Bitch
From Freepedia
The word bitch — originally used for the female members of the canid species, especially dogs — is more often employed in a figurative sense to either insult a woman, or to describe one who is malicious, spiteful, domineering, intrusive, and/or unpleasant (it may also refer to a gay male). The former specialised meaning is retained and in widespread use among dog aficionados and breeders, but derogatory usage has become so prevalent in the last century that the term has acquired a profane connotation and is often considered unacceptable by broadcasting regulations and Standards & Practices manuals.
By extension, the adjective "bitchy" — unpleasant, fretful or querulous — and the verb "to bitch" — to complain, especially habitually and without any helpful intentions — are also used, although they are widely considered less offensive than the noun. Neither are normally used in formal language.
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Women reclaiming "bitch"
Under the impulse of second-wave feminism, some women began to reclaim the word bitch, subverting its original, derisive meaning by instead using "bitch" to celebrate the qualities of strong, capable women. The 1968 BITCH Manifesto by Joreen is a perfect example of reclamation; in the words of Joreen, "Bitch is Beautiful."
This trend continued through the 1990s. A good example is the 1997 song "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks, in which Brooks celebrates being a "bitch" as one of many aspects of herself:
Integral recognition of the female character, with its inherent ambiguities, is expressed not only using the traditional caring roles of lover and mother - considered by many to be assigned to women in a patriarchal division of labour - as well as their idealized extreme in sainthood; but also in their counterparts, whose nature has been often denied.
Some feminist theories state that women are often defined in terms of their relationships with others, with men being allowed more independent identities. Such theories suggest that social mores reflect this in the abnormal or inordinate character of women who do not marry, since their primordial role was to provide comfort and satisfaction to the "master of the house". By beginning the chorus with "I'm a bitch" and ending it with "I do not feel ashamed", Brooks refuses to feel ashamed of her selfishness, vulnerability and independence, insisting that they can and do coexist with more stereotypically feminine qualities.
"Bitch" and sexual availability
The early — and largely still extant — usage of bitch as a sexually available person has been extended to imply subservience towards the user. In the context of prison sexuality, a bitch is a lower-hierarchy prisoner, typically physically weak or vulnerable, who is dominated by more senior prisoners and forced to adopt a servile role. According to convention, these inmates are used as sexual slaves or traded as personal property. To call a male a "bitch" usually suggests that he is sexually passive in this manner, whether or not he is gay.
Variants: "Bitchy," "bitchin'", "to bitch", "beeotch", "beeeeeatch", and "Bizitch"
The adjectives bitchy and bitchin' and the verb to bitch evolved from the noun bitch. All of these derivative forms tend to be less offensive than the noun form, especially where their meaning departs entirely from the insulting meaning of "bitch."
From this usage of bitch as "complain", the colloquial noun bitch-fest evolved, to describe people complaining about something together. Used in its verb form, to bitch is considered significantly less offensive than the noun bitch. It is not uncommon for people to say that they are "bitching" about something, whereas it is less common for someone to call herself a "bitch." Although "to bitch" may maintain some of its feminine specificity, men are also commonly said to be "bitching."
The adjective bitchy has a wider range of meanings, but it also tends to be weaker than the noun bitch. Someone who is bitchy may merely be temperamental or moody. Bitchy is usually used to describe women; it can be somewhat feminizing when used for men. Alternately, when applied to articles of clothing, it suggests that they are worn to advertise sexual availability.
Bitchin' was a valley girl term used in the 1980's synonymous with the word "cool".
Beeotch is a variant pronunciation of bitch first used by Oakland, California rapper Too $hort in the early 80's.
Biatch, Beyotch, Beyatch and other creative [intentional?] misspellings are all variants based on the perceived pronunciation of Beeotch.
To "Bitch" in Poker
Common situations in poker where another player has "drawn out," or managed to defy probablity and defeat them with a previously weaker hand, is occasionally refered to as "getting bitched."
Trivia
Bitch is also the name of a Roald Dahl short story, featured in Switch Bitch.
Bitch is also the name of a book written and published in 1999 by Elizabeth Wurtzel.
A well known Toronto dominatrix of the 1990s carried the professional name Mistress Bitch.
