How Female Rappers Have Taken Back the Word 'Bitch,' And Made It Their Own

Reclaiming The Word 'Bitch' In The Rap World
FILE - This Nov. 2, 2013 file photo shows hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj at the Power 105.1's Powerhouse Concert at the Barclays Center in New York. Minaj is being criticized after using a photo of Malcolm X with a gun in his hands, juxtaposed with a racial slur, for her new single. Minaj posted the photo Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, on her website and Instagram page. Malcolm X?s family and estate said her use of the black nationalist for her single artwork is disrespectful and offensive. In an exclusive statement to The Associated Press on Friday, Feb. 14, Malcolm X?s daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, said Minaj?s use of the picture is ?in no way is endorsed by my family.? (Photo by Brad Barket/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - This Nov. 2, 2013 file photo shows hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj at the Power 105.1's Powerhouse Concert at the Barclays Center in New York. Minaj is being criticized after using a photo of Malcolm X with a gun in his hands, juxtaposed with a racial slur, for her new single. Minaj posted the photo Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, on her website and Instagram page. Malcolm X?s family and estate said her use of the black nationalist for her single artwork is disrespectful and offensive. In an exclusive statement to The Associated Press on Friday, Feb. 14, Malcolm X?s daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, said Minaj?s use of the picture is ?in no way is endorsed by my family.? (Photo by Brad Barket/Invision/AP, File)

When asked her motto on the French TV show Question Box, Nicki Minaj growled seven powerful words: "I'm a bad bitch; I'm a cunt."

We're guessing that the French audience maybe didn't quite get it, but to an American audience, Minaj's motto makes total sense: Minaj and a growing army of feMCs are transforming the meaning of one of our most demeaning words. Suddenly, thanks to female rappers, bitch is a positive term, a quality in women worth celebrating.

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