Sunday, August 19, 2007
Things that I think.
I've been taking a bit of time to consider what kind of woman I want to be. You see, it's more serious that you would initially believe it to be. The answer lies in every
decision I make, what I choose to wear, the words in my lexicon, etc. etc.
I believe,
very deeply, in semiotics. This is the [neurotic] study of symbols in communications studies. Mostly, I [neurotically] analyze these things in media. This makes my [boring] friends angry. I love them, but they're boring. They never want to stop and ask why, when, or how will.
For starters, there's a recent series of music that has really started to get under my skin. This kid, "
Soulja Boy" has come up with a template for a popular dance song with chorus lyrics that contain the phrase "
dat ho".
Soulja Boy Off In This Hoe
Watch Me Crank It
Watch Me Roll
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy
den Super Man Dat Hoe
What are all the things we can do to
dat ho? Well, superman
dat hoe,
spiderman dat hoe, and some kids from some God forsaken southern town have decided we could do the
hesiman on
dat hoe.
My 12-year-old niece sings this song. I'm sure a lot of other girls in her peer group do too.
You should see them, flocking to
youtube, as my
niece dragged me to do to show off a new variation of the dance. We watch video after video, and each time I cringe at the sound of the phrase.
Back to semiotics and semantics, I listen for what is being said that will be done to "
dat hoe". It becomes apparent to me that these are songs written by a male who carelessly resorts to the term "ho" To myself I wonder if he even associates it with gender. To myself I also know he knows better. To myself I think that the same parents who yelled about Imus are now singing along and snapping to these lyrics with their kids, grins a-plenty.
Looking deeper, I know that "ho" is just a replacement for "bitch". A term co-opted into popular language, especially rap, to express disrespect and dominance. It has since evolved into a dummy pronoun of sorts, usually substituting some ambiguous form of "it".
In
Soulja Boy's song, the first "
dat hoe" expresses that his
precense is to be acknowledged. The second use of the term refers to a move in the dance.
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy
den Super Man Dat Hoe
Watch him do his version of some
wack dance he made up, then watch him add a move that mimics Superman flying in the air.
Superman,
Spiderman, Heisman, The Lion King- what do these all have in common?
1. They all have male heroes
Conceptually, in terms of gender [and physical sex], to "superman
dat doe" can indeed serve as a double meaning to express how a dude can physically overcome/possess/challenge a woman, just like his favorite superheroes and characters do.
But if we speak on terms of gender, at the surface level, it needs to bother people that the term "
dat hoe" is being used so loosely. An ugly, useless, and destructive word just running out of children's [YOUNG GIRLS] lips like water all in the name of a dance that will faze out in a matter of months. I think we need to pay more attention to that. Every single brick plays it part into making a home. The more accepting we become of the small things, they'll just build up until we live in a big house that no one [woman] really likes, she just stays there.
I think we should make better choices. I think we should start listening more.
11:11 PM
