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When women speak out forcefully, or perhaps dare to raise their voices and object to things, they are quickly reminded of gender protocol and intolerance for hearing what they have to say–especially when speaking about women’s rights. This is most commonly executed with the phrase, “don’t be a bitch.”
Four short words, yet don’t underestimate their strength: its enough to make almost anyone shut down. To which I say, own it. Being called a bitch is proving that you are overstepping preconceived gender stereotypes, to which the other person is very uncomfortable accepting. When a woman strongly voices her opinion, uses sarcasm instead of smiles, or chooses not to respond to a pitiful pickup line, she cannot be simply dismissed with an upward arch of the brow and a supposed insult. It must be said that women, believe it or not, are people too and sometimes they have bad days and don’t want to exchange pleasantries. Yet when women possess such attitudes, phrases like “don’t be a bitch,” are used to put them back in their subordinate place.
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— Nora Turriago,
Be the Bitch at
The Feminist WireLabels: excerpts, feminism, nora turriago
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