Script:

Introduction:

Madonna: I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, OK

"Does the word “bitch” automatically represent a woman?

And, if so, does it automatically indicate a woman who is mean, unlikable, whorish, and independent in an “obnoxious” way?

Or, is it possible that when a woman is referred to as a “bitch” that it can be seen as a “good thing?”

What if, instead of being harmful and degrading, what if “bitch” indicated a strong, self-confident woman and was a term of empowerment?” 

Exposition:

The first serious rise in the usage of bitch begins at 1920 – exactly the same year as another feminist milestone in the United States: suffrage. 

The use of the insult has grown so dominant that it finally forced the literal meaning of the word, that of female dog, out of common circulation.

(Cut-away to stat of use of bitch) (Voice over.)

A leader is defined as a person who leads or commands a group, organisation or country.

These are the people who have have the highest potential to make a difference in our society.

(Cut away t stats of women leaders in the world.)

What remains problematic, is the way “bitch” relates to power dynamics. When women have too much power, they’re called bitches as a way to knock them down a peg.

It is clear that the word can be used refer to a woman-laying claim to their own power.

 Crisis:

“Women are not ambitious.” _ (quote with voice over)

This is a pervasive myth that hurts women’s abilities to own their goals and work toward them.

The most pervasive and damaging of these are that women voluntarily opt out of the work force, women don’t help advance other women, and women lack ambition.

This is not a women’s problem, it’s a fundamental flaw in our society. It decreases our productivity, dampens our country’s potential, and weakens families. 

Women’s visions for the world, their communities, their organisations and their families are powerful and uplifting.

The 1960’s found women gaining a sense of pride in many of the things their opponents criticized them for: assertiveness, strength, independence, and a willingness to fight for their own definition of happiness.

(Cutaway to suffragettes)

Currently, women are under-represented in almost all leadership roles in New Zealand. Women’s participation in leadership varies by sector, being extremely low in the private sector, low in some areas of the public sector, high in the community sector. Generally the percentage of women decreases as the seniority of the positions increase.

Women are more educated than ever but we are not seeing the same positive returns on their education as their male counterparts. Income pay differentiation remains a problem for women in leadership roles, and many women find that the high demand of leadership roles makes them incompatible with motherhood.

(Stats- Women comprise of 64% of the country’s university graduates.)

They outnumber men in almost every field, including law, accounting and medicine.

However, women’s skills are not translating into significant labor market improvement. This means women’s skills are under-utilised in the economy, representing a loss of opportunities for women, their families, and the country as a whole.

When analyzing the effects of age, a striking trend appears: as girls get older, they are less likely to engage in some forms of leadership.

Fully one-third of girls who do not want to be leaders attribute their lack of motivation

to fear of being laughed at, making people mad at them, coming across as bossy, or not being liked by people. 

Thirty-nine percent of girls report having been discouraged or put down, usually by peers and classmates, when they were trying to lead.  This continues into professional life: WOMEN ARE TREATED DIFFERENTLY WHEN THEY HOLD OR APPLY FOR GOVERNANCE ROLES.

(Cutaway quote: Stereotypes and discrimination continue to pervade leadership culture today, and this cannot continue.” says Cate Bell, Auckland University President-Elect 2014.)

Bitch doesn’t aline with what it means to be “feminine” and exhibiting stereotypically “female” behaviors like being nice, quiet, polite, agreeable, and liked by all. 

Women tend to be satisfied with the status quo. They won’t push. Men are aggressive. They’ll say they want a raise. Women are more satisfied: they’ll say, let’s keep it as is; let’s not make waves. women are taught that they need to keep themselves out of power. 

Nowhere is this clearer than in politics, where pretty much any woman in power is called a bitch. If Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel had a nickel for every time they were called "bitches," they'd have enough money to pay off the national debt in both of their countries.

But when men aren’t asserting enough power, they’re called bitches too.

Women are more inclined to view leadership roles in a negative light. (as having a negative impact on ones personal life, lifestyle, and publicly.)

Women are more likely to see head roles as unnatractive as they increase in public exposure and personal risk.

Climax:

The 90s were a time of critical rebranding for “bitch.” Women who had previously shied away from the word started to embrace it.

Elizabeth Wurtzel echoed the sentiment in her 1998 book Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women, where she aligned bitchiness with feminist goals: “I intend to do what I want to do and be whom I want to be and answer only to myself: that is, quite simply, the bitch philosophy.”

Suddenly, the ideal qualities of a feminist and the definition of a bitch matched up. Feminists began to self-identify as bitches, and use it in their writings. The insult became a rallying cry, a signal to women that these things that have hurt us can be changed for the better. All these things women used to be insulted for now became a goal.

If “bitch” was to become a flagship for feminism, it first needed women to wear its badge.

Women could self-identify as bitches to indicate they are strong, assertive and independent. 

“I intend to do what I want to do and be whom I want to be and answer only to myself: that is, quite simply, the bitch philosophy.”

As women became more public about their confidence, so too did their critics. Now that women were appearing more and more on the American stage, the insult bitch began to slip slowly into popular discourse.

(cutaway quote: "You say I’m a bitch like its a bad thing")

The use of the word on television shows tripled between 1998 and 2007

 the word is so damn popular—both in a negative and a positive light—because of its relationship to the patriarchy

If "bitch" was ever to be reclaimed, it was during this era of "girl power." In 1996, feminists Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler founded Bitch magazine and, when asked how they chose the title, Zeisler explained: “It would be great to reclaim the word ‘bitch’ for strong, outspoken women.

CALL TO ACTION?

Resolution:

(Showing women in leadership roles – photo collage)

“we need more women leaders”

In 1968, Jo Freeman (Joreen) published The BITCH Manifesto, a document that defines the bitches of 2ndwave feminism9.

 Then, at the crowning of Second Wave feminism, Jo Freeman wrote The Bitch Manifesto, which declared: “We must be strong, we must be militant, we must be dangerous. We must realize that Bitch is Beautiful and that we have nothing to lose.”

"Bitch" has come a long way, sure, but perhaps the reason it hasn't been truly reclaimed is because conditions for women haven't really changed, either. I

f there ever comes a time when women aren't made to feel ashamed of their sexuality, when they don't have to fight for fair wages or the opportunity to speak in a meeting, when they don't constantly fear the possibility of violence or sexual assault, and when women feel that they have some say in the society that we live in, then "bitch" will shed that last layer of stigma for good.

Words only make sense in context. When we see the day when the context is changed, then the core meaning of the word will change, too.

Women need to feel empowered to make a difference in the world by leading.