"Pimping": Why Some White Male Progressives are Fascinated with Using Vulgar and Offensive Pseudo-Ghetto Slang
A while ago, I wrote an essay called, “On the Nature and Meaning of “Bitch Slap,††in which I explained why a “bitch slap,†far from being heroic, is actually a profound act of cowardice.
I wrote that essay because I had observed that white and particularly white male “progressives†were fascinated with the term “bitch slap†and were using it constantly, like children repeating newly-discovered slang words for male and female genitalia. In fact, white (usually male) "progressives" have taken the term “bitch slap†entirely out of its originally limited underclass context and usage and are using it instead as a generally applicable synonym for “to castigate†and “to put in one’s place.†In so doing, they are celebrating violence against and subjugation of women, particularly Black women.
Now, Michael Bouldin of Culture Kitchen has visited one of my diaries there to accuse me of diary “pimping.†Merriams defines “pimping†as “solicit[ing] clients for a prostitute.†Merriams (Certainly, Michael does not intend to literally accuse me selling women’s flesh for profit.) But, is it not unacceptably and intentionally offensive for a white man to falsely accuse a Black lawyer of “pimpingâ€? I’ll let readers be the judge of that. Blacks and many women will generally say it IS unacceptably offensive, while white men who regularly use the terms “bitch slap†and “diary pimping†(or simply “pimpingâ€) will vociferously insist that they mean no color-aroused offense by these inherently linguistically color-bound insults.
But, what is it about the terms “bitch slap†and “pimping†that so fascinate white male “progressives†and make these terms nearly ubiquitous at white "progressive's" blogs? Many blogs that have precious little Black membership nonetheless overflow with offensive pseudo-Black underclass slang directly related to an illegal sex-for-money trade.
As the Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings case shows, historically, the same white men who once enslaved Black women and would not consort with a Black woman publicly nonetheless were fascinated with Black women and secretly coveted Black women’s bodies for their own sexual gratification.
The results of [a] study established that an individual carrying the male [Thomas] Jefferson Y chromosome fathered [Black] Eston Hemings (born 1808), the last known child born to Sally Hemings. . . . the weight of all known evidence - from the DNA study, original documents, written and oral historical accounts, and statistical data - indicated a high probability that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Eston Hemings, and that he was perhaps the father of all six of Sally Hemings' children listed in Monticello records . . . Monticello.Org
200 years later, the ominpresent use of the terms "bitch-slap" and "pimping" shows that white male “progressive†are still fascinated with imaginging Black women in the role of subjugated sex objects. What the terms “bitch slap†and “pimping†have in common is that they are both references to a sex industry that allows men, including white men, with no pre-existing relationship to Black women, to secretively access Black women’s flesh. That commonality between the terms “bitch slap†and “pimping†may partially explain why white “progressive†men are fascinated with using these words in otherwise linguistically inappropriate contexts.
In linguistics, a register is a subset of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, an English speaker may adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal (e.g. "walking", not "walkin'") and refrain from using the word "ain't" when speaking in a formal setting, but the same person could violate all of these prescriptions in an informal setting. Wikipedia: register
Whites who use the term "pimping" as a synonym for "advertising" seem to be wifully ignorant of the fact that "pimping" is a vulgar word whose use is inappropriate in formal, civilized company just as offensive words for genitals are inappropriate in such company, whether Black or white.
I perceive other reasons why some white progressive men love to use these vulgar pseudo-ghetto terms. Just as Karl Rove intended to demean Blacks by “rapping†at the recent Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner, white progressives intend to demean, defame and denigrate Blacks by making constant reference to the worst stereotypes of illegality associated with Black people in the minds of whites. Whites use the terms “bitch slap†and “pimping†precisely because they can no longer use the “N†word to achieve the same derogatory purpose and effect.
The omnipresent and constant use of words that stigmatize Black people is also an effective way of discouraging Black blogger participation without explicitly barring Black people's membership in a blog, which might well be unlawful.
Unfortunately, when white men decide to act pseudo-ghetto, that bad behavior gains much greater currency in the society at large. There are so many more whites than Blacks in America that the linguistic “salience†(number of uses) of an offensive term increases exponentially when it makes the jump from offensive underclass street slang to white “progressive†fashion linguistic fashion accessory. By popularizing through print, movies, music and television what was once relatively isolated usages of bad underclass ghetto words, whites are able to malign an entire group of people ubiquitously with an agile shorthand.
35% of Blacks attend church at least once weekly (compare to 25% of whites). Anyone who has spent time among the majority of respectable Black people knows that you can spend a year in such company without ever hearing anyone use the terms “bitch slap†or “pimpingâ€. We consider these words to be just as offensive as other words that cannot be used on television or in print.
Ironically, Blacks like myself, who do not live in a ghetto, do not participate in an illegal underclass culture of violence against women and may never hear these words used by other Blacks, are nonetheless hearing these words constantly used by “progressive†whites. What is “progressive†about that?
But white people with little or no contact with Black people except through movies and television may imagine that Blacks use these offensive terms “all the time.†We don’t. We don’t use these terms because they are just as offensive to Blacks and women as are the other words that are considered unspeakable filthy at white “progressive†blogs.
Because this is America, people who use the term “pimping†as a wildly offensive synonym for “advertising†have a Constitutional right to do so, because they have a right to free speech. And some people do revel in color-aroused puerile chauvinistically offensive speech. However, I, for one, don’t ever want to see the words “bitch slap†or “pimping†used again at “progressive†blogs.
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Open Thread | Black | bloggers | Linguistics | Mysogyny | Racism | Sexism | white | whitosphere
"the adoption of slang by
Submitted by francislholland on 1 April 2007 - 2:48pm.
"the adoption of slang by people who have little clue what it means is pretty irritating"
If it is known to be irritating, and obviously stigmatizes a group based on their skin color, then why do white "progressives" insist on using the term "pimping" at all, when other adequate synonyms are available, like "hawking"? They clearly prefer to use a word with color-arousing overtones.
By contrast, the word "raping" could be said to allude to violent sexual acts by men, but it does not stigmatize any particular group of men based on their skin color. The term "pimping", in contrast, is an intentional allusion to and attempted stigmatization of one discreet group based on skin-skin color.
If the use of this offensive and vulgar "diary pimping" term were not so widespread, I would not have bothered to respond to to the comment in which it was used. However, the term "diary pimping" is a perfect example of how white male progressives use loaded skin-color aroused language to marginalize and dissuade others from participating equally in the whitosphere. It is ironic that white progressives play "gotcha" when white Republicans use the word "macacca," but white progressives insist on using the ethnically offensive phrase term diary "pimping" every day of the week.
Those who continually and persistently use this term clearly exult in alluding to the worst sterotypes that have been invented to smear Black people in general. Otherwise, they would simply acknowledge that the phrase is offensive and they would stop using it.
"Only after we change that which seemed essential do we realize how natural the "new normal" really is and how inevitable it always was."
www.francislholland.blogspot.com
francislholland@yahoo.com
Waitaminnit.
Submitted by Michael Bouldin on 1 April 2007 - 2:57pm.
You're saying that the term 'pimping' is especially or exclusively insulting to blacks?
Why, are all pimps black? Are you claiming that all participants in the sex industry are black?
Or that many blacks are involved in it?
Nice going there dissing black people, pal. Francis Holland thinks all pimps and whores are black. Clearly, Francis Holland hates black people.
With all due respect
Submitted by mole333 on 1 April 2007 - 3:41pm.
"Pimp" as a slang term originally was black slang. But "pimp" as a word referring to someone who manages pimps (the male equivalent to a "Madame") has no particular reference to blacks. It dates back to the 17th century, though the preicse origin is not known.
1607, perhaps from M.Fr. pimper "to dress elegantly" (16c.), prp. of pimpant "alluring in dress, seductive." Weekley suggests M.Fr. pimpreneau, defined in Cotgrave (1611) as "a knave, rascall, varlet, scoundrell." The word also means "informer, stool pigeon" in Australia and New Zealand and in S.Africa, where by early 1960s it existed in Swahili form impimpsi. The verb is attested from 1636. Pimpmobile first recorded 1973.
A totally different origin is suggested by a Legal Encyclopedia via Ask.com:
In feudal England, a type of tenure by which a tenant was permitted to use real property that belonged to a lord in exchange for the performance of some service, such as providing young women for the use and pleasure of the lord.
An individual who, for a fee, supplies another individual with a prostitute for sexual purposes. To pander, or cater to the sexual desires of others in exchange for money.
May I suggest you do more research before getting into a huff.
It is racist to say "Pimp" is a black word
Submitted by liza on 1 April 2007 - 7:33pm.
I mean, c'mon, there have been chulos de puta in every country, within every race and developed in every culture.
Why the hell would you want to make the word "pimp" a black word only?
The only rationale for such a comment is that you indeed want pimps only to perpetuate the stereotype and stay in the victimhood business.
i mean, come the fuck off the high horse dude, on this one (as in some other posts) you are waaaay off-base.
yes, there is a lot of oppression and shit we as a society have not dealt with. but with the black and colored communities we have to be very, very careful of perpetuating our oppression by playing the victim card. it's the same with women when they claim mysogyny. there's a fine line between decrying oppression and ennabling it. holland, a lot of the time you are servant of the master you so eagerly condemn.
Liza is the founder, publisher of http://culturekitchen.com and the resident cimarrona. You can find her personal rants and raves over at http://lizasabater.com
"Pimping": It's terribly
Submitted by francislholland on 2 April 2007 - 1:09pm.
"Pimping": It's terribly ironic that people should use such an offensive word for the purpose of pointing out other people's supposedly "inappropriate" behavior.
Why do we need to reference "pimps" and "whoring" and "bitch-slapping" to do the editorial work of running a progressive blog? "Pimp" is literally a four-letter-word. When an expression literally denotes things that are vulgar and offensive (like forced sex and having sex to make money for someone else) then why use it? Isn't there another way to express ourselves without such vulgarity?
A household in which children use four-letter words all the time is either a house in which children have all of the power or a house in which adults don't know what's appropriate and what's not.
Can words that refer to forced sex and sex to enrich others be less vulgar than well-known slang words that simply refer to sex organs?
Don't we tell our children to learn to express themselves forcefully and appropriately, without the use of four-letter words? If "pimp" which references sex for sale is alright, can users also use here all of other four letter words that reference sex and sex organs? Can users assert that people ARE those other four letter words? If not, then why not?
Isn't "whore" one of the most negative stereotypes going, both for Black women and for women in general So why has "Blog whoring" become such a popular phrase? (Someone brought this to my attention this weekend.)
Whites in the South certainly insisted that there was nothing offensive about calling Black man "son" and "boy," but everytime they used these words, they manifested and reinforced the subjugated status of Black men. They said, "We know you don't like this word that we call you, but there's nothing you can do about it." The use of the word constantly reminded Black men that they were subjugated and reminded them to "stay in their place".
Let me talk about how I feel. I am offended when anyone accuses this Black man of "pimping". I worked very hard for my law degree, and accusing me of "pimping" is an effort to demean me and discount the work I did. I would not EVER call ANY woman a whore, even if she sold herself on the street. Its OFFENSIVE! It's a word that is used with the intent to be offensive rather that merely descriptive.
Even assuming, arguendo, that the word "pimping" is not an allusion to a skin-color group, it's still accusing someone of selling a license to use women's flesh sexually.
Does the use of these words that are offensive in other contexts limit the audience of "progressive" blogs? Why would we ban so many other four-letter words, but carve out a special exception just for these particular ones?
As far as I'm concerned, by insisting that they need to use these four-letter sex words like "pimp", while steadfastly censoring and banning people for using other four-letter sex words, people like Michael are being arbitrary and capricious and, much worse, they are childish and hypocritical.
Here's the bottom line: I say that constant references to sex for hire, for the purpose of offending people, offend me personally. You say they are alright.
I say they are unnecessary. You, I think, will concede that they are unnecessary, but since some people revel in the four-letter words that offend others, you permit them.
I would urge you to consider that if we are to continue using the four-letter "pimp" sex word for the purpose of offending others, then you should authorize me to respond with other four-letter sex words that offend me less than the word "pimp" does.
"Only after we change that which seemed essential do we realize how natural the "new normal" really is and how inevitable it always was."
www.francislholland.blogspot.com
francislholland@yahoo.com
Concern troll
Submitted by Michael Bouldin on 2 April 2007 - 4:46pm.
The ironies of a guy who wants to see Elizabeth Edwards die to help another woman achieve the Presidency now lecturing yet another woman on how she's in turn offending a guy with her loose talk about still other women are just too complex even for me.
It's reasonably clear that evey medium develops its own lingo. For blogs, these are, inter alia, concern troll.
Which is how I'd describe this poster.
The terms diary pimping, blog whoring, whatever, serve to both desrcibe a given, clearly defined behavior and to show disapproval of it. Thing is, you don't just post a stub on Blog A with a teaser that you have to go to Blog B to read the rest. Since blog traffic also has economic implications, it's at best gravely discourteous and at worst a form of stealing.
So yeah, if the lingo of blogs disturbs you so much, you either need to learn how to ignore stuff - like I ignore the "If you don't support Hillary you're a white supremacist" drool - or start reading newspapers again. Me, personally, if I offend sme vindictive, delirious guttersnipe like Holland, I really don't give a flying fuck about it.
And now, watch Holland spin a whole new sense of pseudo-racial offense from the words 'concern troll' or 'guttersnipe'. Whatever, fucktard.
Anti-Cockeny Elitist Snob!
Submitted by mole333 on 2 April 2007 - 4:51pm.
The use of the term "guttersnipe" is offensive to all Cockney decednded Americans! You are a classist, elitist, neo-Bohemian supremicist!
Oh niggah please
Submitted by liza on 3 April 2007 - 10:04pm.
Let me put this as indelicately as possible :
FUCK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!
Repression has never been my cup of tea and I despise Puritans of any kind ---whether they come from the right or the left. Which is why, as far as feminisms go, I find the kind that Andrea Dworkin espoused as completely abhorrent. Don't get me started with the legal puritanism of the repellent Katherin Mackinnon.
Nope. If I can't get ghetto on your ass or pimp my blog or call you an attention whore, then honey, get the hell out. You're wasting your time here because, as far as I am concerned pimp, whore and FUCK YOU are not exclusively related to negroness.
And, btw, I find it repellent that you are attacking my editors yet cannot find the cojones to admit they did not use these words but I did.
What the fuck?
You think they have me controlled under some white-man spell? That I am some ignorant negro weakling that cannot help but be polluted by the white men on these blogs? Or do you think I am less of a negra because I happen to be white as well?
No negro in this country ought to even hint at the possibility they are somehow impervious to miscegenation. America is a mulatto, mandingo, octaroon and mixed hemisphere. That goes for the fallacy of race (I don't believe in the concept), ethnicity, culture and certainly politics.
Nobody in this blog is interested in purities of any kind. What we are interested here is to see how race is used by blacks and white, leftists and rightists, as a social and political construct that has ultimately one economic goal --to have a servant class at the beck and call of capitalists.
Everything else is just bullshit.
-----------------
Liza is the founder and publisher of http://culturekitchen.com. You can find her personal rants and raves over at http://lizasabater.com
Interesting.
Submitted by Michael Bouldin on 1 April 2007 - 2:28pm.
As I just noted over at crazy person's blog, I am tickled to death that self-appointed champion of Blackness Holland seemingly can't escape the white-male-supremacy paradigm himself; he's constantly writing about me, while I don't give a shit about him. Ergo, his feeble rantings underline my centrality to his thinking, or whatever he calls what's left when the Demerol kicks in.
And while a part of me enjoys the intellectual vassalage he's placed himself in, I can't help but wish for better detractors. I do wish I had brighter stars in my orbit, or for want of that, sane ones. Interesting ones, even. Non-babbling ones. Something.
Hey what?
Submitted by Michael Bouldin on 1 April 2007 - 3:00pm.
It's not evil if it's fun. Now stop picking on me and my vassal. I have some white supremacy to take care of here, can't you see I'm busy?
It's being one of those days, isn't it?
Hillary Rakes in $36 Million for Presidential Bid
Submitted by francislholland on 1 April 2007 - 5:36pm.
One Democratic Party insider suggested that, although John Edwards has the traditional advantage of being a white man, he would nonetheless be far behind in the fundraising war for the first quarter.
"Only after we change that which seemed essential do we realize how natural the "new normal" really is and how inevitable it always was."
www.francislholland.blogspot.com
francislholland@yahoo.com 
That doesn't make her presidential material
Submitted by liza on 1 April 2007 - 7:23pm.
It just makes her and her little presidential business partners good fundraisers. For some it's a business to run for office, or didn't you know that?
If money was all it took...
Submitted by mole333 on 1 April 2007 - 8:35pm.
If money was all it took, Republicans would win almost every time.
Michael and I went up against a candidate who seemed to have it all: the only white candidate in a district with 3 black candidates splitting the black vote who raised $1.8 million for a Congressional seat, breaking all records. He far outraised his opponants. And he lost. Some of half jokingly "blamed" Michael in particular, and Daily Gothm in general, for defeating him, even though our chosen candidate lost. Not sure we deserve that much credit, but it isn't always the big money that wins. So if Hillary wants my support, she's got to do far, far more than just raise money and buy ad time.
Where's the leadership?
And, just wondering...why do you consider this diary, discussing the word "pimping," to be the place to mention Hillary's fundraising numbers? Just curious! You're the one who seems to be making a connection between the two!
Money counts
Submitted by rwallnerny2007 on 3 April 2007 - 3:31pm.
Face it, with the primary campaign calendar becoming more and more stacked, and this mega primary coming up shortly after iowa and new hampshire, money counts more than ever. You can't be an insurgent candidate who wins Iowa and then raises money to go national, because there won't be time. Hillary is going to have the money to do saturation tv ads in new york, california, texas, florida, missourri and upteen other states at the same time. With such a stacked schedule, it mitigates the impact of winning or losing one early state, or depth of support in the blogosphere. There won't be enough time for the usual things to have their usual effect. The rules are different this time.
oh and btw, when your congressional candidate finishes last (and I supported him too), its nothing to boast about. Yassky got beat by the Clarkes and the Carribbean vote. You guys had nothing to do with it.
Say You're Right
Submitted by JJ Ross on 3 April 2007 - 6:20pm.
and "the rules are different this time."
Then why not expect something actually DIFFERENT to arouse and be rewarded by voter support, like Unity08? As opposed to the same old same old, I mean, which the usual advice and predictions seem to be based on?
Different...
Submitted by mole333 on 3 April 2007 - 7:31pm.
I have not weighed in on Unity '08...I am suspicious. But Air America Radio seems to like it.
But I will say that there is NOTHING about the Democratic field that is "same old same old." With a strong woman candidate (though in my mind too much same old same old otherwise), a strong black candidate who is ROCKING, a candidate who is VERY progressive and the son of a steelworker, and a Hispanic candidate who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize FOUR TIMES...there is nothing "same old same old" this time around. None of them are perfect. But all of them present us with something different from what we are used to in our Presidential elections.
No Question
Submitted by JJ Ross on 3 April 2007 - 8:30pm.
the candidates are strong and rockin' -- it's quite an unusual field all around.
I was talking not about the field but about the RULES, what works and how money is what counts, the order of primaries and what to do to win, etc.
that should be a blog topic
Submitted by liza on 3 April 2007 - 10:23pm.
there's a lot we could discuss about all those new changes. it's definitely important.
Has little to do with progressives
It has to do with mass media, which is by no means progressive. My step-daughter adopts black slang because it is used by the mass media and hence by her friends. They have no idea the history or meaning, but it is defined as cool by marketers (note: not progressives) who want to sell things. So they adopt it. I suspect much of the blogsphere, being fairly young, adopts it for the same reason.
I will point out, however, that you are probably missing the point in this particular case. The link to the sex industry is an intentional reference when people use "pimping" in regards to advertising in much the same way people intend the peripheral implications when they refer to "raping the land." Still, the adoption of slang by people who have little clue what it means is pretty irritating. But so can be someone who misses the point of particular cases where the adoption is done with full knowledge of the implications.