Women, have you ever called your friend a “bitch” or “ho?” If so, why? Do you know the meaning and implications of being called a “bitch” or a “ho?” The term “bitch” originally means a female dog. Around 1400 C.E. it was adapted to be demeaning towards women. So when men call women “bitches,” they are comparing women to animals, therefore essentially stripping women of their humanity. The word “ho” is a derivation of “whore;” “whore” is a derogatory term for prostitutes. As women, we have the power to determine how we are viewed in society. Women need to be in control of how we refer to each other because using words like “bitch” and “ho” makes the degradation of women acceptable and encourages women to intertwine these words into our identities.
Using the words “bitch” and “ho” makes the degradation of women acceptable. Many male artists have replaced the word “woman” with “bitches” or “hos.” In the Dr. Dre’s song Housewife, he refers to women as both “bitch” and “ho,” “And when it all boils down you gonna find in the end a bitch is a bitch, but a Dogg is a man's best friend. So what you found you a hoe that you like. But you can't make a ho a housewife (wife).”Another popular song which refers to woman as both hos and bitches is We Love Deez Hoez by Outkast. The song says, “If you don't you like them hoez a whole lot... The bitch is no good like lesbians with no tongues…”Many men find it acceptable to use these words because many women often use them towards each other. They learn this through a mental process called vicarious conditioning. When men see women calling each other these degrading names without consequences, they begin to believe it is acceptable (Psychology 226). The words were created or recreated to demean women. So essentially, when the words bitch and ho are used, women are being degraded. When we as English speakers allow these words to be used without consequences, we are allowing the degradation of women.
Women using these degrading words to refer to each other entangles the meanings of bitch and ho into some women’s identities. The more often a person is told that they are something, the more they will believe it. When a woman’s friends repetitively call her a “bitch,” she will end up believing that she is. In the documentary Very Young Girls,the girls at GEMS refer to themselves as “hos.” They do this because along with their pimps, society has told them that they are “hos” for having been commercially sexually exploited. It is not just women who have been commercially sexually exploited that have begun to refer to themselves as bitches or hos, but popular culture icons. Singer/rapper Nikki Minaj wrote a song called “Baddest Bitch.” Minaj attempts to use the word “bitch” as a positive word by saying how she is successful and wealthy. When popular icons begin to refer to themselves as one thing or another, people who admire him or her will begin to emulate that behavior. When Minaj constantly refers to herself as a “bitch,” the young women who admire her may forget the original devaluing meaning of the word begin to see bitch as a positive expression.
As English speaking women, we need to take a look at the way we address each other. We must not allow the degradation of women to continue. I propose that we cease to accept “bitch” and “ho” as every day words and begin to see them as profanity once again.
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