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Sunday, August 26, 2012

I don't normally curse on my blog, but this message requires it. 

Bitch bad.  I'm a bad bitch. 

This past week, thanks to musical artist Lupe Fiasco, those words have been a hot topic.  His song Bitch Bad brought to surface the word Bitch and how it is used in society.  (The video is even deeper, so check it out too.)

Bitch. I know I've used the word more than it should be during all of the 1990s which were my teen to young adult years.  As I've grown, I don't use the provocative and profane word too much.  I have a different perspective on the word.

Now in the 90s, the word Bitch got me through.  It go me through hanging out in my hood with friends and enemies.  It was a word that I used as a term of endearment for my girls.  That's my bitch, bitch please, and y'all my bitches.  It would have been considered my favorite word.  Bitch got me through some arguments with the messy girls, the girls who liked to fight.  It got me through being cool and accepted.  I was often considered the black stuck up girl who thought she was better than everybody.  So, I showed the cool people that I was like them.  It was acceptable.  As a young woman developing, I have been pretty independent so I know that I've used the word relating to me being a bad bitch.  It was a curse word growing up in my house, a bad word and it wasn't acceptable.  

So why didn't I ever have the thought to just be me?  I was mostly a pleasant person.  Why didn't I stand up to another level? I could have said me nor my friends aren't bitches...we are ladies.  I really don't know why I felt the need to not make up my own mind.

Having said that, Lupe Fiasco's message is relevant.  It is relevant today and would have been relevant back in the 1990s when I was in my youth.  As adults, we use words without truly realizing the impact that it has on children and their development.

As a mother to a son, I've remained careful about how I present myself and the words I say.  I don't call myself a bitch and pretty sure, I don't call my girls that anymore. I very rarely ever use the word.

I carry myself like the strong and independent lady that I am.  I set an example for my son and other young children around me.  Words are powerful.  Images are powerful.  Many musical artist, actors, and actresses are only doing their job or pursuing their passion.  It's up to those parents, mentors, family members, and community members to filter through what is exposed to those brains that are far too delicate to understand exactly what they are listening to.  They listen, they sing, they repeat, but they certainly don't understand the depth of the messages.

Thank you Lupe for keeping the message going.  Now I'll make sure I say, in the words of comedienne Adele Givens, I'm such a fucking lady. (JUST JOKING)  Now and forever I will make sure to pay attention to my words and images in which I expose to my son and those coming up in young generations.

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