boats and hoes, boats and hoes

boats and hoes, boats and hoes

For the second essay sequence of my English 101 class, which will be a part of the writing portfolio for my final, I had to essentially devise my own topic which will be able to tie in with previous texts of the class. I had not liked this idea at first because I had no sense of direction without a proper prompt from my professor! My mind was constantly encumbered in thoughts of different possible topics (all of which were only mediocre) -- whatever it was, it had to be super awesome and a subject that I'm passionate enough to write about. Most importantly it had to be interesting enough to induce the reader to keep reading after the first paragraph. Seemed like a pretty solid standard. Oddly enough, I had an epiphany during lunch as I was taking a bite out of my burger. Pimps and hoes! I passed my idea along to Grace and surely enough, she liked it. And here I'll share with you my one page topic proposal as oppose to the 6-8 pager I will soon develop.

"In this paper, I will be exploring the terms “pimps and hoes” in today’s American culture.
The youth of America uses these terms loosely, which engages in blind acts of reinforcing the
idea of gender roles. Through Scholes’s method of reading into texts, it is easy to identify the
ideas of ‘pimps and hoes’ especially in the hip hop culture and entertainment industry. These
ideas also parallel Kilbourne’s in a way that the gender roles of ‘pimps and hoe’s’ may promote
violence. In true dictionary definition terms a pimp is a person, especially a man, who solicits
customers for a prostitute or a brothel, usually in return for a share of earnings. A hoe is
generally defined as the aforementioned ‘prostitute’ or one who does the dirty work for a pimp.
In a real life situation of a pimp and a hoe these acts can actually be dangerous, but the younger
demographic today may use the term ‘pimp’ for someone who is just a cool guy and the term hoe
for a girl whether she is promiscuous or not. With these terms developed from a ghettoized
culture, I can extend on Ducille in discussion of new media instilling cultural messages and the
representation of femininity in texts and further explore the relations of gender and social roles.
Tangent to the work of Dworkin and Messner, I will limit myself to investigate the
representation of femininity and masculinity in terms of social aspects instead of sports. A few
illustrative examples that will serve to provide some imagery are rap videos and how men and
women are portrayed. Snoop Dogg has also been known to carry his female companions on
diamond encrusted leashes from time to time. Even us college students engage in activities
promoting the glorification of gender roles at parties with the theme of CEO’s and office hoes."