Homosexuality: Emminem breaks the last taboo
Ian Rooney
Eminem Breaks the Last Taboo
When Gang-Rape, Incest and Cop-Killing are Okay, Whats Left that Isnt?
By William Frohnhoefer
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 29, 2001
HIP-HOP PERFORMER Eminem (a.k.a. Slim Shady, M&M, Marshall Bruce Mathers
III) has said and done a few outrageous things this year. He has also,
perhaps unwittingly, shown us the truth about the emperors new clothes.
Eminems latest record, The Marshall Mathers LP, has gone septuple
platinum. His video is in heavy rotation on MTV. He has been nominated for
four Grammys, including Best Album of the Year. He busts intricate rhymes
about growing up poor in Americas inner city, lyrics which include graphic
and enthusiastic images of robbery, arson, assault, rape, gang rape,
incest, murder and drug abuse.
So far, Slim sounds like yet another item in a numbingly long string of
iterations on Americas cultural collapse. But hes not just another example
- hes a very special case. You see, he represents two phenomena weve never
seen before: hes a white man who keeps it real in so authentic a fashion
that his records are popular among both black and white youth, and he has
managed to draw the condemnation of the usual cheerleaders of moral decay
- the liberal press.
Its a fascinating development. For years, leftists in journalism have
bemoaned the continuing musical self-segregation of the races. For years,
they have sought the perfect crossover artist and now theyve found him.
Surprise! He combines the morbid preoccupations of popular white acts
(Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails) with the violent bravado of popular
black performers (DMX, Tupac Shakur). Perhaps they were expecting their
musical savior to come with a message of peaceful brotherhood instead of
criminal conspiracy? One wonders if theyve been listening to the records
theyve been reviewing for the past fifteen years.
Now that the long-dreamed-of avatar is here, theyve decided to rudely
reject Eminem instead of praise him. Eric Boehlert of Salon.com speaks for
a plethora of his sensitive brethren when he wonders whether societys
trendsetters should align themselves with an artist as blatantly hateful,
vengeful and violent as Slim Shady. What aroused their ire? What did the M
do to them?
Is it Slims misogyny? The fact that he flows gleefully about using women
sexually, both willingly and forcibly? Boehlert & Co. make the claim, but
Ive never seen him use his soapbox to condemn other, darker-hued rappers
like Juvenile, DMX, the Geto Boyz and the Wu-Tang Clan - all of whom are
not averse to rhyming about such topics. In fact, some of them are not
averse to living their lyrics in their personal lives. It cant be hatred
of or violence against women that has got the left in such a tizzy, since
they give so many other artists a free pass.
Is it the Ms rapturous descriptions of lurid violence? Again, probably
not. Violence is the bread and butter of hip-hop authenticity. Just like
insensitivity to women, violent rhetoric is another category in which
other performers are permitted a broad swath of artistic license.
Perhaps its because Mr. Marshall Bruce Mathers III is a cynical white
tourist self-consciously slumming in an urban milieu? Perhaps. That they
are merely rhyming about their authentic, everyday experiences is one of
the excuses commonly made for the violence and misogyny of many hip-hop
MCs. That pretext wouldnt work for a studio-produced crossover wunderkind.
But young Marshall did grow up a poor white kid in a black Detroit
neighborhood, an underprivileged child in a single-parent household,
living on public assistance. He was exposed to crime and violence at an
early age, being beaten into a coma by an assailant at the tender age of
ten. If authenticity is a screen for others, why arent the root causes of
his antisocial lyrics tolerantly chalked up to his troubled childhood?
No the obvious reasons for execrating Slims records are not the ones which
make him anathema to the liberal press. For years conservative social
critics have been lambasting various hip-hoppers and rockers for their
violence, obscenity, disrespect for women and glamorization of substance
abuse. In each case, leftist journalists informed benighted conservatives
that we were talking about art. When 2 Live Crew rapped about how they
loved to be at the f*ckshop f*cking all the hos we were informed that
despite their vulgarity, the Crew were reconstructing sound in new and
novel ways and that declaring their avant-garde artistry obscene would
muzzle free expression. When Ice-T boldly proclaimed that he was a
cop-killer, we were informed by his publicist that the notoriety the right
and law enforcement were creating for this admitted former gang-member and
drug-dealer made him like a political prisoner.
The message from Boehlert & Co. couldnt be clearer: you cant expect much
more of blacks than to rhyme about raping, killing and dealing drugs - its
just part of their environment and they dont know any better. Eminem is on
trial, in part, because he does not have a sufficiently developed sense of
white male self-hatred - his rough childhood does not provide him with any
excuse for his behavior. In other words, the left expects him to be able
to rise above his past, but it assumes that his black cohorts are
incapable of so doing. The inherent racism of this position is clear to
anyone who isnt mired in identity politics.
To the average conservative, the reality is quite different and quite
clear: Eminem and Ol Dirty Bastard are both repulsive little sociopaths:
their differing ancestries do nothing to either exculpate or damn them -
they both stand equally condemned in their words and in their actions.
But I said: on trial, in part. What is the other part, the other
unforgivable sin? Slim does not take kindly to homosexuality. The ultimate
transgression in our society (as John Ashcroft is discovering to his
chagrin) is to disapprove of unconventional sexuality. In a sense,
homophilia has become the ultimate litmus test.
Eminems misogyny and violence really arent the issue. As weve seen, plenty
of others are allowed to indulge in these vices without a twinge, and
sometimes with applause for their authenticity or grittiness. No, its
Eminems mocking abuse of gays which earns him the vitriol of anything-goes
critics. When Eazy E rapped Im the type of n*gger whos built to last/
police f*ck wit me Ima put a foot in they ass critics smiled approvingly
at this humorous snippet of urban rebelliousness. When Slim says of a
detractor Talkin about how I fabricated my past?/ Hes just aggravated I
wont ejaculate in his ass the same critics accuse him of an Orwellian hate
crime.
The usual list of grievance groups which normally spearhead responses to
controversial records have been upstaged and eclipsed by the aggressive
campaigning of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and
the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The latter group,
which has no problem advocating pedophilia in the Massachusetts public
school system, somehow feels that Eminem is too outré for polite society.
These same groups have reacted as hysterically (more so, in fact) to Dr.
Laura Schlessingers television program.
Dr. Laura and Em have little in common. The only thing that they do share
is a refusal to envision the world precisely as the folks at GLSEN would
prefer them to. Ms. Schlessingers objections to GLSENs opinions are based
on a moral and intellectual analysis of societal breakdown and are
expressed philosophically. Mr. Mathers feelings are more visceral (perhaps
in reaction to the aggressive sexual habits some of his contemporaries
cultivated in lockdown). Both are subjected to the same assault. So the
issue here stands quite starkly revealed.
The left doesnt care about Eminems violent or vulgar speech. They dont
care about performers promoting and valorizing violence or drug abuse or
theft or illegitimacy. They dont worry about children being exposed to
moral squalor and degradation. All that is still just great. The reason
theyre going after the M tooth and claw is because hes committed a very
unfashionable thoughtcrime against a very fashionable interest group. The
Eminem controversy is not a symptom of leftists coming to their senses
about the cultural rot that threatens to swamp civil society. Its about
winning another battle in their war for thought control.
The complaints about Eminems misogyny are laughable when they come from
the mouths of the avant-garde left. After all, these are the same people
who have raved over the new film Quills, which valorizes and celebrates
the Marquis de Sade. The Marquis is an excellent example of the modern
left-wing intelligentsia: he was an aristocratic snob full of contempt for
the values and mores of the common people, he was devoid of talent and
sophistication, but imagined himself to be suffused with both, and he was
a sexual deviant who claimed to be freeing women while he abused and
degraded them. They shrink from Eminem (who only talks a good game), but
embrace de Sade who actually did physically imprison and rape women. Talk
about a credibility gap.
The ultimate test of these groups sincerity is simple: when will they
refuse to support the work of the racist and misogynist vulgarian and
advocate of sexual violence that they have so long championed? And I dont
mean de Sade - Im talking about homosexual hero Robert Mapplethorpe.
--
Deborah Terreson
----------
In article <959nc1$gac$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca>, at...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA
(Ian Rooney) wrote:
Uhh. Are they going to dig up his bones? Mapplethorpe is like, dead..
oh well...
Deb.
>
>
>
> --
>
>
Ian Rooney
> ----------
> In article <959nc1$gac$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca>, at...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA
> (Ian Rooney) wrote:
>>
>> Eminems misogyny and violence really arent the issue. As weve seen, plenty
>> of others are allowed to indulge in these vices without a twinge, and
>> sometimes with applause for their authenticity or grittiness.
>> No, its Eminems mocking abuse of gays which earns him the vitriol of
>> anything-goes critics.
>> When Eazy E rapped 'Im the type of nigger whos built to last/
>> police fuck wit me Ima put a gun in their ass' critics smiled approvingly
>> at this humorous snippet of urban rebelliousness. When Slim says of a
>> detractor 'Talkin about how I fabricated my past?/ Hes just aggravated I
>> wont ejaculate in his ass' the same critics accuse him of an Orwellian hate
>> crime.
>> The usual list of grievance groups which normally spearhead responses to
>> controversial records have been upstaged and eclipsed by the aggressive
>> campaigning of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and
>> the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The latter group,
>> which has no problem advocating pedophilia in the Massachusetts public
>> school system, somehow feels that Eminem is too outré for polite society.
>> These same groups have reacted as hysterically (more so, in fact) to Dr.
>> Laura Schlessingers television program.
>>
>> Dr. Laura and Em have little in common. The only thing that they do share
>> is a refusal to envision the world precisely as the folks at GLSEN would
>> prefer them to. Ms. Schlessingers objections to GLSENs opinions are based
>> on a moral and intellectual analysis of societal breakdown and are
>> expressed philosophically. Mr. Mathers feelings are more visceral (perhaps
>> in reaction to the aggressive sexual habits some of his contemporaries
>> cultivated in lockdown). Both are subjected to the same assault. So the
>> issue here stands quite starkly revealed.
>> The ultimate test of these groups sincerity is simple: when will they
>> refuse to support the work of the racist and misogynist vulgarian and
>> advocate of sexual violence that they have so long championed? And I dont
>> mean de Sade - Im talking about homosexual hero Robert Mapplethorpe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Uhh. Are they going to dig up his bones? Mapplethorpe is like, dead..
> oh well...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, Mapplethorpe is the famous gay 'artist' photographer who got
rave reviews for his gallery shows: photographic poster size portraits
of men witht their fists buried in eachothers rectums up to the forearm
while eating feces etc. Mapplethorpe died of AIDS, but his work lives
on. Which is exactly what they said in the article, Deb. Gay groups
support the 'work' of their racist and vulgarian misogynist hero
Robert Mapplethorpe. The author never claimed that he was still alive.
You are clutching at straws like a mentally ill child.
(like, are you ever, like.....whatever)
Ian
--
QIM
> When Gang-Rape, Incest and Cop-Killing are Okay, Whats Left that Isnt?
>
> By William Frohnhoefer
>
> FrontPageMagazine.com | January 29, 2001
Thanks for posting the article Ian. The writer used the
word "hemophillia" when he should have used "homophobia". Other than
that mistake, he does make some excellent points. The hypocirsy of the
gay/feminists is legendary and recorded for future generations in
history. They have even outdone their temperance sisters and the moral
right of the past.
Unlike those past movements, the gay/feminists own the democratic
party. The attack on Eminem amounts to a frontal attack on the most
traditional and important of democratic issues, the poor and
oppressed. The irony is that Eminem is a product of the gay/feminist
oppression of white men. It's proof that the democrats no longer
represent the poor in this country, on the contrary, they actively
oppress to poor in order to promote the gay/feminist agenda.
Tom
Tom
--
Patriarchy
http://www.egroups.com/group/patriarchy
The American Union of Men (AUM)
http://www.egroups.com/group/aum/info.html
The Masculist Manifesto
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aum/message/71
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Deborah Terreson
----------
In article <95b05j$ile$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca>, at...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA
(Ian Rooney) wrote:
No.
Look at what is posted.. I didn't snip anything from the original post you
made... The first mention of him is in the last paragraph, the _last two_
words, in fact. The bulk of the post is about Eminem.
Poodle.. You can go online and find stuff like that on the Gay Porn sites.
He did do more than photograph Big Boys in Boots.. Go look up his
photograph titled 'Ada' and tell me that's not a beautiful portrait (and I
got a suprise fer ya, it's a woman.). Take a look at the series he did of
flowers; lilies and orchids. There's a still life photo titled "Urn with
fruit" which is one of the most painterly photographs I have ever seen, and
yes, I even saw some of his filthy pictures (They were at least done with a
degree of technical ability that is sadly lacking on many adult sites). But
you know something? Those gay pictures weren't the images that stuck with
me: They weren't his best. I took the time to see beyond the shock value of
that particular of work and say the entire body. And it's beautiful.
Art is more than "Sad-Eyed Clowns" and "Bulldogs Playing Poker."
>
> (like, are you ever, like.....whatever)
>
Yeah, someone that has actually _seen_ the work, _BEFORE_ I made my mind up
about it.
>
Deb.