A rough week for rape apologists
Freedom of expression is a hard concept to argue with. It’s been fought for (and more or less won) by artists, writers and activists who have pushed the limits of the acceptable and in doing so broadened social horizons. It’s the value most often brought out as evidence of a free and just society, and with good reason. The flip side is that it can become a get-out-of-jail-free card that shuts down demands for sensitivity and responsibility to people on the margins.
As many readers are aware, rapper Action Bronson recently had his free, public appearance at YongeDundas Square cancelled after a petition citing his misogynist, violent lyrics and music videos as evidence of hate speech gathered more than 40,000 signatures. In Winnipeg, American rock band Black Pussy (BP) had their show in that city nixed after similar petitions were circulated, referencing the misogynist and racist implications of the band’s name. It’s been a rough week for rape apologists.
Truly, the most disturbing part of the discussions around these two events is the rush to cry “free speech!” and/or “political correctness!” when faced with a clear message from members of the community who have stated fears for their safety. Defenders of Bronson and BP seem ever ready to roll up their sleeves and paternalistically explain concepts like “artistic persona” and “shock value” and “rape but not like rape rape” to people who are frankly tired of walking home with their house keys jammed between their knuckles.
Carla Gillis evoked this image in her recent Now Magazine piece about the Bronson show, and I take to heart her sentiment that “sometimes freedom of expression needs to take a flying f---.”
As when white people complain about the n-word (“Black people say it all the time, so why can’t I?”), the obvious response to this kind of defensiveness is, what is so dear to you about these words? Why do they taste so good in your mouth? Why are you willing to perform rhetorical acrobatics to prove that they don’t mean what they appear to? It seems like the honest thing to do would be to say, “yep, this music is glorifying rape/racism/misogyny, people have been profiting from it for thousands of years and we want our piece, too,” and then accept the consequences, which might be that people don’t like you.
In an interview, the singer of BP, bemused at the reactions to his band’s name, said “It would be different if we were five black women.” Yes, yes it would. That is one bit of unfairness that you will just have to endure as a white man who wants to name his band after a song (“Brown Sugar”) that even Mick Jagger admits was a bad idea.
Acouple years ago a music venue in Montreal booked an artist who had been photographed wearing a shirt printed with “RAPE” and a swastika necklace. He had appeared publicly alongside a noted white supremacist and had said and published a number of things that ran the gamut from dumb to terrifying. There was much debate about whether he was “actually” a Nazi or just wanted to look like one; about freedom of expression and what constitutes art; about the use of fascist iconography as critique. The whole thing, to me, felt a little academic.
I was one of many people who wrote the bookers expressing my concern with giving this guy a stage in our community. I was less worried about him expressing his views, whatever they were, than about the kind of scene his appearance was likely to rubber-stamp. I had several friends who lived directly across from the venue, which also bordered a largely immigrant neighbourhood. Were people going to show up there who maybe didn’t quite grasp the subtlety of this guy’s deployment of racist imagery? Who didn’t get that he was being arch or clever or ironic (if in fact he was)? Were my female, racialized, trans, queer friends and neighbours going to feel safe going in and out of their houses? Was I?
That show was cancelled, and like in the Bronson and BP cases, it was encouraging to see communities listened to and respected. I hope we can keep listening, and that people in artistic and music scenes can keep developing smart and engaged policies around misogyny and racism. And I hope the all-women-of-colour version of Black Pussy puts out their first record soon.
Action Bronson’s free rap concert in Toronto was cancelled after complaints about his violent lyrics