Just a 'lil bit
Feeling just a 'lil bit aggy today. Rushing around, guzzling coffee, and grilling folks on the street, like "What?"
Then I read some stuff on the net that's pretty absurd. Ottawa Citizen reporter Joanne Laucius really messed up (scroll down). As Jimi Izrael has already pointed out, her article on so-called hate rap is lamer than lame. (She reports that a Toronto activist Valerie Smith has launched a complaint with HMV over "hate rap"--hip-hop that refers to women as bitches and ho's. Among other things, Smith believes that hip-hop is responsible for an increase in middle-class teenage sex trade workers.)
Laucius quoted Jimi without ever talking to him, and then, when pressed, admitted that she had no idea where she got the quote from. Super. The funniest thing is that the Citizen is the flagship paper for the CanWest media empire, and, as such, pretty hard to break into. Obviously there is absolutely no reason for this. Apparently all you need to do to get published with them is slap together a random story, re-hash a couple early-90s cliches, diss hip-hop, quote some folks you've never interviewed, and be on your way.
I don't even want to go there with the whole topic of feminism and hip-hop. But watch me. Women like Valerie Smith (not to mention Tipper Gore) make it so much harder for us women in hip-hop. Cause all of sudden anything I say about sexism is equated with their Parents-Resource-Center, law-suit ridiculousness. Cause now I have to keep my mouth shut, or else risk that my critique will get hijacked to justify some crazy, conservative, right-wing agenda. Cause their us-against-them media crusades make it look like I have to choose between a culture that I love and respect for my gender. Cause often the white feminist approach can be pretty racist, and who wants to co-sign that? Cause these women always go overboard and get all prudish and weird about the entire thing.
And this is the stupidest shit I've seen, from the Laucius article: "On one Ludacris album cover, the rapper appears ready to bite into a woman's leg." Please. How about picking your battles? Quirky cover art doesn't rank too high on my list, that's for sure.
While we are on the subject, it's not like the hip-hop community isn't already addressing sexism. Take Elizabeth Mendez Berry's VIBE feature on domestic abuse, or this recent conference.
Then I read some stuff on the net that's pretty absurd. Ottawa Citizen reporter Joanne Laucius really messed up (scroll down). As Jimi Izrael has already pointed out, her article on so-called hate rap is lamer than lame. (She reports that a Toronto activist Valerie Smith has launched a complaint with HMV over "hate rap"--hip-hop that refers to women as bitches and ho's. Among other things, Smith believes that hip-hop is responsible for an increase in middle-class teenage sex trade workers.)
Laucius quoted Jimi without ever talking to him, and then, when pressed, admitted that she had no idea where she got the quote from. Super. The funniest thing is that the Citizen is the flagship paper for the CanWest media empire, and, as such, pretty hard to break into. Obviously there is absolutely no reason for this. Apparently all you need to do to get published with them is slap together a random story, re-hash a couple early-90s cliches, diss hip-hop, quote some folks you've never interviewed, and be on your way.
I don't even want to go there with the whole topic of feminism and hip-hop. But watch me. Women like Valerie Smith (not to mention Tipper Gore) make it so much harder for us women in hip-hop. Cause all of sudden anything I say about sexism is equated with their Parents-Resource-Center, law-suit ridiculousness. Cause now I have to keep my mouth shut, or else risk that my critique will get hijacked to justify some crazy, conservative, right-wing agenda. Cause their us-against-them media crusades make it look like I have to choose between a culture that I love and respect for my gender. Cause often the white feminist approach can be pretty racist, and who wants to co-sign that? Cause these women always go overboard and get all prudish and weird about the entire thing.
And this is the stupidest shit I've seen, from the Laucius article: "On one Ludacris album cover, the rapper appears ready to bite into a woman's leg." Please. How about picking your battles? Quirky cover art doesn't rank too high on my list, that's for sure.
While we are on the subject, it's not like the hip-hop community isn't already addressing sexism. Take Elizabeth Mendez Berry's VIBE feature on domestic abuse, or this recent conference.
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