Darlene Marshall forwarded me this absolutely fabulous article from the NY Times, which won’t print the word “bitch” when referring to our website, but will print the word when referring to NY City Council legislation.
Seems NYC Councilwoman Darlene Mealy (who represents Brooklyn) has introduced a measure to outlaw the word “bitch” similar to an earlier “symbolic citywide ban of the so called n-word.” In case you’re not from the US and are unfamiliar with our exceptionally huge lexicon, the “n-word” would be “nigger.”
Ms. Mealy argues that the term is “hateful and deeply sexist” and says that “even council members are saying that they use it to their wives.” Citing a dictionary from 1811, Mealy’s measure calls the word bitch, “the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman.”
As Duchess of Cuntington, I can say with some authority that there are certainly worse words one could use to refer to women.
But the reactions quoted in the article are as agog as I am at reading this article:
“Half my conversation would be gone,†said Michael Musto, the Village Voice columnist, whom a reporter encountered on his bicycle on Sunday night on the corner of Seventh Avenue South and Christopher Street. Mr. Musto, widely known for his coverage of celebrity gossip, dismissed the idea as absurd.
Darris James, 31, an architect from Brooklyn who was outside the Duplex, a piano bar in the West Village, on Sunday night was similarly opposed. “Hell, if I can’t say bitch, I wouldn’t be able to call half my friends.â€
UC Berkeley’s Robin Lakoff says that she hates the word personally, but that measures like Mealy’s usually don’t work as they try to “enforce linguistic change through authority:”
“If what the City Council wants to do is increase civility, it would have to be able to contextualize it,†said Ms. Lakoff, who studies language and gender. “You forbid the uses that drive people apart, but encourage the ones that drive people together. Which is not easy.â€
Wait, you mean like starting a hot Pepto-Bismol pink website about romance and proclaiming yourselves Smart Bitches because you’re intelligent AND you like romance novels, but refuse to say nothing but pink fluffy nice things about it?
Word, Ms. Lakoff. I see your contextualization and raise you a community of civility based on Bitching.
Oddly enough, I’m working on an academic paper about coopting the word “Bitch” on this here site to redefine it towards a positive, unifying term. “Bitch” is one of the few words in English that refers uniquely to a female, and to call a man a “bitch” is both insulting and emasculating at the same time – hence it’s popularity as an affectionate and ironic moniker. And while “bitch” doesn’t have the deeply hurtful history of the word “nigger” among African-Americans, or the now-unifying properties of the word “queer” among homosexuals, reclaiming it as a way to self-reference intelligent communities of outspoken, opinionated women serves a similar purpose: reclaiming a pejorative term and adding an alternate definition. That process of reclaiming also, in my opinion, removes some of the word’s mystique or power.
(That said, I personally never, ever use the word “nigger.” That word still has plenty of power.)
Speaking specifically about women, there’s always a pressure to be nice and not disagree, be it direct or subtle. A woman who is a bitch doesn’t conform to that standard. Around here, that’s a good thing.
Would symbolically banning the word alter its power locally in the New York area? Probably not – the measure wouldn’t likely have an effect either way. But given the position from which I read this article, as a Smart Bitch, I think our method of redefining is a bit more effective than outlawing, though the alteration of definition, if it happens, takes longer, and, certainly in our case, is among a limited audience. That said, I’m pleased to be a Bitch.
Would you go to jail for uttering the word “bitch”? Would you be fined, proceeds going to some bitch-related cause? (I hereby submit my name as a totally bitch-related cause that could use some proceeds.) Would there be a bitch hotline set up so you could report stray utterances? Would the police feel monitoring use of the word “bitch” was a productive use of their time? How about the courts? Is use of the word “bitch” to refer to female canines acceptable or no?
Stupid.
So this site would become “Smart Female Dogs”?
Just doesn’t have the same ring to it… I see Lassie telling the sherrif that Timmy is in the well.
Banning any speech is a slippery slope, and this one’s covered in Astroglide[tm]. Where does it end? And why didn’t anyone in this article say this is a First Amendment and free speech issue as well as a matter of personal choice?
Would there be a task force set up to cleanse NYC of instances of “bitch” occurring in print, online, in music, on television, and in theaters to protect the delicate sensibilities of its residents?
Things like this makes me laugh. Why don’t they attack real issues instead of ones that are going to eat up time and not serve any real purpose.
As a writer I know words are extremely powerful. It’s why the First Amendment isn’t the 20th. Even if they pass the law it’ll probably end up in the Supreme Court as an unconsitutional law. Now they can control the school systems. (Don’t get me started on how often students rights are taken in the name of protecting them. HA!) You can’t dictate adults on somthing so frivilous.
Lastly, I’m proud to be amongst Smart Bitches and no I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense at all.
See the word can be used for good. What an asshat.
I just read the article. They are also trying to ban the word “ho”. I can see a jail cell full of Santa’s.
That’s just ridiculous.
Signed,
Babe In Total Control of Herself
Um, so, would this also ban the sale of the ‘feminist response to pop culture’ magazine, Bitch?
( http://www.bitchmagazine.com )
Sounds like the councilwoman has never been refered to as a bitch in the positive before.
I don’t see her being referred to in any positive sense from this point forward.
The whiny, first amendment-violating wad of crotch rot.
But that’s nowhere near as offensive as “bitch.”
I apologize. That was uncalled for. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, and attacking her genital health instead of her proposed civil rights violations was completely out of line.
I think the site should be renamed Smart Dogesses! That sounds almost more obscene.
And my word verifier is “true15” so you have to agree with me!
First they came for the cigarettes, and I said nothing.
Then they came for my French fries, and still I said nothing.
Now they’ve come for my bitches, and there’s no one left to say anything.
GODDAMN IT, NEW YORK CITY. THE FUCKING SUBWAY IS UNDERWATER. DO SOMETHING USEFUL.
Save us from small minded people once again attempting to legislate thier opinion. What do they propose to do with all the legitimate uses for the word “bitch” (unlike “n” that dosen’t have any)?
Ditto Melissa…don’t these people have anything more important to tackle, like laundry or bathroom cleaning? yesh.
Another proud SB.
The subway is underwater?!?!
Spaminator word—
Southern18
Damn right.
Last one, and then I’m going to lobotomize myself so I can forget all about it and return my blood pressure to normal.
When “bitch” began to be used to refer to a powerful woman who stood up for herself, perhaps trodding on some tender masculine toes in the process, I, for one, decided it wasn’t such a bad thing to be. It lost all its power as a “bad word” for me at that point, some 20 years ago.
Where’s my ice pick?
Yeah, Najida, we’re having a bit of a flooding problem due to a thunderstorm around 6 a.m. All subway lines have been down for about five hours. And it’s ninety-four frickin’ degrees. But the city has nothing better to worry about than legislating thought. Shut up, council lady, and fix the pothole outside my damn apartment.
I think that reclaiming “bitch” works because it’s always been used to mean women who are “intelligent…outspoken, opinionated.” The change came about when women realized that being opinionated and outspoken is not, in fact, a bad thing. (This is also why I think reclaiming “nigger” is more difficult—it was created to be seriously hurtful with no redeeming qualities, and that’s much harder to wash away.”
And the damn subway forced me to walk forty blocks to work this morning. so I smell lovely.
leaders77…word.
Sara I am so sorry!
I hope you have AC where you are. It floods here too (but more like “Guess which street today!?”)
Seems an international political problem. In Barcelona, nowadays, we have several neigbourhoods without light, funcioning with small transportable generators. The train today was a chaos due to a storm *sights* And so on. And they are discussing wether the generalitat has to pay to the highway for the loses thay had when they had to let cars pass without paying due to monumental traffic jams!
It seems that this kind of thinking process goes with the job
GODDAMN IT, NEW YORK CITY. THE FUCKING SUBWAY IS UNDERWATER. DO SOMETHING USEFUL.
YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES.
It makes me wonder if terrorists are paying attention on days like today: bombs, planes, shoes, my shampoo – all considered threats.
But really, all you need to throw New York City into a complete tizzy is water. One good storm, the subways flood, trains are stopped in and out of the city, and the transportation infrastructure suffers a near collapse. It boggles the mind.
Oh, joy—*Legislated Censorship*. Holy effing merde, what century is this? Doesn’t she know you cannot legislate respect? Respect has to be earned.
Lakoff spewed forth: “If what the City Council wants to do is increase civility, it would have to be able to contextualize it,†said Ms. Lakoff, who studies language and gender. “You forbid the uses that drive people apart, but encourage the ones that drive people together. Which is not easy.â€
“Contextualize”? WTF? Context isn’t about the words you use, it’s about the way the words are used together.
“Forbid”? Extra WTF! Who the hell does she think she is to go around editting anybody’s vocabulary?! Is this walking brain-dead unaware of our right to the Freedom of Speech?
~ sigh ~
When words are outlawed, only outlaws will use them.
Oh, I’m just fine here on the air-conditioned 29th floor. People who live uptown, in Brooklyn, Queens, Connecticut, and New Jersey are just trickling in. I live about a mile and a half from my office, so I usually walk, which comes in handy when the city’s infrastructure starts falling apart.
Here, let me make a list of things more important than “symbolically” banning the word bitch (like Giuliani totally banned jaywalking, uh huh):
— Exploding steam pipes
— The MTA wanting to raise subway fares (but not on the day passes for tourists, oh no, never the precious tourists)
— The laughably inadequate emergency plans (evacuate via subway? SURE!)
— The public school system…
Don’t get me started on why we also need two new major league baseball stadiums, but goddammit I better be able to holler that Alex Rodriguez is a candy-ass bitch when he strikes out in them. Whores.
Pretty much disagreeing.
Oddly enough we were watching the US version of ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ the other night, and a male contestant was put out, leaving two female contestants – he stormed out, calling them both bitches. I just was offended on their behalf, and I did think it sexist.
Wouldn’t want to ban the word, but it does have perjorative overtones for me.
Probably it’s just that words change their overtones gradually – and when a word is in mid-change different groups hear it differently.
(There was a mild furore when a Radio 1 DJ here used the word ‘gay’ to mean pathetic, and some people were offended by what they saw as a slur on homosexuals. Until I read about it, I somehow hadn’t realised that my teenager routinely used the word ‘gay’ that way. Word had completely changed it’s meaning for the second time in my life, and I hadn’t even noticed.)
Here, let me make a list of things more important than “symbolically†banning the word bitch (like Giuliani totally banned jaywalking, uh huh):
Oh yes! Can I add?
How about the “See Something Say Something” MTA safety campaign! BILLIONS of dollars spent on subway safety and the best they come up with is to put the onus on ME that if I see something or someone suspicious, I should exit the train, go upstairs to the street, wait for a cell signal, call the 866 number IF I can remember it, and tell whoever answers that there’s a backpack unattended on a northbound R Train somewhere under the mid-40’s in midtown?
Yeah, that’s helpful. I’m 8 months pregnant and people don’t even notice my giant self enough to consider offering me a seat. Like they’re going to notice a bag. Or have subway personnel available to notify.
GAH!
What world is this woman living in, that there’s nothing more offensive to be called as a woman than bitch? Because, dude! That’s got to be a much better world than this one. I mean, I can think of at least a dozen words that are much more offensive, starting with “stupid”.
Yes, words have power. But trying to ban words? Never going to work. Ever. One of my coworkers used to breed dogs. He will not refer to a female dog as anything other than a bitch. Because that’s their official moniker. The more I think of it, the more I go, “What the hell was this woman *thinking*???”
*proud to be a bitch*
Poor Meredith Brooks would lose out on a lot of royalties, too. She could probably sue. So could Bitch magazine. So, in point of fact, could Sarah and Candy—loss of revenue caused by a law with its thumb up its butt.
To quote someone who would, if he’d been female, have been a smart bitch: “What an infantile idea. What a heartless, wicked, brainless thing to do.”
But give me this chick’s address (is she could to ban the c-word, too?) and I’ll send her a copy of my t-shirt. It says, “You call me a bitch like it’s a bad thing.”
Sad but true. I would rather my politicians changed the “disadvantatges of being woman”: earning less for the same job (compared to a man salary), reaching power positions in business and being able to work and have a family!
Word, Deb. When the worst thing facing women in this city, country, and world is being called a slur that really doesn’t have much meaning left, I’ll throw a party.
Yes, it’s a problem with our culture that so many slurs are sexual in nature, and that implying a man is feminine is the worst thing one can do, verbally, and both of these issues say a lot about our sexually repressed, male-centered culture, but there are much more important things. Like getting SB Sarah a seat on the train.
If you do away with Bitch are they going to eliminate Bastard too?
Didn’t Elizabeth Wurtzel try to reclaim the word “bitch” by writing “Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women”? Granted, it’s not a fantastic book since she wrote it while in the throes of her intense coke/adderall/dexedrine addiction. But her intent was the same—to repurpose “bitch.” (Although when she went on tour for “Bitch” and tried to explain that she was attempting to attach a new meaning to the word, she pretty much made a fool of herself because she was taking coke the entire time and couldn’t string together two full, coherent sentences. Which definitely undermined her attempt at repurposing “bitch.”)
This is a perfect example of our government having its thumb up its butt.
46 million Americans are under-insured or don’t have any insurance at all and this tight-assed bitch is worried about a proper, anglo-saxon word?
Just fabulous…
Nothing like watching our government in action…or inaction…
Speaking as a vet, I use the word “bitch” legitimately ALL THE TIME, and am currently struggling with my 12 year old daughter to encourage her to do the same rather than refer to her upcoming puppy as a “girl dog”, which strikes me as the worst sort of namby-pamby mealy-mouthed spineless circumlocution. It’s a perfectly good word which has never gone out of use in vet/dog breeder circles.
And for many years there has been intermittent trouble on dog email lists when overkeen filtering software has eaten people’s posts because of completely correct use of the b-word.
Is it ruder in the US than the UK? Over here it’s used all the time as slang, and also as a verb and adjective (“If those bitches don’t stop bitching about it in such a bitchy way…”)
Well, I don’t care what y’all in NY do about the b word. I’m still the alpha bitch in MY household (me and 2 female dogs.)
P.S. Yes, we’re all spayed.
Bitch is quoting from The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue!
How freaken funny is that?
When I used to take my dog (Dr. Buddy Valetine, Rest in Peace)to the dog park, occasionally someone would call me “Buddy’s mom.” They always looked appalled when I said, “I may be a bitch, but my child is human.”
Am I the only one wondering what the heck would happen when the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes over Madison Square Garden for a week next year? That event brings in millions to the NYC economy every winter and the city council is going to outlaw a word that they use frequently and properly? I can see it now, “that standard poodle doggess is a three year old.” I don’t know, it doesn’t have the same tone and it looks foolish as if David Frei can’t be trusted to use the correct word for a female dog.
Not to mention the millions of women around the world who have proudly reclaimed the word bitch. How dare she tell us we are wrong to embrace it. I’ve got news for her, I’m a bitch and a broad!
My issue with this is that bitch isn’t a word that gets used only in a pejorative manner. The women I work with toss around the word all the time, and with an empowering vibe to it, much like the Smart Bitches. We work in a lab with a bunch of guys, so it’s important sometimes to “own” the word.
In some ways, though, I think that it’s like the n-word. African Americans can get away with calling each other by that term, whereas a white person would get reamed. In the same way, I think women will use it where I guy would hesitate.
As an example, I was sitting around with a bunch of guys at work, when another man walked over and said, “Yo, bitches…and Jess.” I thought it was hysterical, but it also underscored the idea that guys using it might come across as perjorative, so they back away.
She must not have anything better to do, like weigh her navel lint, if she’s spending time on this.
My word – knew51 – You know I know it!
Silly twat!