Over Thanksgiving, my dad’s side of the family sat down around the cottage dining room table and we got into a couple of heated conversations (actually, it was mainly my dad and I arguing about politics – which is always fun).
But from this conversation, we somehow got to the topic of why a woman who is strong-willed is often called a bitch.
I guess the best example of this was everyone calling Hillary Clinton a bitch during the 2016 presidential election.
Now, I’ve been called a bitch a fair amount of times in my life – and my friends and I jokingly call each other bitch on the daily, but the term still has an underlying meaning that is meant to be insulting.
The term “bitch” was originally used as a slang term towards a woman who is seen as unreasonable, a control freak, aggressive or strong-willed.
My guess is that the word was intended to hurt women into being the ‘perfect female’ which meant that they were submissive.
If I was to call any of my male friends a bitch it would be seen as an insult towards them – as traditionally the term used towards men is seen as an insult and is to make them seem subordinate.
Although females have tried to reclaim the word, I still think that people will use the term as a way to hurt or somehow shame young females into being compliant.
One time in high school, an ex-friend of mine called me a fake bitch when I spoke my mind and it went against her view on something.
I was incredibly sad at the time about that situation – but looking back, being called a bitch wasn’t all that bad.
In Massachusetts, there is an actual bill being presented that wants to ban the word bitch from being used – but that goes against freedom of speech so the bill most likely will not pass.
I’m not here to say stop using the word bitch altogether because then my most used word would be gone and I would not be able to sing any Lizzo song ever again, but I think it is time we don’t use the word in a degrading way towards women when they know what they want and speak up about it.
If a girl doesn’t want to hook up with someone and she says no, I don’t think you should call her a “prude bitch” for that.
If you don’t know the answer to a question in class but a woman does, she is not being a “know-it-all bitch” for doing that.
I am honestly so tired of hearing women being called a bitch because she is sure of herself and will stand up for what she believes in, not just idly stand by.
What time are we living in? Because I could have sworn we were living in 2019 where women are seen as just as capable of doing anything a man can and should get positive recognition rather than hatred.
Also, if a man was to stand up for what he believes in or were to have authority over people, no one would be calling him a “bitch” in that case.
I also cannot think of a word with the equivalent meaning to bitch that is normally directed towards a male, but there are a plethora of different words that describe women.
The word “bitch” will be sticking around, but let’s just be more aware of the context you use the word “bitch” in.
Also, I am fully ready for everyone to come out and call me a bitch now! ‘Cause I am one.
