What’s up b****”? I unconsciously greeted a co-worker.”That’s not my name, don’t call me that” she replied with a serious tone.
Instantly I felt some kind of way. I didn’t know how to react, that response was new to me.
So being the stubborn person that I was, I got an attitude, rolled my eyes and said the B-word again, but this time with a different tone.
Same word, same spelling, opposite meanings when said in a different tone, or is it?
Moving forward, the reason I caught an attitude with my co-worker was because she took me out of my comfort zone. I knew that I was in the wrong.
By calling her a word that translate to a female dog, and she not responding showcased great qualities in her, but highlighted one of my flaws. My flaw being that I accepted the title of a “B-word”.
Society makes it cool to be a B-word, and even cooler to be a bad one.
In almost every new song out the type of woman is glorified, not because of her personality, intellect and/or character. But instead for her big butt, long hair.
What happened to the self-worth? At the moment, with my co-worker, I realized that I had lost sight of my own self-worth.
Do you think for one second that Rosa Parks, Michelle Obama or Corretta King answered to that title?
Pioneers from past generations fought for the African American community to have an identity besides being just the “Coons” or “Antscha Momma” just to replace them with “n****” and “b****.” According to dictionary.com there are several definitions of b**** one being a female dog, another being a person who performs demeaning tasks for another, and a convict who is in a homosexual relationship and/or dominant relationship willingly or unwillingly in the prison setting.
And I know what you’re thinking right now; it’s not that serious.
As long as the person calling me it doesn’t say it in a bad way than it is okay. But when is it ever okay?
For instance, you over hear you’re daughters boyfriend over the phone telling his “n****” that he’s picking up his “b****.” So he’s picking up your baby girl: his b****!
Catch my drift?
No matter how you try to put it, there are no good connotations connected to the b-word.
Here’s the thing, I’m not perfect and sometimes I still fall short to the customs of the society.
However, I am working on it. That day, my co-worker planted a seed in my head.
That’s the main idea that I am trying to accomplish with the column. Not to ridicule you, nor to call you out.
Just to simply plant a seed, to stimulate your mind about what you’re answering to, and some of the things that you accept.
Don’t answer to something that you wouldn’t want your daughter to be, or your son to come home with.
Erina Love is a senior mass communication major from Detroit.