About a week ago as I walked to class, I overheard two men talking in front of me about a woman.
“What a bitch,” said one and they both laughed.
I tapped the shoulder of the man who said it and asked why he called her that. The other man responded that she canceled her plans with him. Completely shocked that this was what deemed her a “bitch” in their eyes, I asked them why they thought it was OK to call her that.
They both shrugged and said, “because she was being one.” Then they laughed and walked away.
I personally hate this word and disagree with all that it stands for. It’s sexist, it undermines women’s power and it’s meant to tear them down.
No matter how feminists are trying to reappropriate the word, it is still offensive.
How many women have been called a bitch in their life? I have, more times than I can count.
It seems like the go-to insult today. Someone doesn’t like what a woman is saying, they call her a bitch. A woman is too strong, she’s called a bitch. A woman could be doing absolutely nothing wrong — like canceling plans — and what is she? A bitch.
It’s utterly ridiculous.
There is no word that people use to describe men with the same universality that they do for women. There is no male equivalent.
Since when do we as a culture insult men for speaking their minds, being strong or ambitious. The answer is never. The double standard has to end.
Women have been trying to reclaim their power over the word since the 1990s with artists like Madonna and Trina rebranding it.
In an interview, Madonna said, “I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, OK.”
Trina, a hip hop artist wrote music in the ’90s, inventing the idea of a “bad bitch,” meaning a strong and empowered woman.
I do not agree with the word being used in any sense due to the fact that it is and has been used to put women down. It is one of the oldest ways to insult a woman.
I don’t even believe that women should be allowed to call one another this name. Women using the word is not an evolution of language or a fix-all solution. Trying to take back the power over this word is a valiant effort, but it just shows men that it’s still OK to say it.
They will not stop calling us these names if the word continues to be used or reappropriated.
In society, the word “bitch” has been so normalized that — every day — women are called this hurtful name by each other and by men. Young men in Santa Barbara, growing up around these influences, are becoming numb to the disrespect that the word bitch has. This therefore perpetuates the degradation of women.
Men will not treat women with respect when they grew up learning how to insult them. Women will not demand respect when they’ve been taught their whole lives they aren’t worthy of it.
— Michaela Vehslage is a Santa Barbara City College student majoring in English and journalism with a goal of becoming a social justice journalist. The opinions expressed are her own.