丁香园AV

Mr. Trevor Noah

c/o The Daily Social Distancing Show

Comedy Central

Dear Mr. Noah,

Re: Bitch

Love you, love your show! Long time watcher, first time writer.

I have noticed lately that you often refer to men as 鈥渂itch鈥� and 鈥渓ittle bitch鈥�, and sometimes you call someone imaginary 鈥渂itch鈥� to the side camera. You tend to use this term for men whom, I would agree, deserve a strong insult. You do not seem to call women bitches, unless this side camera audience includes women, which it does not seem to.

However, with the historical usage of the word bitch to describe women in general, you are essentially insulting men by calling them women 鈥� I trust this is not what you intend to do. I would hope you do not insult men by calling them women. Woman is not an insult. Bitch, however, is an insult synonymous with women. Therefore, when you call a man a bitch, no matter what kind of right-wing piece of shit he may be, you are insulting women.

I will sum up the history of bitch thusly: female dog - female insult - synonymous with female - prison term for a subordinate or un-consenting boyfriend 鈥� gay men calling each other 鈥渂itch鈥� both as an insult and a term of endearment - attempted reclamation by women (鈥渕y bitches鈥� meaning 鈥渕y friends鈥�) 鈥� women are bitches and men can be bitches now, too.

Notwithstanding a lifetime of Hugh Hefner鈥檚 problematic exploitation of women, when challenged on Twitter to explain how he got all the bitches, Hefner tweeted back, 鈥淚 have a lot of girlfriends because I don鈥檛 call them bitches. A little respect goes a long way.鈥�

Indeed, Hef, indeed.

Calling a man bitch is not new. In 1991, none other than the indomitable Ice-T, in his song 鈥淏itches 2鈥� on Original Gangster, rapped:

鈥淪o ladies, we ain鈥檛 just talkin bout you, cause some of you n****s is bitches too.鈥�

In this song, Ice-T explains situations where men he knows have acted in sneaky, underhanded ways such as to amount to being 鈥渂itches鈥�. He says 鈥�you ain鈥檛 nothing but a bitch鈥� n***a鈥� and laments for each man 鈥淗ow鈥檇 he go out? He went out like a bitch.鈥�  The 鈥済oing out鈥� refers, I believe, to getting beat up or killed for transgressive, bitch-like actions.

Calling a man a bitch, by Ice-T鈥檚 standard, is a substantial affront. Repurposing bitch to mean men does not lessen the insult when women are being called bitches. Attempts by women to reclaim the word by calling each other bitches both lovingly and as an insult, I fear, have been nominally successful at best.

Calling a man 鈥渂itch鈥� is loaded with misogyny, the hatred of women. But it is also aimed squarely at a man鈥檚 masculinity. It is the adult version of 鈥測ou throw like a girl鈥�, or 鈥測ou fight like a girl鈥� wherein doing anything 鈥渓ike a girl鈥� is considered substandard to what a boy can do. These have been the worst type of insults one can throw at a boy. Boys are constantly being inundated with messages that women are inferior and these insults add to the understanding that anything feminine is a threat to masculinity.

I would like to add a side note regarding 鈥渟on of a bitch鈥�. This is the bitch derivative wherein your mother is such a bitch that you are worthy of insult merely by being her son. This is a male-targeted insult, but of course it goes back to the misogyny of insulting one鈥檚 momma. (Don鈥檛 get me started on 鈥淵o Momma鈥� jokes!)

Misogyny is everywhere, women are called bitches just for living our lives, for rejecting unwanted sexual advances, for standing up for ourselves in the workplace, for earning promotions where we supervise men, and for running for office. We are called 鈥渢hat bitch鈥� for standing up for our children and demanding child support. The word has not been successfully reclaimed.

Take from this what you will. There are more creative insults out there and I know you have a very creative imagination 鈥� I read your book.

Best,

Les