FROM MOBY.COM

I just discovered his blog thanks to a link on skkkruff.com's newsletter. Here's one entry.


I'd like to write about misogyny. a few years ago when the prodigy released 'smack my bitch up' i spoke up and criticised the song for being overtly misogynystic and irresponsible. i was in turn criticised on radio for 'being too uptight' and not being relaxed enough to appreciate the 'humor' in misogyny.
then 5 years ago i spoke up about the pernicious and pervasive spread of misogyny in popular culture, and again i was crticised for making a big issue out of something that no one
else seemed to care about.
i respect the prodigy and i respect eminem as talented and relevant musicians, but i spoke up because i found the misogynystic content of their lyrics(among many others) to be deeply offensive. even if they themselves are not misogynysts
i found it irresponsible that they, and many others, would release music that glamourized misogyny.
2 months after 'smack my bitch up' was released i went to visit a friend of mine who was in hospital after being beaten by her boyfriend. she had brain damage and multiple fractures due to his pushing her down a flight of concrete stairs.
misogyny is not funny. it is not a joke. and it should not be treated lightly.
and now we find out that a british man who is obsessed with eminem killed a woman with a metal baseball bat
and stuffed her body into a suitcase.
am i being 'too uptight' for not seeing the humor in this?
should i 'relax' and see the comedy in a misogynyst beating a woman to death?
before this british man brutally killed this woman he was singing eminem songs in a karaoke bar.
maybe there's no connection. maybe there is. it's disgusting that we even have to ask that question.
it's disgusting that people in the media and the press have celebrated and glamorized music and musicians who write lyrics that glorify misogyny and homophobia. there is nothing glamorous about homophobia and misogyny. homophobia and misogyny are disgusting and vile and represent the worst and most atavistic elements of the human spirit.
i asked a rhetorical question a few years ago, which was: 'if a musician made a record wherein he talked about killing blacks and jews would he get covered in the press and played on radio and mtv? if the answer is 'no'(as it should be), then why is radio and mtv filled with music that has lyrics about killing and brutalizing women and gays? is it somehow less offensive when women and gays are brutalized and killed?'
any employee of a record company or journalist or radio programmer or mtv employee who has promoted and celebrated misogynystic or homophobic music should be ashamed.
you have blood on your hands, and you should be deeply, deeply troubled at the culture that you've helped to create.
-moby