The B Word: What's Going On Here?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the use of the term "B****" and its implications in contemporary culture, particularly regarding women's empowerment, societal perceptions, and the complexities of language. Participants explore the nuances of reclaiming derogatory terms, the context in which they are used, and the reactions to such language.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that women using the term "B****" is a form of empowerment, similar to how other marginalized groups reclaim derogatory terms.
  • Others express confusion about why women would embrace a term that is typically derogatory, questioning the implications of self-identifying with such language.
  • A few participants note that the context in which words are used can change their meaning, arguing that if a term is not intended as an insult, it may not be perceived as one.
  • There are claims that using the term can signify rebellion against societal norms and expectations, with some suggesting it reflects a shift in how women view themselves.
  • Some participants challenge the idea of empowerment, questioning whether it truly represents a positive self-image or if it reflects deeper societal issues.
  • Discussions arise about the double standards in language, particularly how similar terms are perceived differently when used by men versus women.
  • Several participants share personal anecdotes and observations about the use of the term in various contexts, highlighting the complexity of its meaning.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with no clear consensus on whether the use of the term "B****" is empowering or detrimental. The discussion remains unresolved, with competing perspectives on the implications of language and identity.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying interpretations of empowerment, the societal context of language use, and the personal experiences that shape individual perspectives on derogatory terms.

Pengwuino
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Something I've been noticing a LOT lately is people who have bumper stickers that say "B**** on board" or "49% B****, 51% sweet, DON'T PUSH IT" or some other saying... with of course, no ****'s. What's going on here? I thought girls were offended when they were called B's? It's all of a sudden a status simple to be considered one? What the heck's going on here! And they wonder why a woman will never be president...
 
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its one of those, using the insults as an empowerment sort of things. like blacks using the N-word, americans calling themselves yankees, or short kids with black and white feathers naming themselves "pengwuino"
 
If woman becomes the President, chances are, she's a total B---- :biggrin:
 
cronxeh... what woman isn't just a B**** to you?
 
Gale said:
cronxeh... what woman isn't just a B**** to you?

your mother? :zzz:
 
I'm glad this didn't go off topic in 3 posts
 
I, too, don't get it. Blacks call themselves N...s, many times I heard girls calling themselves B...es. But again if whites call blacks N...s they get their butts kicked off. When you call a girl a B...h it's a synonym with being ready for disaster. What's good about being a B...h? I remember in my 8th grade there was a girl who called herself a B-word, I asked her, why do you call yourself a B...h, she responded, becasue I am a B...h. That's pretty funny, so what's up with all this?
 
Gale said:
cronxeh... what woman isn't just a B**** to you?
I know, this question isn't for me, but actually, what to you think a B... is?
 
Pengwuino said:
I'm glad this didn't go off topic in 3 posts

don't worry, you're a B***** too, even if you're a penguin.
 
  • #10
heartless said:
I know, this question isn't for me, but actually, what to you think a B... is?

literally? female dog... i remember i once called my mum that when i was mad. i was like "You female dog" kinda funny...
 
  • #11
Gale said:
don't worry, you're a B***** too, even if you're a penguin.

Learn to put the correct number of *'s :biggrin:
 
  • #12
My "b" word would be "boring". :frown:
 
  • #13
Gale said:
literally? female dog... i remember i once called my mum that when i was mad. i was like "You female dog" kinda funny...

But obviously it doesn't refer to humans. People aren't dogs, or wait, maybe they think they're or at least girls think they are? In what way females are similar to dog's behavior?
 
  • #14
Pengwuino said:
Learn to put the correct number of *'s :biggrin:

die penguin!

heartless said:
But obviously it doesn't refer to humans. People aren't dogs, or wait, maybe they think they're or at least girls think they are? In what way females are similar to dog's behavior?

being called a dog is very derogatory. B***** just makes the distinction for females. when a man is called a dog, its just a dog, but its still rude. i know when we studied slavery, the comparison between blacks and dogs was really common.
 
  • #15
It's not about the words, but about the meaning. Different contexts, different meanings. If it's not meant as an insult and not conveyed as an insult, then it's not an insult. It's like saying "guns are bad".
 
  • #16
-Job- said:
It's not about the words, but about the meaning. Different contexts, different meanings. If it's not meant as an insult and not conveyed as an insult, then it's not an insult. It's like saying "guns are bad".

So you can call someone an a-hole in a good way? :smile:
 
  • #17
Gale said:
being called a dog is very derogatory. B***** just makes the distinction for females. when a man is called a dog, its just a dog, but its still rude. i know when we studied slavery, the comparison between blacks and dogs was really common.

So why would girls want to derogate themselves? Do they think they're somehow less important or lie lower than a boy? I haven't noticed males calling themselves dogs, except for few exceptions where this term is commonly used in blacks' society. But anyway still, how femal's behavior is similar to dog's one? It may be so that females think that they're kind of men's pets? It's often true that females are treated like pets and free entertainment. I don't know, do you think you're a B...?

[...] It's like saying "guns are bad".

Sorry, but how "I am a B..." compares with "guns are bad."?
Yeah, you're right, I don't think most of the females call themselves B...es in a true meaning, but use it with a little bit of sarcasm. Anyway, I can barely see such thing as a joke. It's the same as If I would call myself a d.. while being with friends, of course I don't mean I'm a di.. in a true sense, but I'm trying to somehow make fun of myself.
Who came up with such "jokes"?
 
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  • #18
Pengwuino said:
So you can call someone an a-hole in a good way? :smile:

I can, in a non-offensive way, not necessarily as a compliment of course, but not as an insult either. A sort of "neutral use" of the word if you will. Haven't you ever seen that Seinfeld episode where George's co-workers call each other "sons of b****es"? Under those circumstances you can pretty much use any word you want.
 
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  • #19
heartless said:
So why would girls want to derogate themselves? Do they think they're somehow less important or lie lower than a boy? I haven't noticed males calling themselves dogs, except for few exceptions where this term is commonly used in blacks' society. But anyway still, how femal's behavior is similar to dog's one? It may be so that females think that they're kind of men's pets? It's often true that females are treated like pets and free entertainment. I don't know, do you think you're a B...?

As far as my points, when these girls call themselves B's, they're saying it like it's something to be proud of. I mean what context could they be using when the B word is something good to be called. I think it goes hand in hand with this other attitude a lot of girls have where they openly admit that "I get what i want" or "Buy me something or shut up" or other insane things like that.
 
  • #20
You don't get Pengwino, if these girls call themselves b****es, then they're immune to being called that very profanity. It's a type of rebellion, of the kind "i don't care what you think", etc. It's also possibly because they've been called that so many times that they got used to it.
Personally i don't really get offended by such verbal insults. I don't distinguish between them. All that matters is whether someone is willingly trying to disrespect you, in which case you're allowed to kick some ass without being the bad guy, which is not unpleasant.
 
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  • #21
-Job- said:
You don't get Pengwino, if these girls call themselves b****es, then they're immune to being called that very profanity. It's a type of rebellion, of the kind "i don't care what you think", etc. It's also possibly because they've been called that so many times that they got used to it.

But that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Society is falling apart :rolleyes: . Someday flipping someone off and having sex with their wife will be a term of endearment! yeeeesh!
 
  • #22
-Job- said:
You don't get Pengwino, if these girls call themselves b****es, then they're immune to being called that very profanity. It's a type of rebellion, of the kind "i don't care what you think", etc. [...]

But why would anyone want to call a girl a *****? Why would they want to rebell? Are they treated badly? Indeed society is falling apart, soon every girl will become a B..., every boy a N..., and every dog a ___?___

In heavy meaning, I would say that some girls are called B... because they act like female dogs. They give out to every men and the like. On the other hand I don't understand what's wrong with it, you have a free will, and desireful thoughts, you do what you what and what you have a desire for. If you like sex, you do it because that gives pleasure. Women have a right to have the same pleasure as every men out there does. It's not maybe a rebellion but after all these years of calling girls B... they started to think that they really are? Same was with A-As, people kept telling them that they're somehow worse than whites and soon after many began to think that they really are worse. Is the same thing happening with girls of today? We all are indeed equal no matter what.
 
  • #23
like i said, its just like the N-word, or loads of other words. Insults, especially ones like N-, B****, yankee, (those are the ones i can think of right now,) they're group-specific. So, you can reverse them and use them to refer endearingly to members in the group, from within the group only. Its not just women using insults backward, its a very common thing. Its not even a new thing, its a very old phenomenon.

when a girl calls herself a B****, i'd say it means "i'm a woman, I'm not afraid to get what i want, and i don't care what you think of me in the meanwhile." all insults have some sort of backward connotation like that. Its like, acknowledging what is generally not liked about your group, and then saying "hey, you don't like it, but I'm proud to be it."
 
  • #24
heartless said:
But why would anyone want to call a girl a *****? Why would they want to rebell? Are they treated badly? Indeed society is falling apart, soon every girl will become a B..., every boy a N..., and every dog a ___?___

In heavy meaning, I would say that some girls are called B... because they act like female dogs. They give out to every men and the like. On the other hand I don't understand what's wrong with it, you have a free will, and desireful thoughts, you do what you what and what you have a desire for. If you like sex, you do it because that gives pleasure. Women have a right to have the same pleasure as every men out there does. It's not maybe a rebellion but after all these years of calling girls B... they started to think that they really are? Same was with A-As, people kept telling them that they're somehow worse than whites and soon after many began to think that they really are worse. Is the same thing happening with girls of today?
ok, let's not confuse the meanings of words. whilst some may use B**** to mean promiscuous, generally that's not what it means. we have LOADS of other words for girls like that, whore, slut, skank, tart, nympho, hoe etc. really a women who likes sex is best described as a slut or nympho. most otherwords describe a woman who has a lot of sex for various other reasons other than enjoyment.

anyway, B***** has two generally accepted and well used meanings. unfortunately, they're quite contradictory. The first, is anyone who's easily dominated and are subservient. This meaning comes mostly from the notion of a woman being submissive. The other meaning is when a woman is unruly or otherwise disagreeable. This is the meaning that women take pride in when they call themselves a B*****. The idea is that, a woman who isn't pleasant to be around, probably isn't because she doesn't care what you think or what you expect of her. if i say I'm a B*****, i mean that you can't control me cause I'm independent and not afraid to show it.

edit: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=b*tch
you can look there for various definitions. you can see both definitions, (whiney= disagreeable) and definition 5 directly relates to this thread.

edit2: replace b*tch in the url with the correct word.
 
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  • #25
Gale said:
ok, let's not confuse the meanings of words. [...]

You're indeed right. I didn't realize that girls actually say "I'm a bit..." when they want to show, they might be evil in some cases. B... isn't an derogating word but the opossite, it makes you a taugh girl.
 
  • #26
crazychick said:
anyway, B***** has two generally accepted and well used meanings. unfortunately, they're quite contradictory. The first, is anyone who's easily dominated and are subservient.

i've RARELY heard someone refer to themselves as a B in that context.
 
  • #27
Stupid Penguin said:
i've RARELY heard someone refer to themselves as a B in that context.

you spelled my name wrong...

and you've never heard someone say "you're my B**** now!" or "B**** get the door!" ? i find that hard to believe. please refer to the link for common usages of the word B****.
 
  • #28
Yah but they were always towards guys
 
  • #29
oh, where did i mention only women were called b****s? oh yeah, i didn't. i said that that use comes from the notion that women are subservient, hence why its especially used on men. it isn't gender specific however. the other use of the word b***** generally is, unless the guy is gay and moody..
 
  • #30
Can I have the 5 mins of my life back I wasted reading your, yet again, pointless thread?

Thread Locked, you Beach...
 

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