Tina Fey proudly identified herself and Amy Poehler as bitches on "Saturday Night Live."

Back in 1987, watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 with our fingers over our eyes, we never dreamed that the part that could come true was Freddy Krueger bursting out of a television set snarling, “Welcome to primetime, bitch!”

More than two decades later, the once-verboten B-word permeates popular media. But rather than shocking, it’s acquired a veneer of sass. There’s Bitch Slap, a retro chixploitation film currently in theaters, starring scantily clad women squabbling over crime, and Skinny Bitch, the best-selling diet book series. The epithet pops up regularly on primetime television, everywhere from How I Met Your Mother to Grey’s Anatomy. A memoir called Bitch Is the New Black, about successful young African-American women, has already sold the film rights and gotten Hollywood buzz though it won’t be published by Harper until June.

As an insult, though, bitch has great legs. Used since the 14th century, the comparison to a dog in heat was once thought the foulest invective against women in the English language, worse than equating a woman to a prostitute, who at least had the good sense to profit from her wanton ways.

In modern times, many claim the word as a badge of honor, because it’s often used against outspoken women. When Hillary Clinton was called a bitch during her presidential campaign, Tina Fey memorably defended her on Saturday Night Live. “Yeah, she is, and so am I,” Fey said proudly. “Bitches get stuff done!”

But does the current snarky incarnation just obscure a still-ugly insult lurking? Andi Zeisler, co-founder of feminist pop-culture magazine Bitch, has followed the word’s usage for years, and she’s not convinced it’s evolved.

“It’s been used in a variety of different ways and a lot more diverse ways but I wouldn’t say better ways,” Zeisler says. “We have a host of gender-neutral words to describe someone we don’t like — but when it’s a woman we use ‘bitch.’ ”

When do you find the word “bitch” offensive? Or do you see a positive side?

Photo credit: KMazur/WireImage/Getty Images

Tags: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Andi Zeisler, Bitch, BITCH MAGAZINE, Bitch Slap, co-founder, Culture, Entertainment/Culture, feminist pop-culture magazine, Freddy Krueger, Getty Images Inc., Harper, Hillary Clinton, How I Met Your Mother, Profanity, Publishing, Singles, Third-wave Feminism, Tina Fey