“The Pimp and Ho Primary”
Jul 7th, 2008 by admin
NOTE: The post I am linking to is not about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton themselves. It is about the way the campaigns have been imagined and largely constructed in a culture that remains actively and largely unrepentantly both racist and sexist. It’s regrettable that I have to preface the excerpt and link in this way, but, I do. — Heart
Early in the primary, certain clever individuals invoked the “bros before hos” mantra. While the slogan was widely denounced as sexist — though not universally, sadly — the racist nature of how whites manufacture black masculinity went unremarked upon. Barack Obama didn’t ask to become a “bro,” nor did he ask to be a pimp, lording over his whore.White men in our country pay big money to possess imagery that shows exactly that. We have entire industries dedicated to producing it; not just pornography but mainstream movies, music, and now even cable news networks. We want to see white women humiliated for their weakness, a fragility of our own invention. We use our racist notions about black masculinity, ever brutal and animalistic, to supply the ultimate episode of humiliation. We believe that humiliation is something women of all colors enjoy at the core of their being — that masochism is written into their genetic code.
[editors note: this article contains violent images that may be triggering. A text only version of the article can be found at: http://www.adonismirror.com/wordpress/?p=31 ]
Such images and language are simultaneously misogynstic and racist. But of course there will be claims this was just ‘humorous’ or it is acceptable within politics. But it is never just ‘politics’ it is blatant white male hatred and contempt for women as a group as well as hatred and contempt for males who happen not to be of that race which is white.
The images themselves are pornographic and of course they are common within mainstream pornography. But there, we supposedly live in a liberal age - one wherein we are all equal but somehow white males are more equal than other groups.
In other words this is a prime example of how patriarchy operates by claiming all women are men’s dehumanised sexualised commodities and black males are reduced to hypersexualised beings.
Actually, all of this is just one more extension of an offensive culture gone worse. I find I can’t even go to a lot of events now, because the language is terrible, and people just think it’s ok.
Sexism and racism get brutal and heated up when women and non-whites are actually on the verge of making a breakthrough.
And even on feminist websites it’s “F” this and “F” that.
We can try to elevate the culture and get out of the trash can, but once the neanderthals have taken over, well, I’m afraid we’re a little too late.
I personally think it’s hard to shut down the vulgar men who think this sort of stuff is just fun and games, but then when we have trash talk everywhere you go, well it wears you out.
My favorite quote from an all-around excellent article:
“‘pimp’ is a politically correct way to distill the essence of the N-word into a product that white men can embrace for our own amusement.”
Years ago I read an article about racism and the ascendance of pimp & ho stereotyping in which a black male community leader said, “We are not pimps and hoes, we are the mothers and fathers of civilization.”
Richard Leader always blows my mind with his writing. He makes connections and brings up points that leave me thinking and thinking and writhing for days on end. That article just blew me away, I just sent the link to several other women I know.
I have lately been so distressed and jaded (all at once) by the sexism and racism in the election campaigns (or more like, the coverage of said campaigns) but I never thought directly about how Obama is even being used as a tool by white males to fuck over and diss women (one of the offensive ads shown in the article includes a photo of women of color as well as white women, with misogynist and racist text below). Interestingly enough, women of color are still invisible in most of the images, and all of the dialogue, here lending into the racist and misogynist idea that all women of color are the same and that they’ll all support Obama.
This whole election coverage, the misogyny and racism shown by liberals (and conservatives), has left me embittered and extremely disgusted with liberals, specifically white and/or male liberals, in general. I am so sick and tired of them, period.
You know, everything from those wretched King Kong films down to pornography show how white men will vicariously experience raping, violating, and beating on (white) women through the objectification and the bodies of black males. This is all so damned offensive on so many levels, it makes me crazy barely thinking about it.
Sorry if that turned into a bit of a rant, but this post is awesome and I am so glad you linked to Adonis Mirror, and put this issue out in the open. It’s really got me thinking…
I really, really fricking loved that post of Rich’s. I had gotten so sick of the commentary on Clinton and Obama, because malestream politics just does not interest me one bit. But this post was different in the way it focussed solely on the white, male supremacist veiwpoint of <em>both</em> Obama and Hillary. In doing so I think he repositions the argument, we focus on the real criminals here, white men, not on any of the scapegoats. Well done Rich.
Yeah. It’s amazing the relish with which white progressive men, especially, have worked to frame issues in this election campaign in ways that serve to erase their own culpability, now and historically, for the creation and perpetuation of a racist and sexist world.
What’s really sick is the way the issues have been framed such that if white women write about the dynamics and strategies Rich has written about their — the ways we have been targeted and victimized by white male supremacists in this campaign – we are quickly dismissed as just so many more of those white feminist Hillary Clinton supporters– even if we aren’t and never were. That’s what’s so bad about that despicable essay Tim Wise wrote, well, one of the things.
Ugh, that Tim Wise essay, terrible! He better watch it, his white maleness is showing. A lot.
And it’s so true Heart, if a white WOMAN had written what Richard L. did she would have been blown off and dismissed instantly. How sad.
I like what Delphyne said about Wise– his penis is showing! Urgh.
Whoever said that black women were made invisible, and automatically assumed to be voting for Obama was also interesting.– Lara is post # 4
I have met many black women who supported Hillary, but have never met a black man who has.
I think we need to put to rest the idea that liberal men are really liberal at all. They’re women hating, vulgar speaking sexists, always have been, always will be. What amazes me is that women still seem to think they are capable of change. Women can change, men are the same age after age. Men are only forced to change when women band together and make the social climate impossible for white straight men to function. Their penis’ are indeed showing, but their stupidity is so obvious, even women with patriarchal blinders on most of the time are spotting the game. It may take some women decades to get feminism, but eventually they do. Unfortunately, a lot of women seem to come to feminism after their marriages to men fail or they get their heads beaten in by these prince charmings. But then there are always new women growing up, heading toward the marriage machine, getting bashed and raped, fleeing the country even, and then ah hah feminism comes to them.
Women all over the country should read this blog, and get that this idea of men changing is the biggest waste of time I have seen in feminism. Hope keeps springing eternal I guess, despite all this new evidense coming in daily!
Maybe that was the purpose of this election; to expose the men and their usual games to Gen X women and Gen Y women, or the women who hadn’t really seen sexism out there the way it once was so out there before 60s and 70s feminism.
To this day, I am still meeting men who fear lesbians, because they remember what we did to the oppressors 30 years ago. Just being tough and determined back then struck home. I guess men still think women are going to take this stuff and not fight back. Guess again, marriage bells anyone?
Yet another part of the “Pimp and Ho Primary” mentality:
http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/bernie-mac-joke-bombs-at-obama-event/20080712072009990001?icid=100214839×1205697789x1200270371
Something tells me Obama is being dishonest and ::nudge nudge wink wink:: with his supposed criticism of Mac’s misogyny.
While I think that the images above in the post are indicative of white men’s using Obama in a racist way, I think that Obama is really taking part in a lot of the misogyny of the electoral campaigns (by not speaking out against the blatant violent misogyny directed at Hillary, by supporting the ban of late-term abortion, and now by this incident with asshole Bernie Mac).