Bitch

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Bitch is an English term that, as an animal metaphor, refers to the uncontrollability and aggressiveness of a bitch in heat (original meaning of the English word). In this sense, the term is mostly applied pejoratively to women who stubbornly oppose (male) dominance. Due to the aspect of heat , the term is intertwined with associations of exaggerated female sexuality, which is experienced as threatening and which, as "instinct-driven", also give cause for devaluation. Essentially, the devaluation by men can be understood "as an expression of fear of loss of power, which is at the same time coupled with sexual desires". The term has been proven as a swear word or dysphemism since 1400.

It can also be used in general for something disruptive, uncontrollable, apart from its application to women. B. in the idiom life is a bitch (dt. About: "life sucks / for the ass"), similar to the verb (to) bitch 'rummeckern'. In contrast, the adjectival use of bitchin ' that emerged in the 1950s has a positive meaning, as in a bitchin' car ("a cool / great car").

The term increasingly came into discussion through its use in hip-hop. "Bitch" is sometimes used aggressively by women as a self-designation to reinterpret the term positively - comparable to the reinterpretation of terms such as nigger , gay and queer - for example in the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s or by rappers. A well-known example of this is Missy Elliott , whose saying “A bitch is a confident girl for me” is considered “legendary”. Here, too, the term is meant in the sense of the rebellious woman and not the prostitute. Even Lady Bitch Ray sets in their song "I'm 'ne Bitch!" Bitch as a compliment.

Thanks to hip-hop texts, the term can now also be found in other languages. According to an evaluation of 320 texts from 2001 to 2004, the word is also used "inflationarily" in German rap texts. It is sometimes used as a term for women in general or as a swear word for a man. In particular, it is used by rappers for other rappers who are accused of betraying scene values ​​for commercial interests (also called sell-out ). In this case, “bitch” is equated with “prostitute”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kimiko Leibnitz: The bitch as an ambivalent concept of femininity in hip-hop , in: Bock, Karin; Meier, Stefan; Süß, Gunter (Ed.): HipHop meets Academia. Global traces of a local cultural phenomenon , Bielefeld, 2007, pp. 157–169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25595/481 .
  2. ↑ Karrin Vasby Anderson, Kristina Horn Sheeler: Governing Codes: Gender, Metaphor and Political Identity. New York 2005, p. 27ff.
  3. ↑ bitch. In: Merriam-Webster. Retrieved March 19, 2017 (English).
  4. ↑ bitchin '. In: Merriam-Webster. Retrieved March 19, 2017 (Japanese).
  5. ↑ gendertrouble_queer_pop Reader for a gender studies seminar in the winter semester 2004/2005 at the TU Hamburg-Harburg. P. 21, p. 25.
  6. ↑ Natalie Philippe: Art and Violence: Battles in HipHop. A discourse-analytical study of the speech acts “boasting” and “dissing” in German rap texts from 2001 to 2004. (PDF file; 879 kB) Justus Liebig University Giessen, May 2005, p. 17 , archived from the original on 22. February 2006 ; accessed on May 15, 2017 (diploma thesis in the field of social and cultural studies).
  7. ^ Institute for Youth Culture Research / Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection : Trend: Female "Role Models" in Pop . Vienna 2004.
  8. ↑ Natalie Philippe: Art and Violence: Battles in HipHop. A discourse-analytical study of the speech acts “boasting” and “dissing” in German rap texts from 2001 to 2004. (PDF file; 879 kB) Justus Liebig University Giessen, May 2005, p. 104 , archived from the original on 22. February 2006 ; accessed on May 15, 2017 (diploma thesis in the field of social and cultural studies).

Web links

Wiktionary: bitch  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations