The ‘Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers’ is a 2003 book written by the guerilla girls. The theme of this book is gender sensitivity; it focuses on women stereotypes right from historical times to the modern world. The book displays stereotypical behavior as a negative vice that affects women (Rafkin 2). This paper seeks to summarize the book and provide the reader with brief but detailed information on the themes displayed and to identify the contribution that reading this book would make in human culture.
The authors of this book attempt to expose and dissemble the huge panoply of names used negatively against women anywhere in the world (Rafkin 2). The try to attack male dominance from a very different perspective – that of women stereotypes in history and in the modern world. To begin with, the book defines a stereotype as “a box usually too small that a girl gets jammed into” to indicate how this phenomenon has affected women negatively, and almost every woman is a victim (Rafkin 2). According to the authors, the lifespan of a woman stereotype begins as Daddy Girl (beautiful and lovely) but proceeds to a Hag (ugly and unkempt woman). These are groups of women rather than a single woman, in which the authors reveal historical factors behind each of these terms (Rafkin 2). For instance, the “bitch” is a term used to refer to a female and ill mannered dog. However, in the 17th century, it was adopted to refer to brazen and lewd women, and is still widely used. Another term (label) is the ‘Bombshell’ used in a movie with the same name circulating around a young girl who was domed to Hollywood (Rafkin 2) celebrity. Similarly, other terms are used in this book, including ‘Tokyo Rose’, hot tamale and ‘Gold Diggers’.
The authors refer to these historical terms as negative labels used to describe people, things or actions, and are related to women in some way or another. They describe the use of these terms as a culture of stereotypic behavior rooted deeply in history, where women were not recognized as equal to men (Rafkin 2). The authors appeal to humankind to do away with this culture, especially in the use of such terms that display women in a negative sense. The authors are incorrect in that the use of these terms, among others, is no longer based on anti-feminism or chauvinistic behavior; rather, they have found their use in common English language, just like any other name could be borrowed from another language and be incorporated into the dictionary.
Works Cited
Rafkin, Louise. What’s not in a name? Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls' Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes. 2003. Web. 13 Dec 2010. < http://www.msmagazine.com/sept03/guerrillagirls.asp >.
