The History of The Word Bitch

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According to the New York Times, The use of the word, “bitch,” tripled in the last decade alone, growing to 1,277 uses on 685 shows in 2007 from 431 uses on 103 prime-time episodes in 1998 (Wyatt, 2009). Several years later, the use of the term has increased tremendously since 2007. Today the term has been found not only in television, but in popular music, literary works, online media, and daily conversations. What will be studied and analyzed in order to find a better understanding of the complexities provided by the term will include every day conversations, especially between women; as well as some popular culture texts that include misogynistic lyrics, specifically in the hip hop and rap genres.

How has the term “bitch” evolved to the point of desensitization? What are the flexibilities of its meanings and the rules of usage? Why and how do women reclaim the word towards themselves and each other? The term is mainly used towards women when they show qualities of being honest, outspoken, assertiveness, strong. It is also used towards men that do not fit the hegemonic masculinity standards society has created. Lastly, it is used to describe a person or object that may be subordinate to another such as “Work is a bitch!” or “You're my bitch!” As mentioned, women also have started to use the word “bitch” towards each other to express friendship or empowerment with phrases such as “I'm that bitch/I'm the head bitch in charge”.

The fact that there is a correlation between a female dog (bitch) and a female is highly critical. The excessive uses of the word and the contexts behind them do not benefit women in any shape or form. In fact, it oppresses women although it has become much more common for women to use it in a ...

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...rough history and has become its own culture. The word has major influence and is powerful in meaning. It is important because the word is gradually transforming to something normal in our vocabularies. Even though feminists from earlier years have stressed the negativity that comes with “bitch”, modern feminists are appropriating the term and challenging society to improve the definition(s). It also is important because the word is mainly used and applied to women who are a large population of our demographics. The growing usage of the word leads to the future of our society labeling people and objects as bitches without understanding the meaning behind the rich and colorful, yet sexist and reinforcing term that it historically is.

References

Haber, T. (1965). CANINE TERMS APPLIED TO HUMAN BEINGS AND HUMAN EVENTS: PART I. American Speech, 40(2), 83

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