>> The song was specifically
>> about women who are overly materialistic and exploitative, and is not
>> meant to disprespect anybody else. If you actually bothered to listen to
>> the song "Da Bichez", you would know this because Jeru makes it very
>> clear that he highly respects women in general.
>
> I just wanna say that I dont agree with this defence of Jeru. This
> particular rap makes use of a classic sexist tactic - grouping all women as
> either madonnas or whores ....
> Women either fit in with some masculine ideal
> of pure feminity (in this case the black queen or the young ladies), or
> they dont live up to this ideal and they get dissed for it (in this case
> the bitches and the ho's).
Agreed, the divide-and-conquer tactic is an old one, sexist or
otherwise ...
but this isn't the way I read the lyrics. Instead of placing a few on
a pedestal and crucifying the rest, da bitchez criticises a few on
specific grounds and praises the rest. The precis is "I wanna dis the
b*****s, but don't get them confused with the queens,
b*****s do this ..." Given that there are people out there that are
chasing success by prostituting themselves, I think that any attack
on them is acceptable: I don't agree with that behaviour.
The problem with feminist (or any other single-issue thinking) is that
people are so intent on attacking one attitude, they lump the whole
spectrum into that class. All attacks on a class of women are not
sexist. That's just bullshit, if you'll excuse my
french (is that just a british saying? ;). Feminists (and
all those other -ists) need to get over trying to defend their camp against
every attack. It's just not going to work. Human relations are far
more complicated than single issue politics can deal with. Yes,
sexist politics exist and yes, they need to be dealt with, but that
doesn't abrogate jeru's right to criticise a subset of female
behaviour. Each position should be evaluated on its own merits, not
on it's proximity to a sensitive issue. (sorry about the preaching -
these are just my *humble* opinions!! :)
Jeru also criticises mainstream rap as well. Does
that make him racist against african-americans?
I abhor serial killing - does that make me against white males?!!!!
As for jeru as mr nice guy, I guess he isn't. But so long as his
smooth raps keep flowing, I'll just listen and enjoy.
peace,
bijan