Please don't "pimp" anything
04:15, 11 April 2009
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Saturday already? Time for a personal blawg:I've said it before, I'll say it again: I hate the current usage of the word pimp. I loathe it. Why? Because I loathe human slavery. Rather than repeat myself, here's my blog from last year on why this word is inappropriate for anything outside of describing a slave owner. The blog also lists sites that work to stop human trafficking.
But don't just take my word for it: hear it from a pimp himself, via a free audio episode of This American Live. A former pimp tells how he and three childhood friends became pimps in the 1970s in Oakland, California. He explains all the elaborate ownership rules among pimps for the women they traffic and exploit. The violence, the humiliation, the complete control of pimps over the lives of women -- I hope it will convince you to stop using the word pimp to talk about upgrades to a web site or car or whatever. There's no reason in the world to think it's cute or hip -- it's not.
