Watching the news about the Inspector General’s report on the FBI, and Hillary Clinton’s three word tweet in response to it, I was startled by the commentator’s summation.
“Still bitter, he said, shaking his head reproachfully. Everyone on the panel agreed.
STILL??? After the ordeal of the craziest, most obscene presidential election in history, being threatened by stadiums full of slobbering racists screaming LOCK HER UP, what should Hillary Clinton feel? How long is she allowed to feel bitter, if at all? Maybe she was bitter even before the election. Maybe she was born bitter. Bitch.
Why can’t she be more gracious about everything? Why can’t she let it go? In fact, why does she need to tweet at all? It’s so bitter of her. She should just shut up, as many have said, over and over and over.
I am no Hillary apologist but I voted for her, wholeheartedly. Because I’m not crazy.
The use of the word bitter as a pejorative has always fascinated me. It implies an aspect of judgement and condemnation, in a way that “resentful” or “angry” does not. There’s a finger-waggingness to “bitter,” like “God, just get over it, you loser”. With Hillary, of course, the contempt is move overt.
I asked some friends if they thought that bitter is a word more often applied to women than men. No one thought so. But when I googled the definition of bitter, here’s the first one that came up:
See the phrase they used for 2. ?
Ha! I rest my fucking case.
A bitter woman is the worst thing on earth. She’s like a dreaded woman “with baggage,” only worse. She should be shunned. A bitter man probably has a damn good reason for his feelings. Maybe his wife ran off with the milkman.
A bitter woman is just damaged goods.
Imagine an essay on how to spot a bitter man in his 30s!
I read a study that said 25% of people report having felt bitter at some time in their lives. I’m going to say that this is preposterous, and only shows how bitterness has become the most shaming emotion, more shaming probably than feeling homicidal. I’m proud to say that I feel both. Not all the time but at least once a day.
I wrote about bitterness as a disorder here. What a good writer I was back then! I can honestly say I feel bitter about losing my abilities, along with my youth. But that’s okay. Lil’ Spiteful has always been my imaginary gang name, because Lil’ Bitterness isn’t as cute.
Thoughts, arguments, bitter rebukes, anyone?
