I have very little to add to the discussion of the Don Imus controversy. I’ve been reading what everyone else has to say, and though many wise and good points are being made by many wise and good people, a couple of posts I’ve seen jump out at me.
From last Friday, here’s dNA’s piece at Halfrican Revolution: White Supremacy Outsources its Vocabulary. (H/T Pam at Pandagon).
It is impossible to understand our current ease with sexism in the public sphere, especially towards black women, especially over the issue of hair, without discussing the spread of Hip-hop… Hip-hop has granted black men greater access to white women. It has also granted white men greater access to black women; make no mistake, your teenage son, little brother, or husband is tuning into the “booty channel” (also known as Black Entertainment Television) when you’re not home. The attitude towards women in mainstream Hip-hop is that women are commodities, an attitude that mimics attitudes towards gender in greater American society, a fact made obvious by any beer commercial.
What has happened here is a subtle, unspoken agreement between black and white men that black women and their minds and bodies are owed as little respect as the minds and bodies of white women. This happens even as overt racism towards black men in the public sphere becomes more and more accessible. This happens because on some level, black men know we cannot be seen as men unless we effectively subjigate, commodify, and exploit black women.
A black man like dNa can say that in a way that I can’t.
Listening to right-wing talk radio yesterday, I heard a few folks doing their best to deflect attention from Imus by attacking the degrading portrayal of women in hip-hop culture. I winced as I heard that, largely because the hosts (John and Ken here in Los Angeles) seemed less interested in defending the dignity of black women, and more in absolving a fellow white male talk-show personality. But dNa’s words carry more weight, as do Pam Spaulding’s at Pandagon. This isn’t merely because dNa and Pam are African-American, though of course their heritage does give their words a special and undeniable legitimacy. It’s also because in the end, the most effective critiques of any cultural movement must come from within. When progressive black bloggers are willing to draw a connection between Imus’ “nappy-headed hos” remark and the larger issue of the degradation of black women in both hip-hop and mainstream culture, then we’re arriving at a teachable moment.
Audre Lorde, surely one of the great feminist writers of the last half-century, famously remarked that “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Words like “bitch”, “ho”, and yes, “nigger” (in any of its myriad spellings) are words first uttered by the masters; they are words that cannot be redeemed. It is a terrible illusion to imagine that authentic empowerment can ever come by appropriating the language of the oppressor. The attempt by some feminists to use words like “bitch” and “cunt” in a positive light only ends up giving misogynists a sense of entitlement to keep on using them. The ubiquitous use of racial slurs by hip-hop artists gives the Don Imuses of the world cover. It gives them permission. It makes the utterly indefensible seem less egregious, largely because hip-hop has done such a good job of deadening our sense of outrage. (This of course, is antithetical to what hip-hop was supposed to do: I may know more about the history of bluegrass than of rap, but wasn’t hip-hop supposed to arouse righteous indignation? Wasn’t it supposed to be a soundtrack of liberation?)
Unlike most folks weighing in on this controversy, I was a fan of Rutgers basketball long before their wonderful Final Four run. I’ve been a C. Vivian Stringer fan for years. From a basketball standpoint, I consider her one of the five greatest coaches in the history of the women’s game (my other four: Summitt, Auriemma, Barmore, Conradt. Goestenkors needs a few more years). She’s certainly the greatest coach currently working who hasn’t yet won a national title. I loved her team’s improbable run through the tournament; the defensive job they did on LSU in the semi-final was a thing of beauty.
I watched the tape of the Rutgers press conference yesterday. I saw and heard the pain in these young women’s voices. And I saw and heard that this multi-racial team was hurt far more by the “ho” word than by “nappy-headed.” Two quotes that stuck out for me:
One player, Kia Vaughn, said that unless a “ho” is defined as someone who has achieved a lot, Imus misspoke.
“I’m not a ho,” the sophomore said. “I’m a woman and someone’s child. It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
..(Essence) Carson, like her teammates, also talked about good that could come from the controversy.
“We can finally speak up for women. Not just African-American women, but all women,” the junior said.
Not just African-American women, but all women. Good on you, Essence Carson. Good on you for your dignity and your athletic prowess, and good on you for seeing that at its core, the real evil in Imus’ words lay in their misogyny.
I don’t much care whether Imus is fired or not. But during his two-week suspension (which certainly seems minimally appropriate), let me suggest we all go through a similar period of self-reflection. Let’s think about the words we use, the music we listen to, the casual insults we allow our friends to slip out unrebuked. Let’s suspend — for the length of the Imus suspension — the use of any media that uses degrading, hostile, soul-crushing language towards women.* Let’s not allow the skin color or the sex of the artist who uses the language to act as a shield from our criticism. What goes into our ears, what we sing along to in the car — it helps define who we are. We cannot compartmentalize; we cannot claim to live lives of justice and kindness while listening to a soundtrack of objectification and exploitation. We are what we eat, we are what we wear, we are what we listen to and watch.
And if you’ve never done it, consider going to support your local college women’s basketball team next year. At most levels, it’s more entertaining than the men’s game (and I’ve watched a hell of a lot of hoops in my day).
*NOTE: I’m making this commitment with my own musical choices. I just took the Guns n’ Roses song One in a Million off my Itunes shuffle. I have no love for hip-hop, but I love me some Axl Rose. Still, if we’re gonna lead by example…
The whole thing with Imus is crazy. I honestly have very mixed feelings on the whole thing. One of the guys over at Highbrid Nation who actually worked with Imus at WFAN for years wrote a good article talking about Imus’ views on race from the perspective of a minority that was around him every day. You should check it out if you get a chance.
There was a column in the Chicago Sun-Times today wanting to know when Jesse Jackson would be going after the hip hop artists that demean women the way he did Don Imus. I think this is right on. There are so MANY way women are demeaned in this country–when are they going after beer commercials? Or any number of commercials for that matter?
My respect for Keith Olbermann grew immensely last night when he was reporting the jailing of the Girls Gone Wild guy. At one point he stopped in mid-sentence, looked up and said, “Will you please stop running those pictures.” Then he continued on. We need more of that on TV and our airwaves.
Hugo? You still listen to Guns N Roses? After It’s So Easy:
“Turn around bitch I got a use for you
Besides you ain’t got nothin’ better to do
And I’m bored”?
And if you’ve never done it, consider going to support your local college women’s basketball team next year. At most levels, it’s more entertaining than the men’s game (and I’ve watched a hell of a lot of hoops in my day).
Donna Orender president of the WNBA had a similar sentiment:
“For 10 years, the WNBA has celebrated the grace, beauty, power, achievement and strength of women’s basketball,” Orender said. “This year, when those fans buy tickets and come to the games, they will be saying to Don Imus that he got this whole thing very, very wrong.”
Shawna is right, it isn’t just music, it’s our entire popular culture. My most recent shake-my-fists-at-the-screen moment was the new Quiznos commercial in which they had some ditz proclaiming that “real women love a big meat sub”- a lovely combination of misogyny and homophobia in one annoying package. I wasn’t a big fan of their food, but being so close to my house they got a fair bit of my business. Not anymore.
I find this Imus controversy quite ridiculous. I think Bill Maher had it right when he said something to the effect of we need something to be outraged about. It was a slow news week and this just happened to catch America’s attention.
Everyone knows Mr. Imus is a loveable curmudgeon . His show would not be simulcast if the nation did not love and respect his work. One mistake should not erase what Mr. Ismus has accomplished over the years. His show was an oasis for the intelligencia of this country. Hopefully he will live long and prosper on satelitte radio.
The Rutgers coach was right–it is a green issue–unfortunately advertisers ran scared when this became an issue and the show lost advertisers. They did not have the courage to stand behind an intelligent and articulate man. But the coach and the girls from Rutgers now have the chance to cash in on the green too–money deals and media attention from their 15 minutes of fame. Let’s not forget these girls did not even know about this controversy–they had to be told by others. Perhaps they were sooo busy with studies (i.e. playing basketball) they did not have time to read .
According to media reports, this incident and the statements made by Mr. Imus, traumatized these girls. Are these girls traumatized by the music of the black rappers? I bet not! I am willing to guess these same athletes dance to this music and buy the CD’s and think nothing of it.
It is a tough life out there ladies, and if you are tramatized by this event, you are not going to make it as doctors and lawyers and whatever else you have dreams of becomming. Get tough and get on with your lives. As an athlete you expected to ‘suck it up’.
This will all play out as it should. Mr. Imus will continue to speak out and comment on the things of life. The Rutgers girls and thier coach will fade away. Rappers will continue to make outlandish music and black girls will continur to dance their hearts to the rhythms an take no exception to the lyrics. And oh yeah, let’s check back in ten years and see where those Rutgers girls are–if they have really become lawyers, surgeons, etc or if …
tranqulity, you appall me. Here’s a group of young women about whom you know nothing, other than the fact that they’re black, good at basketball, and going to a well regarded university. And you’ve just claimed that they never read, because, you know, all their brains are capable of is basketball and rap, and that certainly none of them will be doctors and lawyers in ten years time – because what? Because black students who go to good colleges never then go on to make something of their educations? Or, what exactly have these women possibly done to make you insult their intelligence like that?
As for the whole business about athletes being expected to “suck it up,” and female athletes being delicate and traumatized if they don’t, take that and stuff it. You go tell any famous male athlete, to his face, that he’s a gay prostitute, and then report back on whether he laughs it off or whether he’s angry at you. I haven’t noticed that male doctors and lawyers consider themselves obliged to keep their mouths shut when insulted either. And somehow, we all know that it’s possible for them to be legitimately angry when offended, without being presumed to be “traumatized” and incapable of coping with the big, mean world.
And your comments, tranquillity, are all the worse because everyone actually associated with the Rutgers women’s basketball team has been pretty darn restrained and dignified in their response to this incident.
“The attempt by some feminists to use words like “bitch†and “cunt†in a positive light only ends up giving misogynists a sense of entitlement to keep on using them…”
Agreed, Hugo. However, I remember you saying in class last year that when feminists use words like “bitch” to describe themsevles, they take away their ability to hurt. If I am misquoting you, by all means correct me. But I seem to recall that fairly well.
I think it does feminists – and all women for that matter – harm to take on words like “bitch” to describe themselves. That is one of the reasons I disliked Melody Berger’s book, “We Don’t Need Another Wave… Dispatched from the next generation of feminists.” Words like “bitch” and “cunt” were used all throughout the book, which I found terribly offensive. Calling yourself a bitch only reinforces the stereotype.
There is nothing “loveable” about making racist, sexist insults to a group of black women whose misbehavior consisted of being good as basketball. There is nothing “curmudgeonly” about Imus’s insulting these women. Where I come from, we call that kind of person a bully.
tranquility et al really excuse Imus because they agree with him.
Mermade, that has never been my position. It is the position of a great many feminists, however, and that was the context in which I was making the remark — many feminists (Inga Muscio most famously, these days) have sought to do exactly this task of reclaiming what was once so offensive. It’s not a strategy I endorse, but I respect the reasoning behind it.
“Wasn’t hip-hop supposed to arouse righteous indignation? Wasn’t it supposed to be a soundtrack of liberation?”
Well, in the hands of someone like Chuck D, it was and is the most righteously indignant music there is. The problem is that hip-hop is pretty well the perfect musical vehicle for conveying just about any sort of indignation. For example, indignation at a woman’s failure to show abject subservience to the artist.
Reclamation of racial slurs seems more defensible than comparing women to prostitutes (or, for that matter, thinking ill of people who actually are prostitutes). I’d like to think that NWA called themselves…N because they thought that they were not being treated as free and equal human beings. The language used by polite racists is a mask, and ugly words from the mouths of slaveholders are one way to expose an ugly truth. But then the kids get to thinking that because NWA are cool it must be cool to call yourself an N, and so it goes.
Kids these days. They should listen to more Public Enemy, and they should stay off my lawn.
s’true innnit?
those kids…
some of them have hoodies!
“Wasn’t hip-hop supposed to arouse righteous indignation? Wasn’t it supposed to be a soundtrack of liberation?â€
i don’t think so.
wasn’t hip hop, like most forms of music developed last century, primarily about having fun and feeling good?
having fun and feeling good under oppression are effective forms of resistance, so it seems natural to combine your music with more overt forms of resistance.
music can form a sense of identity, giving folks something to belong to and be part of.
sometimes that something is radical and/or progressive, sometimes it is neither of those things.
more often it’s a bit of lots of different somethings overlapping on some common ground, and i think hip hop is a case of just that, with the common ground being the dance hall or the street.
i don’t think Kool Herc was all that much of an agitator, but he would have no doubt learned a sense of a toaster’s responsibility from the Jamaican soundsytems he drew his inspiration from, and probably from his day to day life.
see, the dance is there, and sometimes the dance needs an MC.
she or he’s got to say something to warrant being up there, and the stuff close to his or her heart will probably be the stuff that gets said.
i think sometimes people imbue hip hop(and punk, and reggae, etc.) with an inherent ‘purpose’ that isn’t there for everyone. it’s understandable that something so amazing as music has or gives us meaning, but i think that meaning is rarely unanimously agreed.