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Should we ban the word 'b***ch'?

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Sqrt

Sqrt

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,880
The bill before the Massachusetts legislature has been decried as an assault on free speech – but all may not be as it seems

Imagine if the word bitch was banned. Hunters would be unable to gender their dogs, Lizzo would be 100% That Incarcerated™ and actor Aaron Paul would be given a life sentence for the mind-numbing number of times Jesse Pinkman says it in Breaking Bad.

Could this become reality? Perhaps in Massachusetts, where a number of news outlets are reporting that a Democratic state representative is trying to ban the word.

Many are denouncing the "bitch bill" as a sincere example of the left gone too far in its bid to curtail free speech.
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What is your take, ERA?
 
Robin64

Robin64

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,625
England
No word should be "banned", society should collectively decide if certain words are acceptable or not as has been the case with many others in history.
 

Deleted member 2809

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
25,478
3668.jpg


cute dog btw
 
Strangelove_77

Strangelove_77

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,392
Bitches be trippin.'

How do you ban a word at a state level? Just not allow it on tv and the newspaper? Seems like that already happens voluntarily.
 
Soap

Soap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,198
I'm not really for banning words in private use, but I am for making them socially unacceptable to use. Still, as with everything "bitch" really depends on the context and who you are talking to.
 
ABK281

ABK281

Member
Apr 5, 2018
3,004
Bitch, without 'bitch' in my vocabulary I would lose around 70% of bitching words made available to my brain, bitch.
 
Doggg

Doggg

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Nov 17, 2017
14,465
It shouldn't be tolerated if used misogynistically. Used a la Jesse Pinkman is ok, though.
 
Htown

Htown

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,320
This is bait.

But, if you look closer, you'll find out that not everything is as it seems. As Representative Daniel Hunt, who proposed the bill, explained in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, the "bitch bill" was taken forward in keeping with a legal quirk in Massachusetts, rather than his own will to criminalize people for singing along to their favorite rap songs.

The constitutional "right of free petition" is unique to Bay Staters, as Hunt explained in his statement:
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As reported by the Boston Herald, after a concerned, anonymous constituent raised the petition with Hunt, he simply went through with the prescribed legislative process as he normally does.

Six thousand such bills are filed in Massachusetts each year, according to the Massachusetts Bar Association. As Hunt points out in his statement, reports about the bill may not be a legitimate source of outrage. "While this specific instance may amuse some and alarm others, it remains an important process for self-representation," he said.
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So basically some random person made a petition for this to happen, and as always in Massachusetts, the suggestion is given lip service and then killed in committee.
 
collige

collige

Member
Oct 31, 2017
12,772
So MA has a law that essentially lets stuff like White House petitions actually go in front to the legislature? Sounds like a non-story and the quote in the OP is burying the lede.
 
KHarvey16

KHarvey16

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
9,193
Of course we shouldn't.

Also you left out the only important portions of the article:

But, if you look closer, you'll find out that not everything is as it seems. As Representative Daniel Hunt, who proposed the bill, explained in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, the "bitch bill" was taken forward in keeping with a legal quirk in Massachusetts, rather than his own will to criminalize people for singing along to their favorite rap songs.

The constitutional "right of free petition" is unique to Bay Staters, as Hunt explained...
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As reported by the Boston Herald, after a concerned, anonymous constituent raised the petition with Hunt, he simply went through with the prescribed legislative process as he normally does.

Six thousand such bills are filed in Massachusetts each year, according to the Massachusetts Bar Association. As Hunt points out in his statement, reports about the bill may not be a legitimate source of outrage. "While this specific instance may amuse some and alarm others, it remains an important process for self-representation," he said.
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Huncho_Houdini

Huncho_Houdini

Member
Dec 31, 2017
7,099
Shouldn't be used pejoratively against women, but the state has no business controlling word usage. This is ridiculous.
 
BDS

BDS

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,845
Htown said:
This is bait.






So basically some random person made a petition for this to happen, and as always in Massachusetts, the suggestion is given lip service and then killed in committee.
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This is such a mindblowing lack of context included in the OP that this thread should just be plain closed.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,945
It seems crazy that anyone can give a proposed bill to their representative and it actually gets voted on, guess it's a vestige of the state's colonial history. It seems like it would be filled with dumb meme proposals like naming the capitol building CapitolMcCapitolFace and what not along with lots of untenable bills like this that effectively waste everyone's time
 
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