vocative "bitch"

[Prof. R. Sussex]

I am trying to track down social groups where it is accepted for
males to address their female consorts as "bitch", "whore" and the
like:
        Come on, bitch, we're late
and that the female consorts accept this as something akin to an
endearment. (There are apparently no parallel vocative terms for
females to use in addressing males.)

This use is moderately common in blue-collar teenage males in
Australia, and is reported to be an Americanism.

I have been told that this practice is found in US biker gangs, and
internationally in-group between homosexuals, both male and female.

In what social domains is this practice known in the US?

Roly Sussex

--
**********************************************************

Roly Sussex
Professor of Applied Language Studies
Department of French, German, Russian, Spanish and Applied Linguistics
School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies
The University of Queensland
Brisbane
Queensland 4072
AUSTRALIA

Office: Forgan-Smith Tower 403
Phone:  +61 7 3365 6896
Fax:    +61 7 3365 2798
Email:  sussex at uq.edu.au
Web:    http://www.arts.uq.edu.au/slccs/profiles/sussex.html
School's website:
        http://www.arts.uq.edu.au/slccs/

Language Talkback ABC radio:
Web:    http://www.cltr.uq.edu.au/languagetalkback/
Audio:  from http://www.abc.net.au/darwin/

**********************************************************