As an older woman, closer to the source, so to speak, I have a small problem with 'bitch' {Hmmm... I don't have as much of a problem with 'bastard' :)} Since I'm a bit of a pedant, too, my first response is always to remember where bitch came from, its original implication.

When in heat, a bitch will take on any male and can be impregnated by multiple (Hey! What is the equivalent name for the male dog? I think it is simply 'dog'.) partners during a single heat. Therefore someone calling a woman a bitch is implying a specific character.

Bastard simply means a person born out of wedlock and says nothing about character.

I recognize that language including epithets changes over time and that even in a single lifetime can evolve enough not to be recognizable as its original. (Look at 'pissed'!)

Ebbie