Bitch, the journey

Bitch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 “Generally, this term is used to indicate that the person is acting outside the confines of their gender roles, such as when women are assertive or aggressive, or when men are passive or servile.”

If  however you understand the patriarchal context that the word “bitch” was created and defined in, you begin a journey to the true meaning.

Our journey starts here:

When a woman behaves like a man, by acting assertive or aggressive, she is called a “bitch”.

When a man behaves like a woman, by acting passive or servile, he is called a “bitch”.

We can deduce then that the word “bitch” refers to assertive & aggressive behaviors in women and passive and servile behaviors in men.

We can also determine that it is insulting for a woman to act like a man and equally insulting for a man to act like a woman. So what exactly does this mean? Who is being insulted?  To find out we must continue our journey:

If a woman acts like a man, she is called a “bitch” in an effort to take her down a notch to her place in the patriarchal hierarchy below men.

If a man acts like a woman, he is called a “bitch” in an effort to take him up a notch to his place in the patriarchal hierarchy above women.

The word “bitch” then appears to serve as a patriarchal hierarchical gender leveling device.  However, by using the word “bitch” we still need to understand who or what we are we protecting therefore our journey is not yet done:

If  a woman acts like a man, she taints and/or dishonors the male reputation and exalted status.  

If a man acts like a woman, he taints and/or dishonors the male reputation and exalted status.

As you can see, although in both cases the gender lines are being crossed and in both cases “bitch” is used to deter this, we are concerned only with protecting the male reputation.

The word “bitch” then acts as a device to protect the male reputation and exalted status over women.

Why?  Because girls have cooties! 

So next time you decide to call another human being a “bitch” please remember who and what you are protecting. 

Our journey ends here.