BACSA, SYLVIA ANTHEA D.
GEDO101 Section 6
1. Create a graphic organizer of the evolution of the word Bitch.
(No specific graphic organizer as long as you present the evolution of the word)
According to the 2
Oxford English
Dictionary, the word
bitch originally meant
"the female of a dog,"
or "a strictly lewd or
sensual woman"
(Gross 77)
Today the word is
typically used by a man
whose power has been
checked by a woman.
The word is meant to be
degrading and used in
an effort to return power
to the name caller.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 7
Random House Dictionary
provides a current
definition, stating that a
bitch is " a malicious,
unpleasant, selfish woman,
esp. one who stops at
nothing to reach her goal"
(77).
Robert L. Chapman’s
definition in Thesaurus
of American Slang
described bitch as A
woman one dislikes or
disapproves of. But it
follows a synonym
which is “broad, cunt,
witch.”
The OED defines its
modern meaning as "a
malicious or
treacherous woman" or
"something
outstandingly difficult
or unpleasant".
Howard Wentworth and
Stuart Berg Flexner in
Dictionary of American
Slang described bitch as “A
woman, usu., but not
necessarily, a mean, selfish,
malicious, deceiving, cruel,
or promiscuous woman.”
 2. What is your understanding of this quote from the article “something has become
someone?”
 For me, the quote “something has become someone” means to happen to or be a
result for something or someone; If someone or something becomes a particular
thing, they start to change and develop into that thing, or start to develop the
characteristics mentioned.
3. What is your own definition of “bitch?” Explain why you define it in such a way.
 People define bitch in different ways. In my own perspective, bitch has two
meanings. The first meaning for me is that bitch is a negative word. When people
call you a bitch it means that you have rude or unpleasant behavior. The second
meaning for me that bitch can be a positive word. Some people take it as a
compliment because for them bitch means strong or assertive woman. These two
meanings depends on the situation or how people will handle the word.

Skill Focus

Making Generalizations

Skill Practice

The following are generalizations made by the author in “Bitch.” Decide whether

they are valid or invalid based on the evidence or lack of it in the text.

GENERALIZATIONS VALID OR INVALID EVIDENCE

Critics called Marry
McCarthy a bitch.
Invalid “Her unrelenting standards, I
ventured, her tough-minded
critical estimates – there was
no self-censoring, appeasing
Angel in the House of Mary
McCarthy’s brain. Her
combativeness (her marital
battles with Edmund Wilson

Francis Grose in A Classical Valid
Dictionary of the Vulgar
Tongue (1785) considered
bitch“ the most offensive
appellation” that can be given
to an English language
provides to hurl at a woman.
Judging by the
contemporary colorations
of the word bitch, what
men primarily fear and
despise in women is
power.
Bitch in black male street
parlance seems closer to its
original meaning of a
female breeder—not a
nasty woman and not a
powerful woman, but the
biological bearer of litters.
As the young Claude Brown Valid
figured out, mothers have all
the power.
became the stuff of academic
legend).”
“. Its meaning matters less
than its power to denounce
and subjugate.”
Valid Men have deployed it to
defend their power by
attacking and neutralizing the
upstart. “Bitch is admonitory,
like “whore” like “dyke.”
Borrowing something from
both words, “bitch” is one of
those verbal missiles with the
power of shackling women’s
actions and impulses.
Invalid
“A man had to be a dog in
order to handle a bitch.”
Write three of your own generalizations of how the word “bitch” is defined in the text.

Make sure that your generalizations are valid based on evidence found in the text.

GENERELAZITIONS EVIDENCE
The word bitch has a suppressive meaning. According to Gross it is used to suppress the
intelligence, free thinking, and expressionism
of women. The word is an insult to women
making them feel degraded.
The word bitch can be also offensive. Gross added in the article the meanings of
bitch according dictionaries:
 female of the dog
 strictly a lewd or sensual
woman.
 A woman, usu., but not
necessarily, a mean, selfish,
malicious, deceiving, cruel, or
promiscuous woman.
 Female who is mean, selfish,
cruel, malicious, deceiving.
 a woman one dislikes or
disapproves of.
 Vulgar Tongue by Francis
Grose said it was "most
offensive appellation that can
be given to an English
woman".
Bitch has its contemptuous meaning. Being contemptuous of someone or
something means that you combine
condescension with a deep dislike for them.
Calling someone a bitch is a good way to
demonstrate contempt. For example,
Madonna, because of the continuous criticism
and people are calling her a bitch, she made a
fortune put of it.