WARNING: Vulgar Language
It is almost impossible to turn on the television and not hear someone using profanity, whether it be bleeped out or not. George Carlin, an American philosopher, gave what he believed to be the seven words not allowed on television.
In his speech, he did not include one of the most widely used curse words on television. In fact, in 2010, it was the fourth most common non-bleeped out curse word, right behind hell, ass, and damn. It is also used 7 times more often in television than its male counterpart, bastard. I'll let Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad do the honors of saying it first in this post since it was his character's catch phrase.
Yes, that's right. The word is bitch. Bitch has become such a part of language on television that it is included in many shows. This does not only include shows on channels such as Showtime or on television shows geared strictly for adults. The word bitch can be heard in many different shows of different genres on different television stations.
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| ABC Family's The Fosters |
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| Fox's New Girl |
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| CBS's How I Met Your Mother |
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| FX's American Horror Story |
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| ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars |
Another problem I have with the overuse of the word bitch is that in many cases, such as Pretty Little Liars and The Fosters, the shows are geared towards young-adult female audiences. Girls who tune into these shows have to hear the term at least once an episode. It becomes normal for them to not only be called a bitch, but to call others a bitch as well. The normalization of the word has allowed for many people to look the other way when it comes to saying bitch on television, but I believe that viewers need to realize that calling a woman a bitch is dehumanizing and degrading and should not be tolerated. Especially on prime time television when many females are watching.
I definitely really agree with your post. I have a 12 year old cousin who lives with us and there's a lot of TV my parents won't watch when she's here because of the overuse of the word bitch. I have even heard younger girls call their friends bitches but its taken as a good thing instead of a term of insult. What I find really interesting is that TV does not censor ass but will beep out hole. In my mind, the ass part should be taken out.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the use of the "b-word" is highly offensive and demeaning. As a culture, we have used these words to such an extent that it becomes normal and casual. Originally, these words held very strong meanings and connotations, something that was not taken lightly. I feel when we say these words, it is almost de-humanizing, because the implications are so vile. It is frustrating to watch movies where there are strong curse words in every line that characters say to one another, and in my opinion, it ruins the experience for me.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a good point but I don't believe the issue is that the word "bitch" is used so often but rather that it's excluded from a list of words which are considered more offensive.
ReplyDeleteBitch is most certainly an offensive word which is why I would have to defend the writers choosing their offensive characters too offend.
Yet, I can agree that the lack of seriousness when using the word "bitch" in tv has allowed the word to become more of a house-hold slur than a feared derogatory term like "nigger."
I don't know though since I am neither a woman nor black so maybe tv writers so perhaps its dramatically different for me to hear words on the screen than in real life.
PS. Do you really consider Bastard the male counter to Bitch?