whether or not the word is empowering women or not, well that just depends on who you ask.
I definitely agree with your point and have thought about the issue of the word. Overtime the word has become a trend to mean many things, good and bad. As more feminists come around I'm sure they justify the use of the word as a way to take it back from the negative meaning. This brings me to another word, slut. Nowadays some young women have embraced the word slut and hoe to refer to their girlfriends or to feel that their sexuality shouldn't be thrown in their face. I often hear girls say to each other things like "Hey Slut!" or "Heyyy Hoe!" which never made sense to me because the words are NOT nice things nor stand for actions that are ones to be proud of. Also the Slut Walk emerged when Amber Rose who has definitely been called her fair share of derogatory terms decided to use the word to take back its negative meaning. I don't know how beneficial it is or has been but it is in my opinion about the same concept as using the word "bitch."
ReplyDeleteThe bad bitch label in the world usually is associated with girls that give people attitude . It is a bad connotation I agree that the media creates this bad reputation just because a women is in control shouldn’t be a bad thing.. I believe that as time has pasted people are getting more used to seeing women in powerful positions. I think that this was created by tv’s interpretation of women in power standing up to men as bitchs. This happened because women really have not held positions of power over men before. And to some degree that mindset has transferred in to the real world . Men are still not fully ok with answering to a women in any way in the work place. This is because in classic roles men had the power in the workplace and men don’t like losing power. But I believe that this narrative is starting to change and women are being in high positions are being respected more then they ever have before. . There is still room for improvement however I think we are so much closer to equality then we were some years ago . I hope that conditions keep improving
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiment that the term is derogatory in nature, though I do think there's value in rebranding it. While it's been normalized as "stand-in" word for "woman," it's still impossible to ignore the roots of the word's modern usage. The Vice article you linked mentions that the modern usage of the word stems from the early 20th century, when usage of the word doubled over the course of 15 years following the success of the women's suffrage movement. The word's negative connotation hasn't seemingly diminished in recent years despite efforts to change that. I also think that the music industry has helped to normalize the word in our society's popular culture over the years, despite the controversy the word brings. While rappers are often at the center of such controversies, other genres aren't immune. One example that I can think of is The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up," which caught a good deal of flak due to both the song itself and its accompanying highly explicit music video. Ultimately, I think that the word itself is too tainted by its origins to be truly empowering at this point.
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