To think my daughter shouldn’t be called a bitch

[Fettuccinecarbonara]

My daughter is 10 and in year 6 of primary school.

Lots of issues around friendships which teachers are aware of.

Today the girls of year 6 were taken into a room by a teacher and spoken to about how they interacted with one another. During this speech the teacher called them all bitches, then later said that this bitching had to stop.

Aibu to think there was no need to use this terminology. The message could have been gotten across without using such language.

I hate the word bitch but saying someone is acting bitchey is less bad as I interpret to mean meanness in girls

Please enlighten me but what is the word which means "meanness in boys"?

I'm struggling here - but isn't it just "meanness"?

Poor teacher?

Why do you assume she’s a poor teacher and not a trained professional?

If someone described me as a poor ..... It would mean I’m not doing it right.

Well no you don’t need to give the impression the child isn’t believed. You need to say that you will go to the school and have a chat about it. Then you go in and tell them what your child has said and see what they have to say rather than ‘you called my child a bitch’.
If something seems like bullshit you don’t need to believe everything your child says to ensure they will come to you with the truth. If my dd insists her brother took the last cookie while she has chocolate round her mouth I’m not going to say ‘I believe you’ and discipline her brother.
I would believe her about important stuff like being the victim of a crime absolutely. But it would still be investigated by the police. People aren’t convicted simply on a victims say so. Investigating something isn’t saying someone is lying.

Being reactionary about the language is completely missing the point

To paraphrase Inigo Montoya "You have used that word reactionary. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Why do you assume she’s a poor teacher and not a trained professional?

If someone described me as a poor ..... It would mean I’m not doing it right

If a teacher used this language I would say it's pretty clear she's not a terribly good teacher.

@LassWiADelicateAir either that or you have failed to understand what I mean

Of course not, I was questioning the why the teacher is being seen as some delicate flower who can’t deal with teenage girls, hence “poor teacher”.

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reactionary

For your benefit

Let's all calm down. It's really not that big of a deal

-runs and hides-

Maybe the teacher doesn't realise that it's considered to be swearing by some, whether used as a verb or a noun? I'd definitely bring it up with the teacher in question. It's not professional and I'd consider it a swear word and thus offensive, unless used to refer to a female dog.

"Reactionary" does not mean reacts to or overreacting. "Reactionary" means opposing political or social progress or reform.

You said Being reactionary about the language is completely missing the point.

So what you are saying is "opposing political or social progress or reform is completely missing the point" . Which makes no sense.

Do we? I don't. Does she mean they are indulging in physical bullying or mental bullying? Or being spiteful or vindictive? Or aggressive? Or deliberately excluding some girls? Or being snobbish or racist?
All of these words tell me far more about what they might have been doing
Good post. There is absolutely no need to use offensive, sexist language when there are plenty of other alternatives.

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reactionary

For your benefit

Not really. Reactionary is a political term. It is not a synonym for overreacting (not that the OP was)

Well done on your excellent googling. It can also mean 'relating to, marked by, or favouring reaction'. Hence link to Merriam Webster's dictionary

Context

Well that's me beat!

God I'm definitely in the minority here but I don't think I could get worked up about the word bitching/ bitchiness. I'd just be glad the school was addressing it.

@Amaried yes this

"reactionary" is a political term used to describe persons on the right. Jacob Rees - Mogg might be described as reactionary. I didn't need to Google it to know that.

"Bitch" whether in noun, verb or adjective form is a pejorative and derogatory term used only about women or men perceived to be acting like women.

It has more than one meaning. I linked you the alternative meaning. Many words do. God this is tedious. Or do you think Merrian Webster is conspiring against you?

God I'm definitely in the minority here but I don't think I could get worked up about the word bitching/ bitchiness. I'd just be glad the school was addressing it

The fact you can't get worked up about it is a contributing factor in maintaining the view that women and girls are not only less than boys and men but that they are mean and nasty in a special female way.

The school, far from addressing "it" (whatever "it" might be) are perpetuating and validating the use of sexist and misogynistic language.

It's always a pejorative and misogynistic term when it's not being used to mean a female dog; that's the only legitimate use of the word 'bitch' IMO.

In my hierarchy of insults bitch is worse than cunt.

I much call someone a cunt but never a bitch.

The Merriam definition is not the standard use of the term and even it acknowledged the conservative political context.

In the context of this thread the reactionary position would be to defend the continued use of sexist and misogynistic language.

If anyone is being reactionary it is you. The OP objects to the use of such language. Your reactionary position is to oppose a change whereby such language is treated as unacceptable.

Check if this is accurate then i would raise with the school but not all guns blazing.

Rightly or wrongly, my teen girls have reclaimed the word 'bitch' and use it as an affectionate term when addressing each others (e.g. ' no way am I doing that, bitch!' 'OMG bitch'!)

I'm sure it wasn't used in this context here but when they are a bit older (Year 7/8 upwards) it might reappear.