Bitch
Bitch, definition...
- noun:
- A female canine, especially a dog.
- An insult aimed at women, or used to feminise (i.e., degrade) men and other targets;
- "You're a bitch!" — You're a bad woman, a bad person; you're not submissive enough;
- "You're my bitch!" — I have made you submit to me.
- (figurative) Something unpleasant to do.
- intransitive verb:
- To gripe or complain.
- Related forms: bitchy (adjective); bitchiness (noun).
This entry in the FSF Wiki primarily concerns definition #2 of "bitch" as a noun.
"Bitch" is one of the most common sexist insults in the English language. It is, originally, the feminine noun for an animal of a domesticated species (the dog). As applied to humans, it targets a particular oppressed class: women. By comparing women to animals, the insult degrades women. By specifically using the feminine noun for an animal, the insult degrades women on the basis of their femaleness. The particularity of the animal as small, generally domesticated mammal often indidually owned by humans adds to the degradation.
The masculine noun, "dog", does not carry the same pejorative quality. It is a fairly neutral word, used in a wide variety of phrases: puppy-dog eyes, horndog, doggedly, lucky dog, whipping dog etc. "Dog", used alone as an epithet, connotes crude potency, unless it is aimed at a woman, in which case it connotes unnattractiveness: "you're a dog".
Sexist language has a two-fold effect aimed at reinforcing gender division:
- Describing women in the masculine is undesirable. Masculine women aren't proper women.
- Describing men in the feminine is degrading. Feminine men aren't proper men.
The paradoxal nature of definitions 2.1 and 2.2 derives from the fundamentally patriarchal ideology that underpins both of them: the point is to control women, deemed inferior to men. "Bitches" are women out of the control of the speaker, unless the speaker uses the possessive. Ownership signifies domination.
- Out-of-control women are hateful.
- Submissive women are contemptible.
Variations on the "bitch" theme include: heartless bitches, ungrateful bitch, ugly bitch, fucking bitch.
Some women have tried to reclaim the word "bitch". Heartless Bitches International, for instance, use the letters of the word as an acronym for the phrase: "Being In Total Control, Honey".
Notables Uses in SF
Oftentimes the use of "bitch" as an insult in SFnal settings shows a spectacular thoughtlessness and lack of imagination on the part of the writer.
- In the Battlestar Galactica episode "Scattered", Kara "Starbuck" Thrace says of a female Cylon: "Bitch took my ride." Because when a race of intelligent robots commit genocide against humanity, it's only natural to have a female character call the one who took her means of transportation away a bitch! Nevermind that her being female had nothing to do with it, or that, of all the things you might compare a robot to, an animal doesn't exactly seem the most appropriate...