N.Y. Council Considers ‘Bitch’ Ban
Emboldened by its decision to outlaw the "N-word," the New York City Council is now setting its sights on another slur: bitch. According to The New York Times, this latest semantic crusade, headed up by Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy, is drawing supporters who think the word falls squarely within the bounds of hate speech. Detractors believe it can be used with benign -- even affectionate -- inflections.Emboldened by its decision to outlaw the “N-word,” the New York City Council is now setting its sights on another slur: bitch. According to The New York Times, this latest semantic crusade, headed up by Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy, is drawing supporters who think the word falls squarely within the bounds of hate speech. Detractors believe it can be used with benign — even affectionate — inflections.
Wait, before you go…The New York Times:
“Half my conversation would be gone,” said Michael Musto, the Village Voice columnist, whom a reporter encountered on his bicycle on Sunday night on the corner of Seventh Avenue South and Christopher Street. Mr. Musto, widely known for his coverage of celebrity gossip, dismissed the idea as absurd.
“On the downtown club scene,” he said, munching on an apple, the two terms are often used as terms of endearment. “We divest any negative implication from the word and toss it around with love.”
Darris James, 31, an architect from Brooklyn who was outside the Duplex, a piano bar in the West Village, on Sunday night was similarly opposed. “Hell, if I can’t say bitch, I wouldn’t be able to call half my friends.”
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