Thank You Demi Moore
April 1, 2010
by Valentina
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
Hurray for Demi Moore for starting a conversation on twitter regarding the casual use of the word “pimping”! The Boom Box gives the summary:
“Are you using the word ‘pimpin’ as in pimping?” asked Moore. Kardashian replied, “Doesn’t everyone? LOL.”
“No disrespect I love a girls night out but a pimp and pimping is nothing more than a slave owner!” Moore retorted.
Bold counterpoint, Demi. This, of course, brought a ton of replies by fans and followers of each side. Most tried to explain to Moore how “pimpin” isn’t used in a literal sense very often these days — something she should probably know about if she has had any connection with culture over the last 20 years. Kardashian then clarified that her group had just been dancing to Jay-Z’s ‘Big Pimpin’ and her caption was just quoting the moment.
“Nothing wrong with dancing to ‘Big Pimpin’ by Jay-Z in the club,” Kardashian wrote. “Having a girls night out, gotta love that song!”
“Just so ya’ll are clear I like @KimKardashian,” Moore backtracked. I was just making a point about how we have used a word and desensitized the real meaning… Clearly I stirred up a s— storm, but 2 create change U have 2 be willing 2 take a risk and be willing 2 provoke thought & conversation.”
I’ll say it again. Thank you Demi Moore! I had been discussing this word with my youngest daughter since she was 16 (3 years ago), and in light of the misogyny in some rapper music and videos. She insisted that pimping was not a bad word, and that it did not mean the same as it used to (meaning which she was not aware of, by the way; she thought the word was something “cool”). I argued that watching the videos and listening the music showed me it meant exactly the same thing, it was just glorifying and making the word look glamorous. Making misogynist words glamorous makes girls internalize as acceptable those characteristics, meanings, and symbols (including our own as women).
Demi Moore was courageous to bring this discussion into the public’s attention, and it seems a productive dialog has been sparked in the media. I hope this is proves to be a trend, and that we continue watching our vocabulary and expressions. It is not a matter of “forbidding” words, but a matter of assigning them their true value and meaning. According to Jessica Willis, in an article in the Journal of Integrated Social Sciences, ”status is established in relation to circulating discursive constructs (such as race, class, sexuality, nationality), and this can provide a greater understanding of how sexist discourse is used by females to gain power in a misogynist culture”. Thus, we might feel powerful or “cool” on a personal basis using misogynist expressions, but this is at the expense of undermining women’s status in general and hence that of our daughters and grand daughters (language is this pervasive/powerful).
Thank you Demi. For the record, recovering prostitutes actually are tormented by Post Trauma Stress Disorder and words like ‘pimp’ and ‘pimping’ can sometimes trigger flashbacks…
great pick up Valentina. and thanks to Demi Moore. perfect response. my daughters group (3/4 grade) is still thinking the “f” and “b” words are cool, want be long before they get to the next level with their ipods. that is a battle we parents need to win. “glorifying and making the word look glamorous” is a great description.
Demi Moore is a major Obamabot and was a star in the disturbing Obama “I Pledge” video, in which she and many other sadly misguided celebtards pledged their support for Barak Obama. The reason I bring this up is that Barak Obama has given more credibility an respect to the worst offenders in the hip new American culture of misogyny. Among them Jay-Z who refers to his own wife as “high Yella” and the “hottest bitch.” Jay-Z and wife Beounce were rewarded for their fabulous contribution to trash culture by being invited to sit at the round table in the White House situation room, a room which has never been open to mere guests of the president. Obama also refered to rapper Ludacris in a Rolling Stone interview refering to the “genious of Ludacris.” Ludacris’ lyrics are anmong the most vile and disrespectful to women. And of course we all remeber the victor shuffle when Obama took the stage after his so called victory in Iowa while Jay-C’s I got 99 problems and a bitch ain’t one.
Sorry if I don’t have any praise for Demi. She is a devotee of America’s greatest enabler of misogyny, Barak Obama.
I agree with many of your points, if not all. We have been so afraid to criticize the misogynist music and videos (and what about video-games?) that include incredible glorification of violence against women because of the race element (even though a main representative of this genre and one of the worst offenders, M&M?). This is one in which we should all pull toghether, and reach out to AA professional women and others who have spoken up and do not want to be identified with the images of women portrayed in rap music/culture. Although not all or everyone in rap/music culture is bad,the misogynist element poisons the well. Is as if we said that a tomato stew is greatly tasty even though it has arsenic in it, and this is the main ingredient.
However, we have to be willing to praise anyone who denounces misogyny, even if we want to point out, as you did, other aspects. Very few celebrities jump on these issues, or even jump on the wrong side (Roman Polanski, Woppi Goldberg rape rape anyone? ), and we should support people when they come out (otherwise, it becomes increasingly difficult to do it). We are really jumping on the issue, not the person.
I think it was Rachel Maddow trying to teach Geraldine Ferraro what the term “bitch” really meant in Jay-Z’s song “99 Problems But a Bitch Aint One of Them”. I couldn’t believe how easy it was for Maddow to defend Obama and his use of this song during the primaries. She tried to explain it away…. “Oh! In this context it means…” and “Oh, poor old Ferraro is too old to understand Hip Hop culture”! I’d like to ask why so many women give Jay-Z and other artists the freedom to define what “bitch” means? When we all REALLY know what it means? In Jay-Z’s video whenever the word “bitch” came up the image of a half-clothed woman appears.
So it is brave of Demi Moore to stand up against this language, I don’t care if she voted for Obama or not. Of course, it would have been nice for her to stand up against Obama’s use of “bitch” but I’ll take what I can get from celebrity culture. It is completely NOT COOL to defend women so I really like to embrace our celebrities when it does hit them what is going on and when they are brave enough to express outrage.
Thanks for this piece Valentina!
Juliette,
Shockingly sad, but I suppose not so surprising that Demi Moore is an obot (even though her comment on misogynistic language is still appreciated). Hollywood is 99% to blame for Mr. Obama.
What is going on at the White House is very sad, and when I think about it–and the lives lost to protect what it stands for–it takes my breath away. We basically have the worst of the worst running rampant. But unfortunately AMERICA herself is to blame…
Read, think, wake up people. Universal health care bullshit–what Mr. Obama did was mandate that everyone purchase health care from the evil health insurance companies and put a lot of people on the public dole even though we are bankrupt. If you think that is a good thing, progressive, liberal, or constitutional you, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Obama and his posse, and the whole of Hollywood can step off this country and never come back.
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