Embracing My Inner Bitch

A few years back, when I was an undergraduate at William Paterson College in New Jersey (I think it was my junior or senior year), I was taking an African American Studies course. I think I was one of two women in the class and the rest were guys. That was kind of odd now that I think of it, because usually women out number men on college campuses, especially black women… But that's another post for another day… Anyway, during this one class session, I got into a rather heated debate about Black leadership. And when I say heated, I mean heated. The tones and levels of voice were kicked up more than a notch. Then at one point, I guess the brother couldn't stand that this little girl was going toe to toe and not back down, because, he pulled out the B-word. Yep, he called me a bitch. I looked at him for a minute and asked him if he just called me a bitch. (No I didn't punch him dead in the eye and say who you calling a bitch like my girl Latifah. BTW, what's up, Dana! Holla at your girl!) At the time, I realized, just as I know now, that the dude only called me a bitch because I was speaking my mind and holding my space. He couldn't hang. So he threw out a word that was meant to shut me up. Poor fool didn't know that the sister was embracing her inner bitch. When he said yes, I called you a bitch, all arrogant and bold, I said thank you with a pleasant smile. I knew that I had done my job for the day. He sat there looking every bit of the idiot he was and probably still is. The other brothers in the class stepped right to him and demanded that he apologize to the sister. And he eventually did. But I really didn't need his apology. I vowed never to let self-righteous, pompous jerks try and shut me up. And I certainly wasn't going to let the word bitch stop me.

Many women are embracing the word bitch. And I don't pretend to have the answer as to whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing. That's not the point of this post at all. The point is that sometimes (well, most times truth be told) I feel like embracing my inner bitch, my tell-it-like-it-is, stand-my-ground, take-no-shit, self. I subscribe to Bitch Magazine and I even have a collection of bitch magnets boldly displayed in my office. The heroine in my first romance novel is probably the closest to this part of my persona… even though I had to tone her way down. (I hope some of her bitchiness still shined through...)

I'll close by sharing some of the sayings on my bitch magnets and encouraging you all to embrace your inner bitch…

From the bitch magnet collection:

"You say I'm a bitch like it's a bad thing."

Babe
In
Total
Control of
Herself

"That's Queen Bitch to you!"

"Extra-Strength Bitch"

"Life's a bitch and so am I."

"Being unstable & bitchy is all part of my mystique."

"The bitch is back!"

"Did you have a bowl of bitchy for breakfast or what?"

Bonus: Three that aren’t bitch magnets but are certainly related to the topic:

"Queen of fucking everything"

"The simple truth is… if the Queen had balls, she'd be King."

"What part of princess don't you understand?"

Have a great day and don't forget to embrace your inner bitch!

Gwyneth