Let's think about the word, "bitch" for a second. What does it say about someone? When you call a girl a bitch, what does it mean?
Does it mean that she is rude or ignorant? Does it mean that she isn't afraid to speak her mind? Does it mean she isn't afraid to pave her own path, even if she might have to push others out of the way?
The answers are limitless, depending on the person. Boys (and girls) have been using bitch to describe other girls for years. Eventually, however, the word started to become a compliment. Girls everywhere started to be proud of their bitchiness. They started owning the name, as if twisting and manipulating the meaning into something positive, even empowering, could twist and manipulate the associated personality traits into something admirable as well.
Now, there's a push in the media that being a bitch is okay. If a girl is called a bitch, that just means she's fierce and independent, and isn't afraid to speak her mind.
That is where we are failing as feminists and as a society. Why would I want to celebrate the fact that my personality is so overwhelmingly strong and threatening to those around me, that they feel uncomfortable in my presence? Today's working world is built on team work and collaboration, not intimidation and hair flips. Let's not give girls this false notion that it's okay to plow callously through life.
If a girl isn't afraid to speak her mind, that means she's honest. If she is successful because of all her hard work, that means she's driven. If a girl is persistent, and doesn't let people walk all over her, she's strong. None of these things make her a bitch.
Honesty, drive and strength are qualities that better society. Being a self-proclaimed bitch is not. Being a bitch doesn't make a girl powerful, and being powerful does not make a girl a bitch.
It doesn't matter if you're able to "tell it like it is" if your words cut people down. Being able to see the world clearly through emotions and distractions is a very valuable skill. However, if you can't find a way to channel this skill into something positive, or at least constructive, then your honesty is useless.
No one cares about your success unless you've been able to leave a positive mark on the world around you. Just because you made it to the top, doesn't make you a successful person. If you had to step on the heads of those below you, what have you really accomplished?
There is a difference between not letting people walk all over you and closing your mind to others' ideas and reasoning. This whole "my way or the highway" mentality benefits no one. Being able to give constructive (key word: constructive) criticism is important. Being able to take constructive criticism is even more important. It's possible to see your ideas and ambitions through to the end while still living life with an open mind. Crazy, I know.
In this day in age, everyone should be encouraged to stand up for themselves and for their rights. Everyone should be encouraged to speak their minds and share their ideas. But above all, everyone should be encouraged to find respectful and considerate ways to do so.
Stop letting society alienate and diminish women as powerful leaders and figures by accepting the name, bitch. Stop using the word as an excuse to act as an aggressor and to bring others down. Women are leaders. Women are dignified. Women are capable of being so many mighty and influential things - none of which include being a bitch.
