1990_04 The Daily Collegian April 1990

              Page 2    Monday, April 2,1990
The Daily Collegian
Opinion
can't decide
Sexism and progression don't mix
Rap
Donnell Alexander
Concerned about women's safety
Dear Editor,
On Wednesday. March 21.1 went
dancing at the Black Angus. "Affien
my friends and I were leaving the
parking lot we saw something
extremely violent and frightening.
There was a man beating up a
woman.
I saw the woman when she
walked into the club. You couldn't
miss her. what a "knock-out." She
.reminded me of Anni Lenox;
really tall, short blond hair,
striking features. legs that
wouldn4, quit and a black body
suit that was quite revealing. She
came Into the club full of
confidence and poise.
The next time 1 saw her some
asshole had Just knocked her
down to the ground and was
kicking her.
My adrenaline level rose as my
friends and I tried to help her. We
managed to occupy the guy as she
ran back into the club. His only
comment to us was. "She hit me
first." ***"
You know, it doesn't matter. It
doesn't matter who hit who first or
who said what. It shouldn't have
happened. Which caues me to
pause and ask why did it happen?
Why is violence towards women so
commonplace that you can see it
In a parking lot catty-comer to
Fresno State? Why Is it so
common that campus, main¬
tenance   is   constantly   trimming
bushes around thedorms to try to
prevent rapes onthis campus?
Why do women need to use Escort
Services to walk safely at night?
Violence towards women occurs
because some men see women as
objects. You've seen these guys oot
in the Free Speech Area rating
women as they walk by. like
Inspectors at a meat factory. I ask
of all students, what role do you
play in perpetuating the myth in
our society that "women are
objects? And specifically to
women, what role are you
playing? Must we all look like
Barbie Dolls to attract the
attention of the opposite sex, are
we ever going to be treated
seriously when we actively
participate In this myth?
We need to break the bonds of
our oppression and destroy that
myth. We must stop giving the
men in our society the power that
they have over us. And •to men.
you must value the women in your
lives (your sisters, mothers, mates
and daughters) and realize that
your actions have tremendous
affect. For it is men that rape,
men that hit, men that buy skin
magazines, men that rate women
by their looks and it is men that
can stop violence against women.
Sincerely.
Cyndi McCollister
Stance on capital punishment
To the Editor
According to a local newspaper,
8 of 10 Americans are in favor of
capital punishment. This is not
an effective deterrant agaiast
crime, folks, for as long as there is
poverty there will be crime.
Neither Is it less expensive than
housing a criminal for forty years.
Can you believe the trivial issue of
inoney even comes into play on
snch matters of life and death?
So. we give the state the power to
kill people (and It won't stop at
murderers). Our three candidates
for Governor will not take a stand
on the Issue for fear of being
considered "soft" on crime.   I ask
when    was    the    last    time    a
politician has ever taken a stand
Sn anything. More importantly,
ie real "softies" on crime are the
eight of ten who do not have the
guts to flip the switch, but are
willing to let the state do it for us.
It's cleaner, safer, and we don't
have to watch. Isn't it Interesting
that the three states with the
biggest "macho" Image, namely
California, Florida, and Texas,
have the "toughest" stance on
Capital punishment. Haven't we
seen this all before?
Sheldon,Hyde
READER
^RESPONSE
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cation.
If you've been reading Newsweek
recently, vou know rap music is
big and getting bigger. Ifyou'rea
black kid searching lor a Utile
reality, you know rap is as
integral a part of pinpointing
your place in the universe as your
eyeballs are.
Tvheril say black kid. f mean —
black male. Black women, while
ostensibly included in rappers'     .
visions of a kinder, fairer, bust-a¬
move America. have been
following the genre's increased
popularity with a mixture of hope
and urjeasiness.
After all. any woman whose
heardTone Loc's "Wild Thing"
knows your average rap art ist has
anexclusionary idea what is
meant by "Uplift the race.'
Forget Tone Loe. Take Public
Enemy instead. As the hip-hop
activist archetype, they say Ihey
have a black agenda. Bul how big
is it. and does il include women?
In "She Watch Channel Zero."
wqmen are depicted as a frivilous
love-in-the-afternoon couch
potato species for whom "all of her
children don't mean as much as
the show."
Now, my mama had a 'Young
and the Restless" problem, so I can
Identify with much of "Zero."
Still, the song skips past the
causes of such inertia and
castigates/name calls/scapegoats
black women without giving even
a look to the role of black men in
this situation.
This sort of short-sighted ,
thought and flat-out misogyny has
popped up throughout the group's
brief history, through interviews
as well as song. Liberal favorite Ice-
T is no better. And here we're
talking about the socially-
conscious rappers.
Don't even get me started on pop-
minded artists like LL ("Brenda got
a big ole butt") Cool J or Bobby
Brown-influenced Big Daddy Kane
(Sexy young ladies or the light-
skinned breed: Yougot.yougot.
you got what I need!"). To consider
the likes of women-haters the 2
Live Crew and N.WA is to, ask for   ,
a lecture on the black male's
subconscious feelings of sexual
inadequacy.
Two months ago. The Villiage
Voice's Lisa Jones wrote about an
-ATjpoiloTrreater's 'lacUes-rjnry" -
Valentine's Day rap revue
featuring the likes of Big Daddy
Kane. Kwame and special guest
Bobby Brown. I n her telling
summary ofthe proceedings, she
documented what transpired on
stage, as well as in the audience.
Act after act took the stage,
grabbed the mike, gyrated hips,
"humped the stage, referred to
themselves as pimps and much.
much more. And time after time,
. the women in the crowd screamed
in delight, egging on the rappers.
The story struck me as the
perfect metaphor for male-female
relations among blacks.
Contrary to the what's been
previously implied here, sexism in
rap is no worse than it is in the
black community-Jt'sjust
articulated better.
Weblack men are raised to
"respect yo' mama." but talk about
pimpin' and skeeztng and who we
bumpedofflhenightbefore. Yet
women eat it up. leaving men no
clear way to understand sexism
and its context. It happens early
and the reason why is as old as     ■
those for why we are ecomonically
screwed. So let's not get into that.
Instead, it's time to fess up.
Thare is a serious problem here,
orte that threatens the purity of   .
the hip-hop movement's ideas.
Rappers who glorify misogyny and
sexism should be considered as
wack as those who make up lame
"rhymes or tout the wonders of
cocaine.
Thinkaboutit. Howareyou
gding to fight fear of a black planet
if you're half afraid of it yourself?
FOR THE RECORD
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