It all started at an event, in a deep debate, when another woman called me a “basic bitch”.
What is a Badass Basic Bitch? It all started at an event, in a deep debate, when another woman called me a “basic bitch”. Quick off the mark I replied with, “I’m a badass basic bitch”. We are often quick to judge and quicker to jump to our own conclusions. This woman knew very little about me. She judged me simply on our few interactions with each other. She coined me how she felt I fit into her view.
These Baddie Bs are everywhere. They’re our neighbors, women at church, soccer moms, or the single woman at the bar. These women are all of different religions and race, they are poor and rich, married, divorced or single. But they all have one thing in common; they are ordinary women doing extraordinary things. And now, it’s time their stories are told.
What is a Badass Basic Bitch?
All too often, you hear “basic bitch” being hurled around like slur. If you look it up in the Urban Dictionary, you'll see that a basic bitch is someone completely uninspired. Unoriginal. She's "unflinchingly upholding the status quo and stereo types of their gender without realizing it." She's not special but she doesn't even realize it.
Well screw that. Who needs that kind of judgement?
Not us. Because we’re badass basic bitches — Baddie B’s, if you will. And we’re taking the term back for all of us ordinary, everyday women doing amazing things. But first, we’re going to take a closer look at the term and what it has meant in the past before we start forging our way forward like the Baddie B’s we are.
A Quick Look Back: Where Did The Term Basic Bitch Come From?
It's not a new term. But we think it's time to flip the script and reframe how it's used. First, it helps to understand where “basic bitch” came from and the different character sketches it's been used to describe.
Many people credit the hip hop world with inventing the term, with some linking it to comic LilDuval, who added a seemingly endless list of basic bitch traits to his comedy routine. Others point to Kreayshawn, who rapped, “Them basic bitches wear that shit, so I don’t even bother,” in her song “Gucci Gucci”.
It turns out that being called “basic” as a putdown goes back even further than that. In the 1950s, novelist/poet Sylvia Plath wrote, “You've had all you can take of good looking vacuums and shallow socialites. So you try to be basic. You are such a basic character yourself, anyway.”
Plath was a queen of throwing shade and offering epic takedowns. So now we know that being called basic has been an insult for many decades now.
The Many Types of Basic Bitches
Do a quick search on the internet and you’ll see that there are all kinds of basics out there. You’ve got your seasonal basic bitch, who eagerly awaits her chance to get a PSL at Starbucks every year. There’s also the fit basic bitch, who routinely posts Insta selfies with cute hashtags while wearing ironic tank tops and doing the latest exercise craze. Essentially, every type of basic bitch you’ll discover shares the same characteristics.
She’s doing what everyone else is doing. She likes what everyone else likes. She’s indescribable, indistinct. She fails to surprise.
So imagine my surprise when another woman called me a "basic bitch while we were in a debate. She barely knew me. We've only interacted a few scant times. Yet she felt like she could shove me into the tiny, narrow box that fit her view.
Here's the thing. There's nothing basic about me. There's nothing basic about any of us. We're badass basic bitches. We're a kickass club of everyday moms, the women you see at the bar, your neighbors and fellow church-goers. We’re married, divorced, single. Rich, poor. We’ve got passion, we look for silver linings.
We celebrate each other. That’s what we’re here for, so tune in. Get inspired. And don’t be afraid to be you, to break the mold and empower yourself and those around you. Cheers, fellow Baddie B’s!