| I've got a lot of things on my mind, and not a whole lotta space and time to do it in, so listen close. This week I wanna talk about how it seems that in 2007, women and girls are still being routinely disrespected as a norm, particularly if they are Black or of African descent. I predict this will be unlike any other column I've written previously, and I hope you're okay with it, because in working from a 3-month writer's block deficit, I'm just glad I have organized lettering at this point. Anyway let's talk about this thing called misogyny, shall we? I know, I know -- I'm the last person who wants to beat a dead horse, and in many ways I wish I were. I wish I could assume that anyone with at least an ounce of sense in their head would immediately acknowledge the reality that women of all stripes (but for all current intents and purposes Black women) are catching hell all over the world; The reality is however, that this fact isn't as commonly understood as I'd like to think -- and so once again I find myself believing it will be up to women -- sisters ourselves -- to do what is necessary to defend our own honor, when it's all said and done. Take Don Imus, for example -- please! I know it's been a few weeks since his racist and sexist comments got him ousted from the nationally syndicated "Imus in the Morning" radio show. I admit I'd never even heard of this man until I read the articles written in various publications calling for his firing, after he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "jigaboos" and "nappy-headed hos." I read the articles before I heard the comments themselves -- I heard the perspectives about how he should be handled, and I heard the counter-arguments: the defense of free speech, and the challenge of proposed "double standards," as many called for the examination of pots calling Imus's kettle black. As I've watched this all unfold, it appears to me the conversation has all of a sudden (and perhaps not all of a sudden, but at least prominently enough for me to pay attention) evolved into a dissection of hip-hop culture; lately, it seems like everything -- every major conversation, regardless of who's the one having it -- has become less about what Imus's comments bring to light, and more about his right to free speech, and the effect that contemporary rap music has had on Whitefolk's ability to feel like they can say anything they want about people of color, without worry or fear of seriously being called on the carpet about it. I don';t exactly knock these arguments -- honestly, I don't. If you recall my previous stance on issues such as these, I've been regularly on the "So What?" bandwagon, often arguing my relative nonchalance due to regular conditioning on issues like this. I'm still not surprised that this situation happened, and I still agree that hip-hop's got lots more issues than it chooses to acknowledge; if this all were just about the virtues of free speech, I';d even be among those now standing up for Imus in the aftermath. But FURREAL though? FURREALLY REAL though? Here's what I think about all this: Imus -- is hip-hop -- is the White House, is Playboy and Viacom, is the porn industry -- and even the structure and practices of many organized religions -- and I know that's a heck of a generalization, so I readily admit it's not automatically that cut and dry. However, it';s my real and honest belief -- that there's so much more to this issue than just dirty words and foul insults. Case in point, let me ask an important question -- a variation of one that was asked of me, that I think best clarifies what's at stake here in the final analysis: if there were no Hip-Hop -- if Imus never had "Imus in the Morning" and Howard Stern was just a big-haired, loud-mouthed dude from Jackson Heights, New York, who sold insurance for a living instead of jokes and controversial conversation -- would anyone really care about the plight of the Rutgers basketball team? And if they did -- who then would the finger need to be pointed at to blame for their respective mistreatment? Don't answer those questions right away; sit on them and reflect -- because I tell you the truth -- censoring words will not at all eliminate the regular incidents of misogyny and sexism women experience everyday. For every million Imus makes "a living calling some woman a 'ho' (or even Snoop Dogg, for that matter), there's at least a million more women who are hired into jobs where they systematically make less than their male counterparts for doing the same amount of, if not more, work. For every man making money rapping about what he does to women unprotected between the sheets, there's a woman adversely affected by new laws put in place by our government to further limit her reproductive rights. For every video (pornographic or otherwise) made by a man that reduces a woman's essence to the synchronized movement of random body parts, an equally sensational sermon or other diatribe is popularized, the message of which often demonizing that same video';s female participants, and not the overwhelmingly White male corporate structure that sanctioned it. To take it even one step further, in terms of where we appear to be going as a society because of this current state of affairs: for every girl chastised for the length of her skirt or depth of her shirt's neckline, girl-children of all shapes, sizes and fashion tastes are being regularly sexually abused or assaulted, often by adult male perpetrators who are then defended by our society because "she didn't look the age she really was." Think I'm lying if you want to -- but does anybody wanna tell me where R. Kelly is now? Not in jail -- that much I do know -- and again I know I'm making broad generalizations, but please, get my point: At the end of the day, it's about so much more than what exists at the surface. So to conclude, water is wet and patriarchy is alive and well. Imus is no longer a CBS pawn, but the executives who allowed him to have a show as long as he did are still employed and considering the most pristine of replacements, I'm sure (/sarcasm). Rev. Sharpton and Jesse Jackson go forward yelling in the name of Black women everywhere -- and nothing they accomplish (if they accomplish anything at all) will ultimately be of any real benefit to Black women where we are (ASIDE: Why can't they be fighting for R. Kelly's proper prosecution if they're so damn concerned about how we're being treated?!). Let me end by saying this one thing, once and for all -- okay, not for all, but at least for now: ours (women's, Black women's, sistahs'; and sistah supporters alike) is not a struggle of words -- dirty or otherwise; it is the struggle of being relegated to second class citizenship (and sometimes third behind our White counterparts) in a society that swears by the standards of justice and equality for all. The real struggle at the end of the day is for the right to be respected as more to this society than the gift God placed between our legs -- not just because a man allows it to be so, but because we choose to be so. If we all could be more critical and challenging of the oppressive philosophies that run this world, and the racist, sexist, patriarchal and homophobic policies that emerge from it, then perhaps when this situation arises again (because you know it will happen again right?) I'll be more inclined to believe that those who claim to care about our problems indeed care about what our problems are. Until that happens I'll do my best not to completely tune out. Thank you, and take care. |
| Random Order/Tracie Gilbert Forests and trees |
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