Why trashiness and the word 'bitch' are empowering to me as a feminist

This post might come a bit out of left field, but after pumping myself up listening to some of my favourite new tunes, I felt inspired to share some of my mental ramblings with you guys. Here goes: the past few years, I've noticed a growing trend of the mainstream embracing/exploiting feminine lower class counter culture. Just think of the whole ratchet trend, Rihanna, Die Antwoord, Jersey Shore: over the top sexuality, unapologetic trashiness. And rather than rolling my eyes at its lack of restraint as you might expect from a style blogger (after all, fashion revolves largely about snobism and cultural hierarchy), I find all of it incredibly empowering.


jersey shore cast feminism

the Jersey Shore cast, not classy and not giving a fuck about it

You see, I grew up near the edges of society. My family lived in a rather dilapidated little house in a decidedly rural area, socially isolated because of migrating and leaving all of our relatives behind. My parents were educated, but my father being the sole breadwinner for our family and having a failing health put us in the precarious position of never knowing when the hatchet would fall. Sure enough, it did just before I finished high school. This resulted in me dropping down a few steps on the social ladder and working my ass off to make it back up. Which probably partially explains my love for the whole hiphop discourse of being a hard bitch with a big mouth, proud of the shit you worked through to get where you are today. No shame in being who you are, whether you lack sophistication or not.

Women like Rihanna, Jwoww and Snooki add an extra layer of fuck-misogyny to their image by the fact that the whole aesthetic of extremely done up femininity, including long fake nails, too short and too tight dresses, thick extensions and all the make up in the world does not give off a vibe of being for some guy. It doesn't cater to the heterosexual male gaze. A lot of guys find it trashy, in my experience, and this is not so much about them as about girls and women exploring what performing femininity entails. Putting on all the identity markers clasically associated with pretty and girly, but pushing them past that point into an area of self-awareness and pastiche, loving every minute (or every inch of platform stiletto) of it. I actually have a pinterest board dedicated especially to this aesthetic.

One aspect of the whole ratchet/chav/working class culture is not caring as much about social decency, about what is politically correct. Hanging around in feminist circles, I often hear or read people proclaiming 'bitch' as the ultimate way to insult a woman; putting her down like a female dog, calling her inherently inferior. And coming from a guy, bitch usually does have that bite that twists a knife in your gut, making you feel like you outstepped your boundaries as a vagina-having person. It's like every nasty use of the word is actually a shortcut for saying "know your place, bitch".

So yeah, that sucks.

However, people are strong. And many women have become ass kicking individuals in spite of and even through being discriminated against. We find ourselves and express our bad-ass-ness through the insults that once kept us down. That's why I get such a kick out of listening to boss ass bitches like Brooke Candy not giving a fuck about what is considered classy, proper, right or feminine. Throwing all the "bitch" bullshit back at you and emerging like a phoenix from the ashes of your preconceived notions of what a woman should be (nsfw).






She's just this ball of creative power bouncing around, being sexual and abrasive and gross and awesome, and I find her incredibly empowering. Same goes for Rihanna's Pour it Up or Iggy Azalea. "Work" is pretty much my anthem, and I always get emotional when I listen to the song even though its lyrics are not politically-correct-feminist-approved.




Iggy, Brooke, Jwoww and co all come from a place of being unapologetic, honest, raw and commercially savvy assholes. They hustle and they show just who they are without putting on a filter, often even enlarging those facets of their personality that are considered distasteful by mainstream culture, confronting you with your own gender based prejudice. And that, to me, makes them bad ass feminists. Virginia Woolf would agree btw.




Which songs and popstars get you fistpumping because of how ridiculously awesome they are?


17 comments

  1. Natalia Kills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZrZI6OmezE
    Porcelain Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjtplNg3TM

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  2. Héél mooi geschreven Annabeth! Ik ben niet zo'n fan van die cultuur, maar ik hou van de boodschap. Hard werken en u niet laten doen.
    Ik werk al sinds mijn 15de en nu nog harder aangezien ik geen ouders heb om me te onderhouden. Dus: hard werken, geld sparen en studeren zodat ik later veel dollah dollah bills heb ;-)

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  3. merci! en work work work work workin on my shit :)

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  4. Mijn favoriete outfits zijn die waar een beetje trashiness in zit. Het is -voor mij persoonlijk- heel empowering. En ik moet dan altijd aan Diane Vreeland denken: "Vulgarity is a very important ingredient in life. I'm a great believer in vulgarity-if it's got vitality. A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste-it's hearty, it's healthy, it's physical. I think we could use more of it. No taste is what I'm against."

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  5. BEAUTY IS A SEXIST, RACIST, CLASSIST, AGEIST LIE

    en ja wat jij zegt, so true

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  6. Reading your posts about feminism is always such a thrill. It's refreshing, profound and really well argued. There is still this view on feminists in 'layman circles' (souds so pretentious but whatever) that's like: why are you exploiting your sexuality if you are a feminist? Why are you putting yourself down so much? Don't you have respect for your body? It's this patriarchal view on what a woman should be but the funny thing is, slut shaming isn't only a thing that is exclusively performed by males. It's so institutionalized that even women shame each other for being women. And that's why I love 'lipstick feminism' and what Beyonce, Rihanna and Lady Gaga are doing. They expose themselves as THEY want it. Keep it up, girl. Great job!

    Ps. I missed the humo with your article 3 (?) weeks ago but is there a way to read it online somewhere?

    http://anarchyofroses.blogspot.be/

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  7. Thanks for sharing this. Really interesting and thought-provoking. It's easy to jump in without much thought to tar this kind of culture as anti-feminism. If any woman finds something empowering, that to me is feminism. None of us can control how others react, women or men. Ideally women would work together to empower each other and not bicker about being a good or bad feminist. But I guess we must all start by empowering ourselves.

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  8. yes, that last bit about not bickering about being a good or bad feminist is so important. So many people end up fighting for their "holier than thou" position rather than actually keeping their ego in check/being a good person.

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  9. https://www.facebook.com/groups/nietinmijnpretpark/permalink/648799718507952/?comment_id=649222758465648&offset=0&total_comments=19 hier staan foto's van het artikel! mijn stuk staat op de laatste foto :) (jumping to the conclusion that you read dutch)

    And yeah, totally right. Female sexuality is something a lot of people are very invested in, strangely, which leaves very little room for a woman to explore it on her own, sans guilt. Which is ridiculous, since we don't owe anyone anything.

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  10. Really great post. I have to agree. Just because it doesn't look like the kind of feminism most people are familiar with doesn't mean it's not feminism, right? I think that Iggy, Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen are all feminists, and they present themselves as such. But a lot of people have a problem with how they present themselves, especially Miley. Just because she is young and dresses "provocatively" doesn't mean she's not a feminist. After all, she's controlling her own image and presenting that image to the public.

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  11. Naar Iggy Azalea op repeat beginnen luisteren door je post. Best vet. Ik snap eerlijk gezegd niet wat er aan 'Work' on-politiek-correct-feministisch zou zijn?

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  12. valley girls giving blowjobs for louboutins, what you call that? head over heels :D

    Dat bijv :D en het twerken!

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  13. Ahja, ik dacht al dat het daar wellicht over ging. Maar ik snap nog steeds niet zo goed hoe iemand dat als onfeministisch zou kunnen lezen. Tenzij je het beschouwt als lachen met andere vrouwen hun keuzes, maar dan nog, die lyric gaat voor mij niet over iets typisch vrouwelijks/mannelijks, maar over kritiek op consumptiedrang of statusangst. En het is gewoon een slimme woordspeling ook.


    En het twerken en de onthullende pakjes... Ik krijg bij die clip niet het gevoel dat ze wie dan ook wil behagen, maar dat ze zelf de touwtjes in handen heeft. Dus ben zeker akkoord, empowering. :)

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  14. Ik lees die tekst zelfs als iets heel relativistisch, zo van "so what als iemand seks gebruikt als middel om te krijgen wat hij/zij wil, als je zo je passie bereikt: great". Als in I don't call it slutty, she's just head over heels/gepassioneerd. Denk niet dat ze het zelf zo bedoelde, maar dat verkies ik erin te lezen :D

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  15. Hi! Great read! Can you trash these posts so they're more easily found? Thanks

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  16. I meant "tag these posts" not "trash"..

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  17. Hey, glad you liked this post! You can find similar posts under the "feminism" tag :-)

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