Ariana Grande whispers these lyrics in her high ranging voice during the song Bad Decisions from her most recent album Dangerous Woman. The songs theme is your classic pop song love tale about a bad boy making you make bad decisions. But as soon as I heard these lyrics I thought to myself, what makes you a bad bitch? Is it okay to not be one ever/all the time? And are the things that make you one, actually make you feel like a Bad Bitch.
I’ve had a tricky relationship with the B word. From a young age the only time I had heard this word was in extremely misogynistic and degrading context. In countless music videos that I relentlessly watched as a child, there was video bitches, bitches who cheated on you, bitches who only cared about money and bitches that broke people’s hearts. It was always used as a diss and never in a positive light. I heard my Dad use it, my sister used it and I heard it being said on TV. It was everywhere.
So as a young teenager exploring feminism and my place in it, I took on the opinion that the B word could never be empowering. We would have to erase it from our vocab in order to achieve a more progressive society.
The original meaning of the B word is a ‘female dog’. When it’s used in a degrading way, it is usually said to woman who are rude, aggressive, violent, difficult and even promiscuous. But when applied to a man, it’s to degrade him and put him on the same level as a woman, usually with the world ‘little’ coming before Bitch.
Nicki Minaj’s 2010 documentary My Time, also explored what it means to be an assertive woman in the male dominated music industry.
‘When I am assertive, I’m a bitch. When a man is assertive, he’s a boss.’
Minaj knows first-hand what it is like to be a strong woman and degraded by the B word yet she still frequently refers to herself as a Bitch. In her music, Nicki tries to make this word a positive for female empowerment. The lyrics in Beyonce’s single Formation from the critical and commercial success Lemonade, refer to Beyonce’s ability to create a media and social storm,
‘You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation.’
Beyonce refers to herself as a bitch while describing the impact and power her art has over the world and media. The majority of women don’t feel like a ‘bad bitch’ 24/7, and that’s okay. We are led to believe you need to be powerful, assertive and independent to be one. Yet woman hide their assertiveness and are usually afraid to state their opinions in case it upsets someone and in turn are called a bitch. Ariana Grande’s lyrics are meant to show people that she’s not that young Disney girl anymore. She’s a young, successful and talented woman. She has openly identified with feminism and you can most definitely be a feminist and a lover of the B word. But I don’t think you need to be a huge media mogul or a rich successful business woman to be one. Any woman can be a BB without being the new Bey or Nicki.
Taking the negative stereotypes that are connected with the B word, such as bossy, strong willed, confident and sexual, and using them to become a stronger and more independent version of you is a positive. Even if you don’t agree with using the word, it’s the sentiment behind it that truly matters.
