1. Younger women have reclaimed the word bitch as an act of rebellious empowerment & use it to demonstrate they aren’t being insulted by the Patriarchy anymore.
First generation feminists & women older than that were called bitch as a serious insult, equating women to a female
dog only used to breed. Millennials started using bitch as something you’d call a friend affectionately. ie “I’m so excited to have brunch with my
bitches this weekend!.
To call a friend “bitch” is to take what was an insult & reclaim it, which cuts the systemic oppression associated with the word. A hetero cisgender man using the word bitch is still thought of as an insult, while
LGBTQ & hetero cisgender
female identifying humans can use the word bitch positively. It is saying we know ya tried to keep
us down, Patriarchy, but you can’t. It’s purposely in
your face as a reclamation.
2. It can also be a light joking, sarcastic way to express
envy. Instead of saying “I’m so envious you have 2 bedrooms, I only have 1 .”, the shorthand colloquialism is to say “You bitch!”. It’s meant as wow you are so lucky! Or I am
jealous but you are my friend “You lucky bitch!”.
3. It can also express awe, affirmation, excitement or way to go like exclaiming “Yes!” but instead people say “Yes, bitch!” Or just “Biiiiiiiiiitch!”.
4. Similar to #3, it can also be compassion, understanding or “I see you/I feel you” by saying “Biiiiiiiitch…” but the
tone may incline down instead of up to emphasize
empathy.
