The implications of Being a Bad B!tch

Colloquially it’s a woman who is remarkably exceptional in every area of her life. She excels in the workplace, manages her home, is sexually appealing, and is revered in social circles for hard work ethic and accomplishments. I heard the phrase used to acknowledge the “greatness,” the prowess, the amazing conquering abilities of women of all types of walks of life from the hood to the White House. So how could a word that is used to uplift be so damaging? Because it is a myth.

A bad b!&@# feeds the narrative of the mythological super woman specifically black woman that can do all things – hold her man down, bring home the bacon, make the bacon, be a sex kitten, and the list goes on. But the one thing that this mythological creature fails at maintaining is her health. This bad bitch and the women that aspire to be her are literally dying.

Internal Health Physician & Hospitalist, Doc Bintu, of Heart Beats & Hip Hop shares the correlation of the aspiration of becoming a bad b!&@# has with a declining health of women who embrace & embody the term. Listen to our frank conversation as we journey through the history of the word bitch, how it evolved in hip hop culture, how women reclaimed the word, and now, how it effects our mental, emotional, and physical health.

#health