When you hear the term BITCH... Does it bother you? To what degree? Do you get fired up? Do you just ignore it? Do you deal with the offender intelligently?

All Invited to vote and participate

Well?

I'm really not sure about the poll - I'll abstain I think.

As for the term it doesn't really worry or offend me - it's not the words that offend, people can call me what they like. It's the intention behind the words that matters. Is it said to hurt, or is it just banter.

To me there is no word someone can call me that is of neccessity offensive of itself. I will take offense or not according to what I read of someone's intention rather than simply from their words alone.

It does depend on how it is used... But it is a term that has bothered me for several years

I don't mind 'bitch'. Can't really remember being called it. The term i hate is 'c*nt'. Can't recall ever being called that either, but it just sounds nasty. There's so many prettier and sexier names for female genitals. That one's just low class.

I'm with Jenny on this one...i've been insulted and talked down to by people who haven't used a single curse word, however if one of my friends was to call me a bitch (or any number of rude words) I don't bat an eye lid because the intent isn't there.

Quote from: Nero on April 12, 2010, 06:31:41 PM
I don't mind 'bitch'. Can't really remember being called it. The term i hate is 'c*nt'. Can't recall ever being called that either, but it just sounds nasty. There's so many prettier and sexier names for female genitals. That one's just low class.

Ditto. The only time anyone's ever said it to me, I remember being taken aback for the first time in my life.

"Bitch" usually means "overaggressive female" for women and "subordinate male" for men. Anyone who uses the term seriously has really stupid ideas about gender. And sometimes using a word jokingly can take its power away, but that can be dangerous.

I could care less if someone cursed me. I think after so many years, you just don't care about them [the words] anymore. I'm more worried about people trying to beat me up.

I dislike the term, but I didn't vote as I'm not sure which group would dislike it the most.

For the record, I used to identify and androgyne/genderqueer, but I'm beginning to think I might be MTF.

Insults such as that are unoffensive to me really, especially compared to some of the other stuff out there, but language has never bothered me much anyway. Id more likely hear it as describing someone who was a backstabbing schemer type than anything else. I have no idea what group would dislike it most as everyones different and reactions to things vary alot.

What if you had just worked your tail off and went to go to work the next day and your employer started yelling
Ya BITCHYa BITCHYa BITCHYa BITCH for no apparent reason other than you live live next door and maybe he spied you cross dressing?

Saying that would honestly not bother me but i admit the root of the problem would be a pain. I was insulted today by a complete stranger as it happens but I just get on with things best i can.

I'm not sure. All depends on the tone and context.

Like in my post I was quoting from pulp fiction "just be cool bitch" to myself, but I would never dream of calling someone that I did not know very well.

For example me and my gay friend sometimes jokingly call each other that "hey bitch". Or me and my exwife jokingly insult eachother.

But if someone said "you are such a bitch" I would get upset, or agree with them depending on what it was in reference to.

Yeah, maybe it's just a Calif. thing or the way it was presented in years of growing up there

But it was often used as a "less than" or term of degradation

Saying that someone was bitching about something was no big deal, but calling someone a bitch? Not a good idea

Of coarse there were exceptions such as between friends and lovers

Anyway, this all seems to be being misunderstood

Like most things... Sorry to even bring it up

Forget about it

Hey now, this is totally a valid topic of conversation. Talking about words is my thing! And the cases of insults that have been "taken back" in some ways are really interesting. H*ll, swears are pretty d*mn interesting too.

I saw a great lecture by Steven Pinker on the psycholinguistics of swearing. Here's a shorter version of the lecture if you're interested. Don't watch if you don't want to hear some foul language (being taken apart, of course)!

I think I have to agree with Nero on this.  I personally do not mind being called a "Bitch", but for my girlfriends I would only call them that out out of love or in jesting.  The one I hate is "C**t".  That one is the most despicable one that I can think over.

I suppose we could all agree that various terms affect us all in various ways

What is rather degrading to one may not have much affect on another

Kind of like giving the "thumbs up" is the same as the middle finger to some folks

Calling some one a Jack Ass here will make most folks laugh... Calling some one a donkey elsewhere are fightin' words

I suppose it is a respect issue and how the term is used and or perceived

"bitch" is in my regular rotation of swears.

Not offensive if used to describe an actual female dog.

Offensive to be called so.

Irritating when others use it with each other. If only because of the hatred I see behind it.

It would offend me if I used it. I generally try to avoid swearing, there are better words to explain what I'm trying to say most of the time. And my anger does not deserve acknowledgement for the most part. It is irrational and tries to dominate me.

EDIT: Oh, and I ignore it. There's nothing to be gained from doing otherwise.

I hardly mind to be called a bitch, more so: I enjoy it because it means I was succesful in a particular situation wherin I attempted to be a bitch. So I smirk and blow a kiss or make a jack-off gesture - depends on the person I succesfully irritated.

Though, there's also a bit of a language thing to this. 'bitch' is actually used commonly in my language (with a heavy 'jest' weight), the Dutch equivelant (as a swearword) not so much anymore... 'whore' particulary (and variants), and 'slut' (and variants) are more popular, especially when combined with diseases.

Hmz, though I'd probably still smile if an English native-speaker called me a bitch...

Quote from: Virginia Marie on April 12, 2010, 07:51:06 PM
But it was often used as a "less than" or term of degradation

You could say the same about the words woman, missy, girl, son etc...all can be used in a degrading sense, but yet they are all perfectly acceptable. It does all really depend on the intent behind their use...same with curse words except curse words are a little bit more taboo and have a certain amount of power due to that fact.