Bitch Bad, Woman Good, Lady Better

This is my new favourite song. Admittedly I like pretty much everything Lupe Fiasco does and conscientious hip hop holds a special place in my heart anyway. So I fell in love with this song almost immediately. Essentially he is drawing attention to the word “bitch” and how it’s used in hip hop and how different people interpret it, whether as a negative insult to women or by girls who try to claim it as an empowering word.

For more clarification, check out the discussion Lupe has with other black artists on MTV about his video and the use of the word bitch in hip hop. It’s really good to see people questioning the connotations of a word traditionally used to insult women and whether or not it can be used as a positive, empowering word by women. Personally, I don’t think so. I mean, look at where the word comes from: female dog. While I am a really big fan of female dogs, it’s always been used as an insult and I hate hearing people call women “bitches” like it’s the new, cool way to say “ladies”. Kind of like how I hate the word slut and how I don’t believe it can ever be reclaimed when it has never been anything but a nasty insult. Like one panelist on the show, Jamilah Lemieux said, there are other, better words we can use to empower ourselves other than callimg ourselves “bitches”.

Don’t even get me started om the social commentary on African American stereotypes. Brilliant!

Anyway, please watch it and see how you feel. Do you think women can reclaim the word “bitch”?