“Ho” & “Bitch” only proves your ignorance…

This morning as I was stuck in traffic I was listening to an album I haven’t heard in a couple months and a song called “The Beauty Within” started playing on my iPod.  I was struck by the 1st verse:

“This Hollywood world so pretentious, every other girl gots a perm or extentions, but you don’t even rarely wear lipstick, still your beauty is a natural mystic, indigenious strong cheek bones from your lineage, Not what the main stream image is, natural hair is your heritage but to see it without chemicals is as rare as the pyramids.  I was coming from the gym again, bumpin’ Tupac never call you bitch again, she crossed the street, melanin glistenin’ , felt the energy something ’bout you is so interesting, the prototype Eve from Genesis, ghetto Empress, Nefretiti resemblance, so sweet so street and genuine, real [brown] girl I salute your existence.  I can see us just kickin’ it, building an intimate friendship, more than just hittin’ it.  Down to earth like greens and cornbread, she don’t need no weaves or contacts.  Not judging other girls that got that, I’m just saying you’re the truth never doubt that… cause you got that…”

When I first got the Revolutionary but Gangsta Grillz mixtape by Dead Prez, I was playing this track a lot.  Why? Because in todays modern music industry beauty is portrayed with ample bossums and short skirts.  Paris Hilton and her cronies are NOT what I would call beautiful.  The fact that you are a woman, is beautiful to me.  The fact that you are strong, intelligent, smart, independant, and confident is beautiful to me.  You’re complete disregard of a patriarchal society and fighting that is beautiful to me.  When we look at this worlds long history of struggles, the longest running struggle which STILL continues today… is the struggle of our sisters.  And not just in the mainstream sense of equal oppurtunities for jobs, but the struggle to destroy the social norm that a woman has her place.  I believe a woman has her place… and that place is whatever she wants that to be, outside of the dependency on men. 

It’s hard to push this kind of thought across as most men are so indulgent in themselves that women become commodities or a champion pedigree as I have once heard.  We’re constantly hearing music where women are reduced to a gardening tool / female dogs.   You can’t say you respect women and then turn around and call them a Ho or a Bitch.  It’s as derogatory as calling a Black person a Nigger.  It’s disrepectful and has become a social norm in our world today.  If you are not comfortable calling a Black person a Nigger or a Japanese person a Jap you wouldnt… then why should you or anyone in this world be comfortable calling a woman a Bitch or a Ho.  (Thank you Khingz for this insight on racial slurs). 

As much as I love hip hop music, we need change.  Some of you might be thinking, wow this dude is overly politically correct or this guy is super anal.  It’s not that folks, the fact that the world we live in has accepted these derogatory words.. AND are used on a daily basis as normal verbal fare is what annoys the hell out of me.  Next time  you see your mom, grandmother, sister, cousin, aunt, a nun, a senator… look her straight in the eyes and say “What’s up Bitch, how are you doing today ho?”… you wouldn’t do it and if you attempt to.. the repucussions  would be astronomical.  So why do you find it necessary that when you see a beautiful strong sister walking down the street, that you need to refer to her as a garden tool. 

I’m lucky and blessed to have women in my life that are strong, beautiful, creative, militant, courageous, and confident.  I can’t say that any of the women I know resemble dogs and garden tools.  So next time you’re listening to that new 50 Cent track… and you think he’s super hot and how much you want to meet him.  He may not physically abuse women… but lyrically in front of the whole world to see… he does…. If men were TRULY smarter than women… we would have figured this out a long time ago.  Nuff said…

To those women in my life… I thank you for not allowing ignorant brothers defile your existence with terms that prove their utter ignorance. 

You know that riddle… what came first… the chicken or the egg…

Here’s one for you…. Would we exist… if women didn’t endure the hardships and struggles of bearing children…

Would we even know what emotions are and how intricate they are if women did not exist. 

So next time you’re walking down the street a beautiful sister catches your eye… treat her like the queen she is… with respect….

*** The picture above is a picture of my late grandmother, Sixta Peralta Nieto… one of the strongest women I know.