Derogatory Terms

In response to the question, “Do you think women should be offended by words like “bitch and ho,” I would say yes, women SHOULD be offended by these derogatory terms. However, if you were to ask me “ARE women offended by words like “bitch and ho,” I would say no, they are not. At least in my generation, in the culture I have been brought up in, these words mean little, if anything. Yes, people go, “Oh, she is such a bitch; she did such and such…” But at the same time, girls will say things like, “Bitch, we need to go shopping this weekend. Text me.” It is like one of those words that loses its meaning over time. If someone from my mom’s generation were to be called a bitch or ho, I think it would mean a lot more, because that generation still associates those terms with the bad meaning they are really supposed to have. Differences between generations and their views on things really are shocking.

I feel that derogatory words such as bitch and ho are similar to someone saying, “That’s gay” or “That’s retarded.” Because these words have been so overused, and used out of context, the meaning does not mean what it used to mean once upon a time. I think that a lot of my generation uses vocabulary that older generations find offensive, and this is because they still connect a meaning with these terms. In my generation, these terms do not mean what they used to, so we tend to not get offended as would be expected.

The majority of my friends do use the words bitch and ho, sometimes in a mean way, sometimes in a nice way. It sounds funny to call someone a bitch or ho “in a nice way,” but the terms can almost be used to address other girls today. When you think about it like that, it is almost like a man calling a woman “his bitch.” This kind of situation brings up the concept of female objectification. The idea that women are eye-candy, and worthless, simply sex objects definitely has a connection with these derogatory terms. Until you think of it like that, it doesn’t seem like a big deal at all, but when a man seems to own a woman like that, it seems like there is a problem.

Then again, if I think about relationships and the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing, I think that people kind of put a label on their partner. A man may introduce his girlfriend to his friends and say, “This is MY girlfriend so and so…” and a woman would probably introduce her boyfriend the same way. It is just strange to think how when referring to relationships, it is almost in a possessive sense, as in someone belonging to someone else. When I think of it like that, I think that it is the girl that belongs to the guy, she is his. That is where “his bitch” comes into play. Even though society may view the words bitch and ho, as well as other derogatory terms, in this sense, I think that these terms should be considered offensive. Even though their meaning may not be as strong as it once was, the words still have that underlying meaning.