The B-Word on Television

Two new television series feature the word for a female dog in their titles. “GCB” is a Dallas-based series based on a book called Good Christian Bitches.  Don’t Trust the B– in Apartment 23 stars Krysten Ritter as a New York mean girl.  Both shows originally spelled out the word in their titles.  Both shows feature trashy behavior and raunchy humor.  “GCB” begins with the lead character’s husband being killed in a car crash as his mistress is performing a sex act and the church-going characters are portrayed as scheming hypocrites.  There is more to object to in these shows, but as in my last commentary about the continued coarsening of language on prime time broadcast television, this is another example of especially ugly and misogynistic word choices (or suggested word choices) and I am sorry to see it.