28
We get this word thrown at us a lot... is it sometimes necessary to "be a bitch"?
(piefed.cdn.blahaj.zone)
this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
28 points (100.0% liked)
WomensStuff
422 readers
107 users here now
Women only trans inclusive This is an inclusive community for all things women. Whether you're here for make up tips, feminism or just friendly chit chat, we've got you covered.
Rules…
- Women only… trans women are women, and transphobic or gender critical talk isn’t allowed. Anyone under the trans umbrella (e.g. non-binary, bigender, agender) is free to decide whether a women's community is a good fit for them.
- Don’t be a dick. No personal attacks, no aggression, play nice.
- Don’t hate on groups, hatefilled talk about groups is not allowed. Ever.
- No governmental politics, so no talk of Trump actions etc. We recommend Feminism@beehaw.org for that, but here is an escape from it.
- New accounts or users with few comments may have their posts removed to prevent spam and bad-faith participation.
founded 4 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Seems like an overloaded word.
In some contexts "bitch" refers to a woman who violates gender norms by behaving in an unexpected way e.g. interrupting someone else while speaking, being too assertive or confident, etc.
For example, in the majority of work meetings I have been in, the conversation was dominated by whoever was willing to speak over the other in a louder or more aggressive manner (usually by men). Sometimes when a woman tries the same behavior, it is suddenly noticed and seen as unusual or wrong even though it's the same behavior the men are engaging in without anyone noticing or thinking it's unusual. There seems to be a dominant perspective that it's healthy or normal for men to behave this way (in fact, often encouraged!), but when women behave the same way they're suddenly a "bitch".
But women can also be a "bitch" by genuinely being awful - manipulative, verbally abusive, shouting, escalating conflict with disproportionate anger, etc. can also get someone labeled a "bitch".
And of course "bitch" is used in other ways.
Either way, when women endorse being a bitch, it typically means standing up for themselves and asserting themselves in environments that punish them for doing so. Sure, there might be some toxic elements that endorse being a bitch as an excuse for bad behavior, but I don't think that's what is intended by memes like this one that encourage women to "be a bitch today" - it's an excuse to set boundaries and stand up for yourself when you need to, even when it's hard or might get you unfairly labeled a bitch.
At least that's my sense of the situation.