3.07.2006

It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp

It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures


You know it’s hard out here for a pimp
When he tryin to get his money for the rent
For the Cadillacs and gas money spent
Because a whole lot of bitches talking s--t


On an average night, they have sex with 10-15 people and have to meet a quota which is usually $500-1,000 a night. The young girls and women never keep their money. The pimp was making…between her and other women … about $642,000 a year tax free.

— Tina Frundt, testimony before Congress, April 29, 2005


Man these girls think we prove thangs, leave a big head
They come hopin every night, they don’t end up bein dead


And then of course, after we crossed the line, our worlds changed forever. ALL of us had friends who didn’t make it out alive.

— Survivor Services, Education and Empowerment Network (SSEEN) letter to Congress, August 1, 2005


In my eyes I done seen some crazy thangs in the streets
Gotta couple hoes workin on the changes for me


In the Hispanic brothels, girls—and by that I mean children—are expected to “service” a different man every fifteen minutes, from 30 to as many as 55 “customers” per day. After a few weeks of this unimaginable regime, the human brain begins to permanently dissociate from reality as a sheer survival mechanism. The scarring is such that only a small proportion of these victims are ever able to return to a semblance of a normal life.

— Bradley Myles, National Program Coordinator, Polaris Project, a D.C.-based anti-trafficking NGO


Wait I got a snow bunny, and a black girl too
You pay the right price and they’ll both do you


[P]imps and madams [sold] us to johns who intended violent acts as long as the purchasers paid extra. After all, we were only viewed as commodities and worst of all, we believed it.”

— SSEEN letter to Congress, August 1, 2005


It’s blood sweat and tears when it come down to this s--t
I’m trying to get rich ‘fore I leave up out this bitch



Eighty percent of the women were sexually assaulted by pimps via sadistic sex; 71% of pimps use drugs to control the women; and 34% of the women received death threats from pimps personally or to their family.
— Raymond, Hughes, Gomez, “Sex Trafficking In the United States, Coalition Against Trafficking of Women Study,” March 2001

Sixty-eight percent of girls entered prostitution before age sixteen.
—Silbert and Pines “Entrance into Prostitution,” Youth and Society 1982 (SanFransisco)

Forty-six percent of women in prostitution attempted suicide.
— Parriot, “Health of Twin Cities Women in Prostitution,” May1994

The mortality rate of women in prostitution, adjusted for age and race, is more than 200 times greater than the population at large.
— Potterat , Brewer “Mortality in a Long-term Open Cohort ofProstituted Women,” Am J Epidemiology, 2004. (Colorado)


You know what? I think it just got a little easier out here for a pimp.

— Jon Stewart, Host of Academy Awards, March 5, 2006


The war against pimps and trafficking mafias brings us face to face with the slavery issue of our time. Both internationally and within the United States great progress has been made during the past few years thanks to the leadership of feminist and church leaders, the President, Congress, and inner city leaders who have witnessed the tragic influence of pimp culture on the values of all of their young people. In a few short years, we will no more glorify pimps than we do Simon Legree.

— Ambassador John Miller, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, United States Department of State

posted by Kelly @ 2:09:00 PM 

17 Comments:

Blogger so i go said...

powerful post, kelly.. so powerful that i'm just staring at my screen and stunned into silence.
thank you for shedding light on this topic.

2:42 PM  
Blogger KIMISLOVED said...

I completely agree...God is continuing to teach me about this topic, even as I read your post Kell.
Thank u!

3:23 PM  
Blogger New Life said...

Thank you for sharing this information. I go along with Jeff, I am just stunned into silence.

5:02 PM  
Blogger Phil said...

Thanks, Kelly - I was so upset when this song won. Glad somebody's saying something. Thanks for doing the research on this...

9:39 PM  
Blogger RC said...

Wow...I am really glad I ran across your site today...

this is great information! and thought into this very real topic.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

5:22 PM  
Blogger Tim said...

Wow. Thanks for this. Best post I've seen on a blog in months.

7:19 PM  
Blogger RC said...

Hey, I decided to post about your post on my site this morning. Check it out and claim your post!

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

9:12 AM  
Blogger Paula said...

The truth is sobering. The truth hurts. It isn't cool or glitzy, and it doesn't sell records or win Academy Awards.

But it is good to know truth. Thank you for this.

8:50 PM  
Blogger Jason said...

thanks for this ministry kelly. What a very relevant way of opening people's eyes to both the corruption in the glamour and the real life problem of human trafficking!

9:26 AM  
Blogger Linda said...

Wow Kelly! I agree with all of the comments. You brought the reality of this to light in a powerful way.

It's hard to believe that our culture would begin to take lightly something that is so evil.

3:25 PM  
Blogger Jim said...

Thank you for doing more than just complaining! You have taken the time to research and put this celebrated travesty in its proper prospective.

4:26 PM  
Blogger Sue said...

Thank you Kelly for exposing the truth of this very sad situation.

10:54 AM  
Blogger David Cho said...

Hi, I got here through grace's link. That is a powerful post. Thank you.

1:55 PM  
Blogger Emma Jayne said...

Okay - first and MOST importantly, I too am shocked at the statistics and facts that you uncovered. I am grateful for your research and I think, based on the comments you have received, that many or our peers have had a true 'eye-opener' thanks to you.

Second - I agree with Phil that this song should never have won and, indeed, probably should never have been nominated. But....

Thirdly.... in (very miniscule) defense of the song (not the lyrics and certainly not the lifestyle associated with them), the movie it came from was about change and wanting a better life. If you look at the context that it was written in, you may see it slightly differently. Maybe the purpose of the the song (and movie) was to open up our eyes more to this terrible and too common lifestyle that seems to often be ignored. Again - I do not think it was Oscar worthy, but I do think that it served a purpose and that the purpose was a good one. Essentially, it has exposed a way of life that many people did not know about, and/or what that way of life truly is, but now it has come to light through the song. * I have not seen the movie. All of my thoughts and opinions are based on the reviews and synopses I have read online for the movie and song.

Maybe I am wrong.... Am I even making any sense?!

4:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IT’S HARD OUT THERE FOR THE PIMPED
by Michael Horowitz and Daniel Gibson


I did not see a credit on your post to the authors.

2:25 PM  
Blogger Phil said...

just so you know, Kelly, it wasn't me leaving that last comment...

3:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A friend in Canada sent me over here to check this post out. It just makes me sick looking at what MTV has to say versus the reality of life on the street. Sick.
And we gave these guys an oscar??

Peter
www.lublink.ca

9:15 PM  

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I am on a journey, searching for God and what that means in my daily life. It's not about constraints, it's not about limitations, but freedom. I know something exists beyond the visible. I live thinking about possibilities and what could be and the necessary steps to make things happen. I like long talks with a good friend, drinking tea, eating breakfast with my husband, going to a bookstore (they are the new libraries), cool mornings, windy days in the fall, learning about love and life from those who seem to have found their way, teenagers, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, long baths, and connecting with another heart. I am learning how to love, how to live, when to speak and when not to, when it's time to gather the stones, when it's time to let go, surrender, forgiveness, and discipline.

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