What's up, Bitch?

This study examined the judgments rendered by college students about the term "bitch." While the term was once considered to be hate speech towards women, popular culture has made the term relatively common, often giving it a comical meaning (Lee, 1998). Because much of our popular culture is aimed at the 18-24 age groups, it follows that the term "bitch" is often not considered to be hate speech by this generation. In addition, women are now gaining status in Western cultures, and are entering fields once dominated by men. Women who were once considered to be outcasts and "uppity" for entering the workforce are now the norm, causing a change in the term from being considered an insult (Herbst, 2001; Joreen, 1969; Sutton, 1995). This study investigated if there has been a shift in acceptability with the term "bitch" with college students ages 18-24.

This study consisted of a mixed-methods design that included both free-response and Likert scale survey items and was conducted in two phases during two separate semesters at a large southeastern university. Results revealed that participants could distinguish between conceptualizations of hate speech and offensive speech. In addition, the term "bitch" was considered to be both hate speech and offensive speech, for its meaning was dependent upon context. However, overall, females considered the term "bitch" to be more offensive than men.