Princess B*tch

Okay, so it's a bit of an odd title, but I'll explain.

Lately I've been wondering why women these days proudly announce that they are a bitch. I mean when exactly did we, as a society, decide that being malicious, spiteful, hurtful, rude, obnoxious and just downright mean was something to aspire to be?

I mean, okay, I can be very bitchy sometimes, and sometimes depending on the person, I've felt a need to fight fire with fire and lost control, but usually afterwards, I need to talk about it forever just to alleviate the guilt. I guess it comes down to when people are being a little "bitchy" when they're really just standing up for themselves then I kinda understand it but when someone goes out of their way to purposefully hurt another person, it offends me. I think it's a bit like the instigator rule in hockey. If someone hauls off an hits someone, starting a fight, well then both parties get a penalty, because they both deserve one, but the guy who started it gets a bigger penalty cause well, he started it.

I think at one time, it was just used to refer to any woman who was strong and proud as a way of tearing her down because she was threatening to the person who called her that, which is why it sometimes gets used for someone who is standing up for themselves, but a lot of people have jumped on it to not only excuse their behavior but as a crutch to encourage their behavior. I know that everyone has a bad day so I can understand occasionally being "bitchy" but it's the people have created this persona of bitch that they use to hide behind so they can say all the mean and nasty things that come into their mind and just shrug and say "oh well I'm a bitch, what did you expect?"

It just really bothers me that I'm raising a daughter in a world where what was once a really serious insult, is now a compliment.

On the flip side, I don't understand where the word "Princess" got such a bad rap. When I was growing up (and now), I behave like a princess and am proud of it.

Rather then using the word to mean spoilt brat, I looked around at the actual princesses that I knew of. I wanted to be like Princess Di and Princess Grace and even the Queen. They looked, to me, like people who always showed respect to everyone. They expected the best from everyone because they felt that they deserved the best from everyone, but would never lower themselves to anything as common as yelling, shrieking and tantrum throwing, to get their way. They always showed a polite, pleasant face to the world, even when they didn't want to. They were unfailingly poised, graceful, and respectful.

They may be proud but to me, they were full of self confidence but never brash. Their manners were always impeccable. I think that's the main difference between being a loved "princess of the people" and the new "royalty" that's out there. I guess I can sort of understand where the bad connotation came from when I look around at the "role models" populating the media these days, like "princess" Paris Hilton.

It still bothers me that something I once looked at as being a positive has become so negative and something so negative has become something that people are proud of, rather then working to correct. I think I'm going to raise my daughter to be a princess and to be proud of it.