Week #2 comment on Jeffrey's post

I would have felt he same way in such a situation. I think the ease at which he replaced the word “girlfriend” with such a negative word like “bitch” is what would affect me the most. It is one thing to make a joke in bad taste or cross a line and then recognize your error and apologize. However, when something like your experience happens, it shows a deeper assimilation of this type of derogatory language embedded and accepted within the culture. The way he did not give a second thought to whether or not it would offend you or her, even if she was not present, suggests he sees nothing wrong with it. It leads me to believe that the word “bitch” is becoming more widespread in defining all women, not just those that are considered actually “bitchy.” Yet the negative connotation has not disappeared. Now we are not running the risk of being called “bitches” because of our attitudes or behaviors, we’re running the risk simply because we are biologically women! I always think of the way individuals refer to someone they have wrapped around their finger as their “bitch.” In my mind it denotes weakness, as in “he’s whining like a little bitch.” This adds another layer to referring to women as “bitches,” as though we are the weaker sex/gender and in some way belong to someone, like a male counterpart.