Gross Summary

In her short piece, Bitch, Beverly Gross introduces the reader to the various meaning of the word "bitch," ranging from the dictionary definitions to the definitions that people give when they were asked for the word's meaning. Gross gives a few examples from each source that she got the definitions from, and claims that "the metamorphosis of bitch...is a touchstone to the changing position of women through this century" (80). The themes of bitch that emerged over time, according to gross, ranged from the promiscuousness to temperament to power (as in more liberty and competence), corresponding with the traits that men fear to see in women. Towards the end Gross implies that the word bitch might not be as powerful in the future, giving the example case of Madonna, that it "will embolden others with what consequences and effects it is impossible to foresee" (84).

Generally I agreed with most of the definitions that Gross gave, but I felt like she put too much emphasis on the "breaking the gender role" idea. I do agree to her point when she says that women's position is changing over time, that they are gaining more power, but it's hard to see that that change is what men fear to see in women (at least, not all men do). I guess that could relate to the datedness of the piece, when gender-based stereotype was rather rigid. I also found hard time agreeing with her "prediction," that the word bitch could lose its power in the future because I still think that it's a very offensive word to use, even almost 20 years after the piece was written, and I also believe that the "trend" of using the word bitch lightly shouldn't happen.