Bitch

In Beverly Gross's "Bitch," she pulls apart the significance of what it means to be called a bitch.  Gross traces back the derivation of this word and finds that its meaning has evolved over time.  She concludes that the word bitch has changed from its original meaning of a promiscuous woman to an ill-tempered woman to a female dominatrix.  After analyzing many text definitions and the opinions of some of her students, Gross finds the modern day use of the the word bitch is most often used as a woman who either threatens a man's masculinity (in other words, a "ball-buster") or "complains incessantly about anything" (79).  Gross inquires over the male counterparts of such a degrading word, but she finds no equivalent.  She goes on to analyze a difference in meaning of the use of this word between black and white males.  Black males tend to use "bitch" more casually and in a less demeaning way than white males.  Furthermore, the author comments on the beginning of social acceptance of the word.

I found this piece to be very interesting in that it thoroughly defined every possible use of the word bitch.  Before reading this, I associated bitch most closely with the definition "a conceited person, a snob" (78).  Gross did a good job supporting her point that men often refer to bitches as "domineering" or "competitive" women (80).  Because I have never heard the word be used in this context, I think that this meaning of the word bitch may be a little dated, and the significance of the word may be reverting back to more of an ill-tempered woman.