Urban Dictionary definition of “bitch”:
Someone who is inconsiderate and insensitive.
Hi! I’m a bitch!
Yep, you read that right. I am a bitch. I know what you’re probably thinking, “Why would you call yourself a bitch?” Great question! Here’s why I call myself a bitch.
When I was in fifth grade, I loved the show Wizards of Waverly Place. It was my all time favorite show, mostly because I loved the main character Alex Russo. Alex was a high school student who seemingly didn’t care about anything. She just lived her life the way she wanted to. So I decided that when I got to middle school, I wanted to be exactly like Alex Russo.
When I finally got to middle school I started my pursuit to be like Alex. I went to school, talked to everyone, and acted the way I wanted to. I wasn’t a delinquent, or a troublemaker, I was just a 12 year old who accepted myself. Looking back on it, it was probably the most confident I have ever been in my life.
It was the middle of seventh grade when I was first called a bitch– by the most popular boy in school,the star football player. It’s so weird saying all of that now because it was only middle school, but hey middle school was hard and we all thought we were grownups. He called me a bitch because I called him out on making fun of a boy in our class. At first I was taken aback; being called a bitch was an insult, right? But I didn’t think I did anything wrong; I stopped a bully. It was right then that I accepted my new title. Okay, I was a bitch.
I carried that name with me for the rest of middle school and through most of high school. I was kind of bossy,I was blunt, I didn’t really care about what people thought about me, and I told people what I thought, even if it wasn’t necessarily what they wanted to hear. Whenever I was talking with people and said something blunt or pessimistic, I would add, “yeah i’m a bitch.” It’s like that scene in Pitch Perfect where Aubrey asks Fat Amy why she calls herself Fat and she replies, “So bitches like you won’t say it behind my back.” That’s what I thought. If I called myself a bitch no one else would.
But I didn’t really know what the word meant until later in life. Throughout high school, I became more active in the feminist community. I learned more about the impacts of the toxicity of masculinity as well as how important it is for women to support women. I became more aware of the use of words used to describe women, and how they are received among others. I started to understand that words like “bitch,” “whore” and other degrading words, were not used to describe someone who was embodying the meaning of those words, but instead they were used when a woman was standing up for herself. More often than not I’ve been referred to as a bitch when I’ve talked back, stood up for myself, or simply thought in a way that was different than the norm. In 10th grade, I gave a persuasive presentation on why religion should not be taught in school; after that the word bitch was used to describe me by a large number of people. I was baffled that after one controversial speech I was targeted by so many people.
On January 21, 2017 I attended the Women’s March in Washington. I made a sign that said “Keep your tiny hands off our rights” and joined almost 1,000,000 other women and men to protest a variety of different things. Once I returned from the march I felt empowered. I began to write about the injustices in America and around the world; I actively started to voice my opinions in different political areas ranging from opinions of the dress code in my school to the stance on immigration in today’s America. It seemed like almost every day someone was calling me a bitch, a ignorant hipster, or even a feminazi. I was called horrible names for the sole reason of standing up for what I believe in.
But I won’t let a word stop me. If I am a bitch for speaking my mind, standing up for others as well as myself, and trying to make a difference in our society then, fine– I will accept my title and continue to do what I feel is right. I know that I am not entirely inconsiderate and insensitive. I know I am not the true definition of a bitch. But if that’s what the world wants to call me, then I’m ok with that. After all, bitches get stuff done.
Love
~ A Bitch