Description
Book SynopsisA feminist - and former model - scrutinizes hip-hop culture
Trade ReviewPimps Up, Ho's Downis an ambitious project that engages, rather than skirts, the complicated domain of sex, gender, power and hip hop. The book is extremely readable and suitiable for a variety of audiences. -- Valerie Chepp * Cultural Sociology *
Sharpley-Whitings book does not suffer from the sort of cowardice one too often hears from black academics who genuflect to hip hop in order to stay current with the tastes of the students who provide them with whatever power they have on college campuses. Sharpley-Whiting calls them as she sees them and wisely quotes the offensive material when necessary. Her book is high level in its research and its thought, and those looking for adult ideas about the subject should look it up. -- Stanley Crouch * New York Daily News *
Offers an insightful look into the strip clubs, groupie culture, and other aspects of hip hop that have given a voice to the disenfranchised while raising troubling questions about what those voices are saying and doing. * Vanderbilt Magazine *
Sharpley-Whiting gets at the heart of the paradox . . . and puts the discussion on the turntable. * Washington Post *
Offers damning evidence about hip hops underlying racial and social prejudices, examining the politics of gender and providing a feminists perspective and insights into black musics underlying message. * The Midwest Book Review *
Sharpley-Whiting unmasks thought provoking socio-political commentaries concerning sexual obsession in rap music and its effects on the black female sense of self. * Allhiphop.com *
Sharpley-Whitings uncommon perspective is one that deserves to be examined more often. * Bitch *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Prologue Sex, Power, and Punanny Introduction Pimpin' Ain't Easy, But Somebody's Got to Do It 1 "I See the Same Ho": Video Vixens, Beauty Culture, and Diasporic Sex Tourism 2 Too Hot to Be Bothered: Black Women and Sexual Abuse 3 "I'm a Hustla, Baby": Groupie Love and the Hip Hop Star 4 Strip Tails: Booty Clappin', P-poppin', Shake Dancing 5 Coda, or a Few Last Words on Hip Hop and Feminism Notes Index About the Author
