Swag Bitch - Apparently, this is the male version of "merch girl." Back in the day, I was an occasional "merch girl," if I was taking pictures for a band and said band lacked someone to be in charge of taking money in exchange for their CDs, usually. And everyone always secretly made fun of the "merch girls," even me. (See how I had to add that bit about how I would do it, sometimes, if I was already there doing something far more respectable? Terrible, that internalized misogyny that perpetuates a systemic lack of self-confidence in women.) Because the popular perception is that any female who goes to rock concerts is only there because she wants to have sex with musicians. None of the reasons for choosing to go to a rock concert and be involved in the promotion of these bands could possibly coincide with enjoying seeing live music on a regular basis and supporting local arts for any reasons other than having a crush on a band member. The chicks especially can't like the music. Well, let me take that back; she is capable of liking the music, but only if the band plays bad music, like the stuff they play on the local Top 40 station, or the trying-to-be-hip public radio station that runs over-played indie tracks that appeal too much to the base you're trying to distance yourself from but still manages to be acceptably "hip" by traditional, and safe, local definitions. Because music isn't "hip" until there's something to compare it to, and in addition to that, women do not like good music, ever. Basically, merch girls are barely a step above a groupie, in terms of how everyone classifies female music fans.
So anyway. Here we are introduced to "swag bitch," because he can't just be a "merch boy." He can't even be the "guy selling the t-shirts." He's gotta be the swag bitch. So. Calling a man a bitch is really an all-around misogynist slur, no matter how you spin it. The Swag Bitch has to differentiate himself from the more widely-known merch girl, because simply referring to yourself as her equal, like calling yourself a merch boy, would be emasculating. I guess.
Which brings me to the next new misogynist slur about town:
Pantywaist - A pejorative used by a mostly progressive friend in GChat as a slur against the male governor of Wisconsin in response to his apparent unwillingness to appropriately react to aggressive measures, that I suspected was misogynist in nature, and confirmed that it is, of course, another one of those terms used to insult men who exhibit qualities than in any way resemble femininity: "Informal . a weak, effeminate man; sissy." (emphasis mine)
Ugh, that fucking word, the one that always ruins a perfectly good sentence: Effeminate. I hate that word, so much, as equally as the previously mentioned "emasculating." While the definition of the word is neutral, it's used primarily to describe men who others deem "feminine" in nature, and it's almost always used as a pejorative, rather than a neutral descriptor.
Another reason I hate that word? There is no female equivalent. No word of a similar structure that would be used to describe traditionally masculine qualities, or a female exhibiting these qualities, is used. What?! you ask, What about emasculate? Well, emasculate is already a widely-used word which, as you may have noticed, means exactly the same thing as effeminate, only potentially more violent.I hate those words.
And I hate Swag Bitch. I will never call anyone a swag bitch.
