Monday, December 28, 2009

A note to the haters

The title of this blog is "This is for my bitches". Why did I decide to call it that? Because simply and obviously I made it for you, my friends, my "bitches".

Recently it has been brought to my attention that my title may be offensive to some readers due to the supposedly "misogynistic" and "degrading" use of the word "bitch". Language is a subject I have written about before and I have no hesitation in coming to the defence of my chosen vocabulary. And I shall explain why, so the "bitch" haters won't have an intellectual high horse to ride on.

DON'T INSULT ME, BITCH!

Now the term "bitch" has definitely had negative connotations from the beginning. In the most literal sense it refers to a female dog. From there we can derive the negative associations; a woman can thus be called a "bitch", degrading her from a human to an animal (animals being considered a lower form of life by some). Its origins deem the word female-specific however it has also been used in reference to men; e.g. "that guy is a bitch" meaning he is somehow weak, less of a man, feminine. These examples are indeed insulting, especially the latter, as it negatively portrays women as being the weaker sex. Consider why we call men "pussies". Pussy = female = weak. Another degrading form of the word "bitch" can be in reference to a servant of sorts: "Clean my car for me, bitch". There are a load of connotations, and yes, many of them negative. But somewhere along the line, shit got flipped. At some point, someone took that word "bitch" and made it their BITCH. Do you feel me? So now the term can be used in a positive sense, as well as its negative sense.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT, BITCH!

I'm not sure how or where it all began but perhaps we owe it all to Ja Rule. His track "Down Ass Bitch" was released in 2000 and showed that "bitch" could have positive associations. A "down ass bitch" was characterised by a ride or die mentality; a woman who would always be there for her man; a girl who can roll with the boys, is chilled and down for whatever. Of course, some people obviously still found the term offensive and the song was re-recorded as "Down Ass Chick" for radio. More recently there was David Guetta's track "Sexy Bitch" (aka "Sexy Chick") which took the word into new territories. The lyrics describe a sexy bitch as a "diva", a girl that every other girl wants to be. She's the hottest thing you have ever seen, and she's untouchable. There are connotations that this "sexy bitch" is almost too good for the average guy, something to aspire to, but will never have. This is my interpretation of the lyrics, however I can still hear most feminists crying out in opposition as if being called a sexy bitch reduces a woman to a piece of meat. To you, I suggest taking the stick out of your arse and lighten up - not everything is an attack on woman kind. If a guy opens a car door for you, he is fully aware that you are capable of opening the door for yourself, but he is offering a kind gesture. Similarly, by taking offence at a remark that was meant to be complimentary just reflects a wack state of mind.

In reference to my blog title, I am using "bitch" to mean "friend" which is another more recent definition. No derogotary or misogynistic undertones implied, and my true bitches know this. If you're smart, you know that there is more to a word than just the letters that make it up - meaning is derived from context and delivery also. And my use of "bitch" in this context is entirely positive. At the end of the day, we're talking about a five letter word. It ain't a human, it doesn't have arms or legs that are gonna hurt you. So if you're gonna take so much offence to something that in reality only exists in YOUR MIND, well...that really shows who the bitch is doesn't it?

If you don't like this, then get the fuck off of my page!

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