Beyonce = Robo-ho? Ruh roh!
Earlier this year, the Don Imus incident made it clear that you can't just call a black woman a the h word any ol' time you feel like it, regardless of how fucked up her hair is, lest the forces of McCarthyism come down on you like a tour bus on Metallica's first bassist. But what if you're using the term in reference to a black woman who's actually dressed like a ho?
The latest such incident involves, you guessed it, Jay-Z's pretend girlfriend Beyonce Knowles, who apparently gave a performance at this week's BET Awards dressed as a robotic whore. A "robo-ho," if you will, though I find that "ho-bot" has a nice ring as well.
I wouldn't know one way or the other, because, obviously, why in the fuck would I want to watch the BET Awards? In fact, when did they even begin having the BET Awards? I haven't even bothered watching the MTV Awards since I was like 19, or whatever year that was they had the Wayans brothers host. I bet that was when they began having the BET Awards.
But the more I hear about this year's BET Awards, the more I kinda wish I'd indulged my inner sadist. For example, how come none of you 'bags told me your boy Fiddy pulled an Ashlee Simpson - except when his lip sync reel malfunctioned he just sort of ran through the crowd slapping fives with people and hollering what's up? Then he goes back onstage, sits down and starts talking about Vitamin Water.
As far as the whole robo-ho thing goes, I've seen my share of Paul Verhoeven movies, but I'd lying if I said I knew exactly what a robo-ho wears. My guess is that it's something along the lines of your typical ho uniform (like the one worn by the ho that ganked Foxy Brown's hearing aid the other day), but with more shiny metal gizmos. Is that what Beyonce was wearing at the BET Awards? At any rate, that's how TMZ chose to describe it.
Here's the exact quote:
…From Beyonce's roboho performance getup to Eve's streetwalker chic, check out why it's time these artists hired new stylists and put the hip back into hip-hop!...
Aww dang!
Okay, so honestly I don't see what the big deal is, though of course I'm a hardened woman hater. No Larry Johnson. Like I said, I'm not sure what exactly she had on the other day, but when's the last time you saw Beyonce when she wasn't dressed like a ho? The time she performed at President Sieg Howdy's inauguration? If anything, that's only further proof that she'll do anything for a dollar. If you think I'm lying, feel free to consult Google Images.
But according to Jasmyne Cannick aka jimbrah izrael's lesbian workwife, it shouldn't matter whether or not Beyonce dresses as a ho for a living. In the wake of the Don Imus incident, the media should no longer be allowed to use the word ho in reference to a black woman regardless, the same way it's generally not considered Kosher to call a Jewish guy a money lender, even if he works in a bank.
Here's the key bit of the screed she posted to her blog yesterday re: this nonsense:
Not too long ago Black America raised its voices over the Don Imus “nappy headed hos” slip of the tongue which resulted in him ultimately being fired from CBS. Some would argue it had more to do with that fact the women he referred too didn’t deserve to be called that and that they weren’t public figures worthy of such a demeaning name. Others, like myself, believe that there’s no justification for calling someone a ho, directly or indirectly, in the media, and that includes the online media.
Um, yeah.
So, what do you 'bags think? Should the media be allowed to use the term ho in reference to a woman? What if she's actually dressed like a ho? What if she isn't, but the media just feels like calling somebody a ho?
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