The B Word

If you'd asked me three years ago if I ever thought I'd be a cusser, the answer would've been a resounding "No." Swearing made me uncomfortable. I found it to be uncreative, a superfluous use of nasty language. (Which it totally still can be.) I will even openly admit that I quietly looked down upon cussers.

But the thing is, I finally realized you have to go through a situation that requires swearing to really develop an appreciation for it. Having been through a few such sitches, my thinking has changed/matured. I am a cusser. Not a superfluous one by any means, but a cusser nonetheless. Cuss words have a place, just like every other word. Yes, they're kinda gritty, but sometimes there's really just no better way to say what you gotta say.

Now there are still a couple of severe words that you will not hear coming out of my mouth-- because my Savior is much too good and loving and powerful and forgiving for me to put obscenities before or after His name.

But there's a part of me that is minutely infatuated with the proper use of cuss words. In their proper place, they can be very effective. And I know a lot of people think it's a respect thing not to swear in the presence of ladies, but honestly, when we're good enough friends that you can get mad, or get honest or even just slip and say something in front of me? I'm into it. It's a new level of friendship. :) So long as you don't abuse it and develop a limited, R-rated vocabulary.

So… I have cuss words in my life. And I'm okay with this. But—there are some that still rub me the wrong way.

The one I'm talking about today, you can guess from the title of this post. Beside the two most common compound cuss words which are used superfluously in most current pop/rock and hiphop songs (rolls eyes), I do not like the word bitch.

Now granted, there's a place for it. And as a verb, it doesn't bother me as much. But as a noun or an adjective, especially casually?! Oh no. I hate it. I hate it when women call each other that affectionately and I sure as hell better not hear any man calling me that. I don't care if he's joking or not. Those are fightin' words (really they are coming from a female as well) and I sure will put your ass out. Or at least re-evaluate how much time I spend with you if you have the nerve to ever apply those words to my face.

Maybe it's because I feel like on a fleshly level, I have as much license to be a bitch as any other woman, and I choose/God has given me the grace not to be. I believe that word should be reserved for the description of a female with absolutely no social grace, no mercy, no patience, no regard for anyone but herself and an inflated sense of entitlement. Everything I believe urges me to be the polar opposite of that. And if you choose to call me that anyway? It's like a slap in the face. If we consider ourselves friends, I will most likely take it personally. If you say it flippantly, or if I don't have a close relationship with you, then I'll just lose respect for you and assume that you don't know any better.

Anyway, that's how I feel about it.

So ladies-- don't call your friends "bit-chez", please? Just because they do it on the first season of Laguna, doesn't make it cool. And if good women are runnin around calling each other trashy things, how can we expect more from anyone else?