The discussion of whether or not the re-appropriation of the word “Bitch” is a positive action in our society is common amongst women in our society. I am involved in many clubs at WSU and one of my favorite clubs that I participate in is the Black Women’s Caucus (BWC). BWC is an assembly of women that talk about specific issues and topics effecting the Black Community, more specifically focused on Black women. At one of the meetings this past Wednesday, the discussion focused on the word “Bitch” and if the historical negative connotation of the word could ever truly be “erased” or righteously flipped into a positive meaning. There were two standpoints during the conversation, some young ladies agreed that the word needed to be abolished from …show more content…
The term has historically apprehended a powerful and revered nature towards ladies. Generally the tag of a “Queen” has never represented itself as an insult, opposed to the word “Bitch”. The word Bitch came onto the scene as an insult during the fourteenth and fifteenth century and has continued to thrive as an insult and a popular word throughout the twenty-first century. The literal term of a bitch is a female canine. The insulting use of the word is often compared to the literal definition, when explaining the dehumanizing aspect of referring to women as “bitches”. Degrading the identity of women down to animals is easily an oppressive strategy; if one does not view someone on the same humanly level it is easy for them to tyrannize that person. However, when looked up on Wikipedia “Bad Bitch” is generally defined as a “strong, sexualized, self-reliant and materialistic woman” and in Hip Hop Culture as a “signify a hardcore woman who makes money and proudly flaunts her sexual libido and sexuality" and a woman who can hold her own”.
One of the claims in the club meeting made to justify the use of the word “Bitch”, was that a “Bad Bitch” can be confident, adored, and beautiful and an individual identifier of what makes her self-esteem feel good. That mentality could disregard and redefine the dreaded past context of the title. Another member shared a similar view, speaking that the excessive use of “Bitch” as a non-degrading term, desensitized the insulting history of the word, so that when it is used as an insult it does not “Hurt as
In "The Meaning of a Word" and "Being a Chink", Gloria Naylor and Christine Leong examine words of hatred that are meant to scorn, hurt and disgrace people. But these same words could also be used without harmful intentions and in a fashion of endearment amongst the people those words were created for. They each had a different word to discriminate their different culture and ethnicity. These writers discuss the words "nigger" and "chink", which are words in our language mostly ignorant people use. Naylor and Leong are also both minorities who were raised in America. They talk about how discrimination and hatred towards minorities is almost always inevitable in America, which is mostly populated by Caucasians. Naylor and Leong observe how these racial acts of discrimination can unify a group of people even closer together. Naylor didn't know the true meaning of the hate word nigger until it was used against her in a degrading manner. On the other hand Leong already knew what chink meant but wasn't traumatized until she found out her father discovered it.
Sexism can have many negative impacts on the way women view themselves, research was conducted and it showed that when exposed to modern sexism, women expressed negative self-directed emotions. Modern sexism exposure also resulted in stereotypical self-presentation, where in contrast, women who were exposed to old-fashioned sexism displayed less self-defeating behavior. This research concluded that women were more likely to stand up and defend themselves against the old-fashioned gender stereotypes, but let the modern day expectations defeat them (Ellemers & Barreto, 2009).
When I lived in Atlanta approximately 1 year ago, growing up as a child I would hear the term black queen. To my understanding a black women and a black queen are one in the same, but growing up the two words became different meanings. People began to change and no longer were they practicing their queen ways. People were now becoming ignorant and began following the crowd instead of being themselves, setting them apart as just black women. Black women have been around for several centuries and in that time we were vigorously known as black queens all over the world such as in, Africa. We were known for our strength, security, stability, and power also for our greatness. As poet Maya Angelou said, “I’m a woman phenomenally, phenomenal woman that’s me.” A black woman is a very powerful being and to me a great phenomenon, but why are black women not embraced as queens anymore? Personally I think being a black women and a black queen is a stereotype within itself. Black women cannot be considered black queens anymore until they start being themselves and not what society has made them out to be. The black women of today will always be profiled by people because it doesn’t seem that they want to accept who they really are, leaving them in the category of just a black woman. So, does history truly repeat itself? Will society ever come awake from this slumber? Several of the major stereotypes about black women are that they are being portrayed wrong. Just like in the Article Mother Tounge by Amy Tan when the mother was profiled by how good her English was it is similar to black women who are profiled by the stereotypes of today.
Within this film the sociological concept based around sex & gender is hit quite a few times. Missy, a new comer to her current school, tries out for the cheering team. She is put under lots of scrutiny from some of the members of the cheer squad. She is underestimated due to her appearance and she proves herself to the team. They already had a candidate in mind, but the captain lets the other two team members know that Missy will be on the team. Hearing this noise infuriated them and they called Missy an “uber dyke” which is a sex and gender stereotype. Missy was treated this way all based on the way she prefered to
She illuminates the hidden causes of the harsh sexism in rap music lyrics and argues that one needs to look deeper to understand why the misogyny exists and how women in her culture need to respond and also start taking responsibility for its existence in order for changes to begin to take place. In the article “ From Fly -Girls to Bitches and Hos “ the dysfunction of our black men is evident, but somehow it’s seen and admired manliness and success. For example the life of Notorious BIG was one of the rap kings that live a life of jail, sex , drugs and murder that “ the seeming impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask of American often wear both to hide “ . Joan Morgan was vivid as to show the pain men must be feeling so badly that they had to use disrespectful slurs and hateful comment says their music lyrics. I agree with the fact that in today’s society the "bitches and hos" have become the norm. From my perspective that many guys often believe that is how all women act and that they are all pimps and
Being a woman is hard work. We many have pressures on us from society to marry, bear children, be an upstanding citizen, and maintain some sort of career, all the while trying to understand our bodies and its changes; being a woman of color, or black woman, it’s even harder. Not only do we have to deal with everything a White woman does, and we also have the added pressure of defying stigmas and stereotypes within our own group of people. What stigma’s you ask? How about not being perceived as ignorant, uneducated, and or “ghetto”. The stereotypical misrepresentations of African-American women and men in popular culture have influenced societal views of Blacks for centuries. The typical stereotypes about Black women range from the smiling, asexual and often-obese Mammy to the promiscuous and the loud, smart mouthed, neck-rolling Black welfare mother is the popular image on reality television. These images portrayed in media and popular culture creates powerful ideology about race and gender, which affects every day experiences of Black women in America.
Nilsen began this study of the dictionary not with the intention of prescribing language change but simply to see what the language would reveal about sexism to her. Sexism is not something that existing independently in American English or in the particular dictionary that she happened to read. Rather it exists in people's minds.
The word “Nigger” was a term used in reference to a slave. A slave meaning, you were the lowest scum of the earth, Illiterate and uneducated in every sense. Today, the usage of the word is spilt in to different context, it is used to refer to one another. A lot of children today use the word freely, not because they are ignorant to the history and putridness of the word, but solely because they are not really offended by it and the only time they hear it, it's being said by someone else who is of color. As I looks back over the years, I can’t really remember anyone distinctively ever calling me the N-word, or better yet, not in a derogative fashion. I don’t think that anyone has ever called me the word to my face or in hearing distance. Growing up in New York City, the only time I ever heard the word “Nigger” was from people who called themselves “Nigger”. I remember sitting in class daydreaming on the word, thinking to myself, “How could anyone call themselves a Nigger and be proud of it?” Yet It’s Hard to hurt me with words, but I had never heard that word used with such vengeances. What does this word mean in my everyday life?
Gross did various researches about the word “bitch” and its usage. She discusses about the word “Bitch” and how the word is used when a man feels threatened: (148). When She implies the word “bitch” is use as a weapon for degrading and to denounce
In “Barbie Doll,” by Marge Piercy, the speaker’s tone is remorsefully cautionary because she aims to protect females from the societal standards that caused the female subject of the poem to commit suicide. Early in the poem, the speaker illustrates the teen prior to her death: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). Clearly, the girl had the potential to be very successful, as a result of her many natural gifts. However, she was constantly harassed and nagged because she had a “great big nose and fat legs” (6). Even though she had all the attributes of a very successful woman, she was still abused by her fellow classmates because she did not uphold the societal
Pozner, Jennifer L. “Dove's "Real Beauty" Backlash.” Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. Issue 30, Fall, 2005. http://www.wimnonline.org/articles/dovebacklash.htm 7.
Popularized words such as “bitch” have transitioned throughout time. Originating in the Anglo Saxon time period in the northern European area such as Germany, Norway, and Sweden(“bitch”,n1,etymology). The term was originally formulated to described a quadruped that exhibits “growling or snarling” characteristics. Today the term has been morphed to represent and demean women.The term “bitch” has evolved and, in my definition, is a derogatory term society uses to subvert women and is used incorrectly as a compliment among adolescents.
Misogyny is a major obstacle that Sara must overcome on her journey to justice. According to Webster’s new world college dictionary, misogyny is the “hatred of women”. In fact, ...
Comments on her physique relate to her race and insinuate “that black women are hyper masculine and unattractive” (Rankine). It can be a difficult moment to endure when people in the same business attack her with comments such as being manly, for example the crude words that president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev, had to say about her. Fortunately, Serena was brought up learning techniques on how to handle these vulgar statements. The article describes her childhood, as she practices tennis and how her father would recruit children to “‘call them every curse word in the English language, including ‘Nigger’” (Rankine). It’s safe to say that children who are not black did not have to endure these degrading moments. Although the technique Serena’s father employed to train his children was harsh, it molded her to have a strong character and not let comments like these have a negative effect on
Introduction Sexist language emerged as a result of the traditional fight for superiority and power between the two genders. Though sexist language has impacts on men and women, its negative impact on women is more pronounced through rampant ignorance of the female gender. Sexist language therefore represents the traditional notions of male domination where the role of women was reduced to supporting a man. These stereotypes demean women in society and make men appear superior. In essence, language sexism was transferred through generations but had conceivably lost a great deal of its sexist implications with time.