The B Word
Massachusetts Democrat Daniel Hunt has introduced legislation that would outlaw the word “Bitch.” If passed it would be illegal to directly annoy, degrade or demean another person by calling them one.
My first thought is, Are you kidding me? Doesn’t he know we have bigger things to worry about: LA burning, the world-is-flat movement, flavored vaping?
But let’s discuss.
It may be rude or impolite to call a stranger, or anyone for that matter, a “Bitch” at your whim but there are certainly more offensive profanities one can muster such as the n-word, c*nt, a**hole or a term that was super nasty when I was a kid: “doodie-head.” Why pile on “Bitch”? Representative Hunt says it’s because one of his constituents asked him to. I understand that he should take all requests seriously, but I think it may be wise to assess priorities.
Admittedly I’m biased when it comes to “Bitch” — a word that became a title of a song that changed my life. Back when Meredith Brooks and I batted it back and forth we wondered whether radio would play it…even though we were describing ourselves. The label considered doing a bleeped-out version even though Elton John had a pretty good run with it as did The Stones. It just hadn’t emerged yet from the lips of an empowered female pop star. Hmm.
Alas, they didn’t have to do any bleeping because KROQ started playing it and the rest is herstory. I like to think that Meredith and I loosened the lid on future repeated use…fast forward to Lizzo celebrating being 100% pure breed in “Truth Hurts.” And speaking of Lizzo check out her recent IG story:
Twenty years after “Bitch” was nominated for Best Rock Song the term is mild compared to other lyrics on the airwaves. It’s pretty much carte blanche out there — see what you can get away with. How far you can go.
After hearing explicit language over and over we become desensitized. Disarmed. Shocking becomes benign. After Kelly Clarkson sang “My Life Would Suck Without You” “suck” became just another verb (or is it an adverb?) used in casual conversation to describe when something or someone is lame. But don’t get me wrong, “suck” is still plenty disrespectful (imo) when publicly attributing it to the character of a person of stature. For example last week Sen. John Kennedy said of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “It must suck to be that dumb.” I wonder if Representative Hunt would have him arrested if he said that in Massachusetts.
I remember wanting to shield my 13 year-old daughter Layla from R-rated pop songs — turning down the car radio at a certain section of Rihanna’s “What’s My Name,” for fear of being asked “what does going down on a girl like me mean, mama?” 😳
There are certain words however that may never pass muster. Enrique’s “Tonight I’m Loving You” was originally called “Tonight I’m F*cking You.“ The songwriters wound up having to sub out “F*ck” for “Love.” But it was still “F*cking You” at the clubs. Perhaps F*ck is simply a word that will never be welcomed with open arms on pop radio. Paul McCartney came close with “Fuh you” but even he had to blur the line with the spelling.
But Bitch? C’mon. Boston penalties would cost $150-$200 or jail time of up to six months per offense. With the amount of times I sing that song I’d be Venmo-ing over all my royalties and I’d be doing it from behind bars. But asshole is ok?
Even Facebook will not promote a post if ‘Bitch” is in the text or in the image that accompanies the post. Which is why, you might have noticed, I blurred it out on my FB posting of this blog. This policy has left me flummoxed as to how I’m going to promote “Bitch 2.0” when my album drops. Yeesh.
I posit that we’ve become politically hyper-sensitive as a culture. That said it’s not a bad thing to take a closer look at our manners and make adjustments as per new sensibilities and normals. And then…let that pendulum swing. After all once “Bitch” meant: an unpleasant or irritating female. Now it’s practically a term of endearment. Just don’t call Nancy Pelosi one.
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And speaking of Nancy (a passionate supporter of creators’ rights) I proudly share a recent photo of my pal and SONA* Queen Michelle Lewis at a SONA co-hosted event last week holding hands with (and guiding) the baddest beeyotch…oops, I mean the baddest baddass of them all!