‘IT’S important to make a distinction between a bitch who lacks self-control and flies off the handle, and a bitch who won’t tolerate disrespect,” explains Sherry Argov, who despite the sound of it is actually a best-selling female author and not a thoughtful pimp chastising an out-of-hand employee.
“For me, a bitch isn’t someone who’s going to roll over and be mistreated. She’s not abrasive, she’s a principled person.”
Argov, 39, who recently sealed a deal to bring her book “Why Men Marry Bitches” to Broadway – it’s already a monster hit in Mexico City and Puerto Rico – is profiting from the tipping point currently happening with the b-word in mainstream culture.
Visit the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble in Midtown to see a display offering more than 10 different rhymes-with-witch titles right next to the information kiosk. Read the latest news on the proposed ban of the word by the New York City Council (19 of the 51 council members have signed on). Even follow the Isiah Thomas court case to hear his take on b-word etiquette (for whites, it’s a no-no, for blacks, sometimes OK). Or simply listen to your children – and their fallen idols.
“It’s Britney, bitch,” Spears slurred at the start of the recent VMAs.
“Bitch is having its moment,” notes Harvard professor Steven Pinker, the author of “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature,” a communication primer. “Two different cultural phenomena are at work. One is the gradual trend toward informality, and two, what people are uptight about changes. It used to be religion, and then it became sex, and now it’s race and gender.”
Capitalizing on the success of her “Skinny Bitch” books (193,000 sold so far, according to Nielsen BookScan), author Rory Freedman is coming out with “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch: Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)” in December. Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. Another book is in the works – this one for pregnant moms.
“We’re not 1,000 percent sure, but the working title is ‘Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven,’ ” says Freedman, 32. “Am I worried about offending people? Nope. For us, it’s about being the boss of what you put into your body and using your head.”
Indeed, 34-year-old Shakti Shukla, who has purchased two copies of “Skinny Bitch” (one for herself and one for a friend), says, “Thing is, I bought the book despite the stupid, awful name. I bought it because I heard it was about why you should be a vegan, and I’m very interested in that.”
And Manhattan comedy writer Caroline Waxler bought “Why Men Marry Bitches” as a present for a friend whose beau ditched her for a mean girl. “I bought her the book to cheer her up,” Waxler says. “I first heard about the book from an old VH1 colleague who I caught reading it on the subway. That alone was hilarious because I had always thought of her as a pushover.”
From pushover to totally empowered chick to, well, Britney Spears, the definition of the b-word is more complex than ever, says Andi Zeisler, editor-in-chief of Bitch magazine. Zeisler founded her magazine in 1996 as a way to reclaim a putdown toward women – the way gays have done with “queer.”
“I don’t think that the term has necessarily evolved in the way that we hoped it would,” says Zeisler, 34. “It’s still used to denote a kind of womanhood that’s not necessarily something to be proud of. When men call each other bitches on TV, it’s the new version of men calling each other p – – – ies. It’s not like, ‘Dude, you’re such a bitch, you really stood up to your boss.’ I think the classic line is a slut is a woman who sleeps with everyone, and a bitch is a woman who sleeps with everyone but you.”
But Zeisler, in addition to being a feminist, is also a realist.
“A lot of this is about marketing,” she says. “Publishers know that if they slap the word ‘bitch’ on a book title it’s going to be a lot more attractive to marketers rather than something more neutral . . . like, ‘How to Have an Equal Partnership.’ ”
mstadtmiller@nypost.com