lady, better

“Bitch, bad. Woman, good. Lady, better. They misunderstood.” Lupe Fiasco says it all and kills it on this one. What do you think?

“They’re young, so they’re malleable and probably unmentored.” That is the truest line and it sends chills through me.

Published by kenn

author. developer. illustrator. Renaissance man.

4 thoughts on “lady, better”

  1. tiff says:

    Bitch. Woman. Lady. Call me…conflicted.
    As one who has had a life long obsession with music videos I definitely understand the power
    of the words and images in them, especially on young and malleable minds. I just feel a child opening their front door and actually seeing and living amongst thugs and drugs and prostitutes has a way bigger impact, not to mention the deplorable schools. And I suspect that the mother who sings in front of her son that she’s a bad bitch, isn’t reading to him or helping him with homework or taking him to museums or quite simply sitting down and having frank conversations about life with him which is way more of a determinant of a child’s mind than a music video.

    Away from Lupe Fiasco’s point the feminist in me rails against men calling me a bitch or a lady, i hate both terms…I prefer men not define my goodness or badness at all but accept my personhood as I accept theirs. Placing me in that virginal, good girl “take home to mama” category objectifies me just as much as putting me in the slutty, trashy category. Many women way more intelligent than I have written on it…but I have to say it was shocking and empowering when Lil Kim came out rapping that she was “The baddest Bitch” not only owning her sexuality but putting it front and center.

    On the flip side I absolutely love, Lupe and cannot wait for his album to drop next month. Guess I will have Paris, Tokyo on repeat today my fave song of his. 🙂

  2. kenn says:

    I agree that there are usually additional articles of influence when kids are hearing/saying “bitch” but the point remains – as a society, we accept the word and fail to see the damage it inflicts upon how we view each other and ourselves.

    By the way, Conflicted, why do you feel that ‘lady’ objectifies or reduces you?

  3. tiff says:

    I guess the question is whether as people attempt to redifine words such as bitch or nigger can you ever escape the initial negative meaning…i don’t know. I do agree with you on the negative effect those words can have on children and believe that the adults that that are charged with taking care of and molding them are wrong in using those words around them. I just feel that the frequent use of bitch and nigger are symptoms of much deeper rooted issues. And I definitely don’t think we should be censuring it out of music.

    As for the term lady, call me…context. Earlier this year an older woman called me a “nice young lady” and I actually liked it. I don’t like it when men who are my age call me a lady. Inherent in the word lady is a code of behaviors and when a man calls me a lady I feel as though he is implying that I have been a “good girl”, just seems patronizing and controlling. I’m not a good girl or a bad girl I’m a woman who navigates her life and conduct based on my inner moral code, the teachings of my God and just my own natural proclivities and personality.

    1. kenn says:

      Understood. I guess ‘lady’ can be negative in a certain context. I’ve never used it as such. It was always akin to ‘gentleman’ to me.

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