"Remember the Ladies..."

meme wrote:

“Remember the ladies…”

With these words Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, demanding that the rights of women be taken into consideration in the drafting of the laws of the country that was being built.

These same words I write today to my favorite band to tell them I am heartbroken at the sight of them playing along to a song they have obviously rehearsed and whose lyrics I assume they have therefore heard over and over again.

Why am I heartbroken? Because these are the people who have written songs like Daughter, like Small Town, like Breakerfall. Songs that meandered the hearts of females with phenomenal insight. Because these are people who put so much thought into every little act, and regard as political all actions they take and words they speak. I still remember hearing Insignificance in Berlin, and thinking it was utterly deliberate that Ed would say those words to that audience.

When news of the Made in America Festival broke, I was one of those actually excited at the opportunity to bring together two music worlds and indeed, two traditionally different audiences. I even used the label ‘racist’ for someone whose distaste for the event seemed a little two visceral.

But I draw the line at them playing along to 99 problems. I draw a line at a song that unequivocally equates at the very beginning the words “girl” and the word “bitch”. As in: “all girls are bitches. Same thing.”

I am told Ed used the word in a song before. I may have used it myself, and that’s unfortunate. Yet, like Ed, I may have used it addressing someone specific behaving in obnoxious ways. That’s different to me. Same goes for the mosquito bites incident.

I am told 99 problems is actually about racial profiling, that it is exactly the same as WMA. With all due respect, no it ain’t the same. WMA is about racial profiling and not about sexual profiling. There is legitimate doubt that 99 problems is about racial profiling, but none whatsoever that it is about sexual profiling.

I discuss DuBois with my Columbia sophomores, and I am always appalled at the stories of profiling my dark skinned students share (American and not American). These stories come from men AND women. Yet JZ’s song, by addressing (all) women with a derogatory term, chooses to speak only for discriminated males. That’s his prerogative. But never, ever, ever, have I perceived Pearl Jam as interested in this kind of business. As I said above, if anything, the opposite.

I have raised my son with Pearl Jam in the background, and taken the opportunity to talk about “bad words” and difficult issues in an age appropriate way as they were coming up in the bootlegs we were listening to. 99 problems would be a really tough one to explain, and I pray JZ won’t be a surprise guest to sing it at a future NYC performance to which my son might come along.

Really, I would lighten up if this were not bothering me so much.

And if this were a band who “lit up” when confronted with Ticketmaster, a murderous president, and the onslaught on women rights. Like them, I think principles are important and they are nothing unless someone lives by them.

Some philosophers distinguish between “exit” and “voice” as the option one has when confronted with something they don’t approve of. “Exit” would be yielding to those who’d recommend “just stop listening,” “don’t renew your membership, I can’t wait to get your seat at the next show,” “They don’t owe you any explanation.” Voice is, I think, what I just did and something we all should do in an election year.

And sorry if all this sounded… well, bitchy.

jdesantis1983 wrote:

I'm glad the band doesn't care what people think enough to take artistic risks and do what they want to do after all these years, including performances like Sunday night. If they listened to everyone with an opinion: yours, mine, or anyone else's on this board included, they probably would have stopped playing a long time ago.

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

81 wrote:

Bitch, please.

:roll:

Fo sheezy mah neezy!!!!!