Top
Honorable Mention:
HiPhOP FeMiNiSm
by
Zahra Kara
Oh, my god Becky,
look at her butt.
It is so big. She
looks like,
One of those rap
guys' girlfriends.
But y'know, who
understands those
rap guys?
They only talk to
her, because,
She looks like a
total prostitute,
'ay?
I mean, her butt, is
just so big.
I can't believe it's
just so round, it's
like,
Out there, I mean-
gross. Look!
She's just so Black!
--"Baby got Back!"
Sir Mix-A-Lot
In 1809, a nineteen
year-old South
African woman,
Saartjie Baartman,
was abducted from
South Africa and
paraded, semi-naked,
across Europe for
six years, as a
sexual freak known
as the 'Hottentot
Venus'. She became
an icon of Black
female sexuality and
the "excessive size"
of her buttocks,
breasts, and vagina
were used to
promulgate the
absurd myth that
these mammoth
features were
indicative of Black
women's loose and
immoral sexuality.
The sexual abuse and
violation of Black
women did not begin
or end with Saartjie
Baartman,
considering Black
women were
frequently sexually
abused throughout
colonialization,
where their physical
slavery on the
plantations was
matched by their
sexual slavery in
the bedrooms of
their 'massahs'.
Even today, Black
women continue to be
objectified as
untamed, hypersexual
beings within
mainstream North
American society.
The lyrics of the
hit song "Baby got
Back" by Sir
Mix-A-Lot, display
the link between
being Black, having
a large backside and
being sexually
promiscuous, as is
connoted by the
reference to a
prostitute. In
response to these
racist and
misogynist
interpretations of
Black women and
their sexualities,
female rappers are
increasingly using
rap music to assert
their power as women
and more so, to
reclaim their
sexualities which
have been the
defining feature of
Black women's
identities for
hundreds of years.
An analysis of
several female
rappers, including
Queen Latifah, Salt
N Pepa, Trina, and
Da Brat will
demonstrate how
female rappers have
successfully
enlisted tools
discussed within
feminist discourse,
such as that of
mimicry, à la Luce
Irigaray, to
deconstruct negative
messages and
(re)construct
positive ones about
Black women, and
their sexualities.
Black women's
sexuality has been
defined by everyone
but themselves for
generations, and
their portrayal as
immoral and
hypersexual beings
is the result of the
dually oppressive
forces of racism and
sexism, which places
Black women in a
distinct plight.
bell hooks, in
Ain't I A Woman,
discusses the
effects of both
racism and sexism on
Black women. She
argues that Black
women are portrayed
as one of three main
figures within
popular culture:
Mammy, Matriarch, or
Jezebel. Although
the first two
categories of Black
women are seen as
asexual, the latter
is portrayed as the
pinnacle of moral
corruption, the
hypersexual
counterpart to the
prim and proper
Mammy. The Jezebel
is depicted as a
sexually promiscuous
slave who offers
herself to her
master in hopes of
receiving better
treatment (much like
a prostitute trades
sexual favours for
material goods).
Playing the role of
a mistress offered
potential advantages
that many slave
women could not
resist, such as good
food, good
treatment, easy
work, and possibly
freedom (Hill
Collins 78). The
“slack” personality
of the Jezebel was
used to excuse slave
owners' abuse of
their slaves and
gave an explanation
for mulatto
offspring. By
sexualizing racism
and racializing
sexism, this view
constructs Black
women as the
legitimate victim of
White male violence,
while it rewrites
the history of the
rape of Black women
by White men to
coincide with the
notion that Black
women were the
initiators of sexual
contact (Dines 37).
This attitude is
injurious to Black
women today, because
it is often used as
a rationale by the
media and society to
justify and excuse
the sexual
exploitation and
rape of Black women
(Hill Collins 77).
The depiction of
Black women as
lacking sexual
morality is
perpetuated within
hiphop culture.
Although rap music,
written and
performed by Black
men, generally
ignores the
existence of Black
women, when it does
make reference to
them, it is usually
in relation to their
sexualities. Women
are defined as
commodities, objects
of male pleasure, or
ornaments within the
majority of male
rappers’ lyrics,
making the portrait
of Black womanhood
that emerges flat
and one-dimensional.
A popular and
reoccurring
representation of
Black women within
male rap music is
that of them as
wild, sexually
promiscuous and
amoral (Stephens and
Philips 4). Black
women are referred
to as “freaks”,
“skanks”, or
“hoes”-- all terms
connoting women who
love to have sex
without discretion
or any emotional
attachment (Stephens
and Philips 20). For
instance, rapper
Jay-Z’s hit "Give it
to Me", states “with
all this cash,
you'll forget your
man; now give it to
me!”, giving Black
women an identity of
being desperately
promiscuous, “money
hungry sluts who do
anything for
cash”--modern day
Jezebels.
The music videos of
Black male rappers
further proliferate
the myth of Black
women as a
homogenous and
hypersexual faction.
These videos reflect
how race, class and
gender continue to
constrain and limit
the autonomy and
agency of Black
women (Emerson 120).
Virtually all of the
women who appear in
Black male rappers’
music videos are cut
from the same mould:
thin, light-skinned,
straight-haired,
scantily-clad women,
who fulfil
Eurocentric
standards of beauty.
They are usually
featured in videos
groping male
artists, serving as
trophies to attest
to their success, or
‘humping’ symbols of
phallic power, such
as cars or street
poles. It is for
this reason that
these females are
informally referred
to as “video hoes”.
The sexual
harassment suffered
by Black women
increases when they
make the decision to
enter the hiphop
community, since the
threat of sexual
harassment increases
when women dare to
enter predominantly
male fields, and the
hiphop community is
no exception. Male
rappers attempt to
deter women’s
entrance and rise in
the field by
subjecting female
rappers to attacks
on their sexual
reputations (Goodall
85). However, the
following analysis
will demonstrate
that despite the
misogynistic
representations of
Black women that
saturate male rap
lyrics and music
videos, since the
1990s, hiphop has
witnessed the
emergence of Black
women performers,
producers, writers,
and musicians who
turned rap lyrics
and music videos
into a site for the
promotion and
self-expression of
positive Black
womanhood and
sexuality.
Many Black female
rappers enlist
French feminist Luce
Irigaray’s
subversive practise
of mimicry to defy
male generated
definitions of Black
female sexuality.
Irigaray suggests
mimicking male
philosophy and
norms, arguing that
a playful imitation
of the place of
women within the
social order can
help to undermine
the system itself.
This means women
must convert their
subordination into
an affirmation, and
reintroduce sexual
difference into the
cultural order,
since women cannot
pretend that the
norms for femininity
do not exist, and
incorrectly assume
that they can be put
aside; because any
new idea of what the
“feminine”
constitutes would be
based on old
phallocentric norms
(Irigaray 78). The
practise of mimicry
is similar to a
Black oral tradition
of
signification/signifyin’.
Although
significations are
occasionally issued
for fun, they are
more frequently used
to make a point, to
issue a corrective,
or to critique
through indirection
and humour. Like
mimesis, signifyin’
resists oppression
while working within
the boundaries of
the oppressive
system, and
enlisting its tools.
As Sara Jones, a
Black female artist,
brilliantly
articulates,
“It’s a firm
structure…. [Images
of women in hip hop
as ‘bitches and
hoes’] are not going
away from the
outside…. You have
to play both sides….
Get in and
finagle around… play
within it while you
do your best to poke
holes in it. The
‘structure’ that
many young African
American women are
subjected to is
specifically rooted
in hip hop
stereotypes and the
media’s vilification
of ’the ghetto’”
(Bost n.p.),
which is once again
the result of
stereotypes about
gender, race and
class. The
rhetorical strategy
of signifyin’
appropriately allows
feminist lyricists
to launch critical
offensives against
the sexual
objectification of
women practiced by
many male rappers
(Smitherman 14).
Significations can
be understood as
“repetition with a
difference”, since
this rhetorical
strategy requires
that an old
phenomenon be
deconstructed and
erected with new
meaning. Without
insight into the
referential layers
of these raps,
listeners can easily
be fooled into
thinking they hear
nothing bur a simple
repetition of myths
of Black otherness,
which is why this
method constantly
runs the risk of
being collapsed by
those who don’t
understand the
doubleness of
signifyin’ (Bost
n.p.). However, it
is the generation of
multiplicity from a
single reference
offered by
signification which
makes it possible to
create multiple
versions of stories,
thus refuting the
existence of a
metanarrative. As
well, significations
allow for the
possibility of
re-endowing people,
places, and things
with new meanings
and identities.
In “Ladies First”,
Queen Latifah
clearly spreads a
message of Black
female empowerment.
Through vivid and
original imagery,
her lyrics challenge
notions of male
superiority and
dominance. The
song’s title is a
good example of a
signification,
because of its
ability to
positively
reconstruct a
previously degrading
phenomenon. The
title refers
initially to the
traditional meaning
of “Ladies First”
which is a phrase
left over from an
era when men opened
doors and pulled out
chairs for women, a
deceptive sign of
respect in an age
where women held
little to no social
and political power.
However, Queen
Latifah uses this
term to demand
actual respect and
power for women, and
insists that women
are able to not only
match, but surpass
men’s talents and
achievements. She
turns a phrase used
for decades as a way
of surreptitiously
placing women in a
second-class
position, into an
empowering
statement, with
which to challenge
the status quo. A
line in the song,
“there's going to be
some changes in
here”, also
successfully employs
signification, since
it is an adaptation
of Malcolm X's
famous words “There
are going to be some
changes made here.”
It appears that
Queen Latifah “calls
on Malcolm X as a
part of a collective
African-American
historical memory
and recontextualizes
him…as a voice in
support of the
imminent changes
regarding the
degraded status of
women and
specifically Black
women rappers”
(Roberts 165-6).
In addition to
utilizing
signification to
redefine Black
womanhood, Queen
Latifah's lyrics
express sexual
liberation, saying
women also want to
“get some,” in
direct opposition to
the traditional,
patriarchal view
that sex is mainly
for the purpose of
pleasuring men.
Finally, Black women
are empowered and
given confidence and
purpose in their
existence when Queen
Latifah assures them
that it is due to
their womanhood that
they are able to
give birth and life
to a “new generation
of prophets.” This
statement positively
references women’s
reproductive power
and endows womanhood
with the agency it
truly deserves. The
lyrics to “Ladies
First” are simple,
yet when analyzed
with the experiences
and issues of Black
women in mind, their
complexity and
rebelliousness
becomes more
visible.
The 1993 hit song
“Shoop,” by Salt N
Pepa is also an
exhibition of
signifyin’ on
prominent male
rapper Big Daddy
Kane, interwoven
with some sexual
hyperbole and the
sexual
objectification of a
Black male. In “Very
Special,” Big Daddy
Kane celebrates the
sexual beauty of a
woman and gives
tribute to her
father: “For giving
me something this
beautiful, have
mercy, I want to
kiss yo father.”
Salt N Pepa respond
in “Shoop” by
crediting the mother
for the sexual
beauty of the male
they rap about:
“Brother wanna thank
your mother for a
butt like that.” By
mimicking a male
rapper’s song, but
changing/ inverting
the subjects of the
lyrics, Salt N Pepa
convey an altogether
different message,
which praises women
as opposed to men,
while sexually
objectifying men as
opposed to women.
Furthermore, they
use this opportunity
to display the often
neglected identity
of Black women as
mothers, as well as
subjects of their
sexuality, as
opposed to the
common depiction of
them as the objects
of Black male sexual
desire.
Even the music video
for “Shoop” turns
the tables on male
rappers. In it,
“ladies see a bunch
of bare-chested,
tight-bunned
brothers acting like
sex objects,
servicing it to us
in our videos”
proclaimed Salt
(Keyes 261).
However, this music
video should not be
seen as a mere role
reversal, but rather
an articulation of
mutual pleasure and
enjoyment. While men
are undoubtedly the
objects of Salt N
Pepa’s desire in the
video, the female
performers are
simultaneously
desired by the men
as well, in addition
to being the object
of the camera and
the audience’s gaze
as well. These Black
women are the agents
of their own
pleasure, as well as
the vehicle for the
fulfillment of man’s
desire. Thus, they
are not only the
objects, but they
are also the
subjects. In such a
gaze reversal, Black
female performers
give sexual
pleasure, while also
pursuing, receiving
and accepting it. In
this sense, Salt N
Pepa, and other
female artists who
perform sexuality in
similar ways explode
the gaze, and
shatter it like
glass- thus creating
countless foci from
which to understand
sexuality, desire
and pleasure. As
Dana Bryant states
“There’s nothing
wrong with being a
wild woman, but
we’ve been
bludgeoned to death
by that image…. It’s
important that [the
image] be harnessed
by women and
redefined for what
it truly is” (Bost).
Bryant makes it
clear that female
rappers are not
interested in
articulating Black
women’s sexualities
for them, but only
care that whatever
images are produced
are appropriated and
owned by the women
who produce them.
As well, in response
to the almost
exclusive use of
thin, light-skinned,
straight-haired
women in hiphop
music videos, which
spawned a
controversy in the
1980s and 1990s
(Emerson 125),
female rappers are
reinventing what it
means to be an
African woman.
Artists such as
Queen Latifah,
Erykah Badu and
Sister Souljah,
embrace the entire
spectrum of Black
women’s roles and
identities in
society, and make
specific reference
to themselves in
their lyrics as
“Asiatic Black
women”, “Nubian
Queens”, or “sistas
droppin’ science to
the people”, which
is suggestive of
their
self-constructed
identities and
intellectual prowess
(Keyes 256). They
are often outfitted
in royal African
Kente cloth strips,
African headdresses,
goddess braid styles
and other
distinctively Black
hairstyles, along
with ankh-stylized
jewellery, in the
style of African
queens before them
(Keyes 257). These
women, often
referred to as
“Queen Mothers”
produce the image of
strong, intelligent
African women, a
foil to the
objectification of
Black women as
sexual commodities
in many male
rapper’s lyrics. As
well, by
appropriating
particular signs of
Blackness and Black
femininity, Black
women assert their
confidence in their
culture and their
identities through
song lyrics and
music videos
(Emerson 126).
Instead of defying
the “video ho” image
propagated by male
rappers, other
empowered female
lyricists seek to
redefine it, while
deconstructing the
dominant American
mainstream ideals of
beauty. For
instance, Salt N
Pepa “flip da
script” by wearing
tight clothes that
accent their full
breasts, rounded
buttocks and thighs,
markers of Black
women, while
simultaneously
rapping about female
sexual, economic,
psychotically and
physical
empowerment.
Similarly, female
MC, songwriter,
producer Missy
Misdemeanor Elliott
contests racist
notions of beauty by
flaunting her famous
natural, finger-wave
hairstyle, while
carrying off the
latest hiphop
fashions on her
dark-skinned and
full-figured frame.
Missy challenges
Eurocentric
standards of beauty,
and in doing so
reclaims sexuality
for all Black women,
regardless of their
shade or size (Keyes
262). In H2DB, Salt
N Pepa reject “what
I’m supposed to be”,
referring to the
traditional
boundaries of
feminine dressing--
and one could
assume, femininity
and sexuality as a
whole-- as “dumb
rules made for silly
fools.” H2DB asserts
a woman’s ability to
define herself and
her own standard of
beauty in the face
of male opposition
and oppression
(Goodall 88). By
portraying Black
women as beautiful,
strong and
independent, Black
female lyricists are
deconstructing
notions of beauty
and sexuality, which
view Black women as
unattractive,
unintelligent, and
sexually
promiscuous, because
of their larger and
more rounded
physical
appearances,
relative to the
ideal White woman
(Keyes 258). By
defying racist and
sexist stereotypes
that assume all
women in tight
clothing are
scandalous and
unintelligent, they
make it possible for
Black women to be
intelligent and sexy
simultaneously. The
juxtaposition and
combination of
sexuality,
assertiveness and
independence
represent the
reappropriation of
Black women’s bodies
in response to
sexual regulation
and exploitation,
and affirm the
multidimensionality
of Black womanhood
(Emerson 130).
Furthermore, it
attests to the
ability of Black
women to use the
sphere of popular
culture to reclaim
and revise
controlling images,
particularly that of
the Jezebel, to
express sexual
autonomy,
independence and
subjectivity
(Emerson 133).
Black female rappers
also resist control
of their sexualities
and identities by
Black male rappers
who commonly refer
to them as bitches,
which connotes
inadequate, feisty
or fraudulent women,
by revising the
standard definition
of bitch from an
“aggressive woman
who challenges male
authority” to “an
aggressive or
assertive female who
subverts patriarchal
rule”. Lyndah of the
duo BWP explains,
“we use ‘Bytches’ to
mean a strong,
positive, aggressive
woman who goes after
what she wants. We
take that on
today…and use it in
a positive sense”
(Keyes 263). For
instance, in “Da
Baddest Bitch”,
Trina cleverly
redefines and
reclaims the term
bitch, by endowing
it with positive
connotations, and
equating it with
success and
attaining material
goods. Similarly, in
“All my Bitches,” Da
Brat proudly
proclaims her
identity as an
independent and
successful bitch,
“the first solo to
go platt” (the first
single to reach
platinum sales).
Other Black female
rappers, such as
Lil’ Kim, Trina, and
Da Brat explode the
scripts written to
control Black women
and their
sexualities by
attempting to
parallel and provide
a female rendition
of the “badman”
character upheld by
male rappers. These
women rap about the
same things that
constitute the
“badness” of male
rappers, such as
their sexual
escapades, their
drinking binges, and
brushes with the
law, symbolic of
“White power”.
However, many Black
women criticize this
attempt to empower
women because as
hiphop feminist Joan
Morgan states
“feminism is not
simply about being
able to do what the
boys do-- get high,
talk endlessly about
their wee wees and
what have you. At
the end of the day,
it’s the power women
attain by making
choices that
increase their range
of possibilities”
(Keyes 263).
Critics argue that
attempts at
subverting and
undermining the
sexual
objectification of
Black women through
mimesis are
unfruitful because
female rappers are
not innovative and
merely imitate
rather than
constructively
deconstruct and
reconstruct
empowering images of
females. However,
“to play with
mimesis for a
woman”, asserts
Irigaray, “is to try
to recover the place
of her exploitation
by discourse,
without allowing
herself to simply be
reduced to it”.
While it may appear
that these Black
female artists are
merely reflecting
and surrendering to
oppressive forces,
their behaviour
could be understood
to reveal
ambivalence about
Black female
sexuality, mainly
the coexistence of
hypersexual images
and the denigration
and denial of the
beauty of the Black
female body. In
response to
contradictory
notions of Black
womanhood, Black
female lyricists
frequently
reappropriate
explicit images of
Black female
sexuality and
undergo a process of
negotiating
contradictory and
conflicting notions
of Black female
sexuality, so as to
achieve control over
Black female
sexuality (Emerson
128). These women
are working within
the structure of
their oppression to
demonstrate that
they recognize and
locate the forces of
oppression, but are
not limited or
confined by them so
much so that they
cannot creatively
work to unravel
them. Mimesis allows
female rappers to
successfully dispel
stereotypes about
Black women’s
sexuality because it
simultaneously
parodies and
displaces hegemonic
conventions. The
ability of Black
female rappers ‘to
use the master’s
tools to dismantle
his house’ is surely
a testament of their
ability to locate
the site of the
oppression, while
successfully
struggling against
it.
The abovementioned
attempts to empower
Black women through
hiphop by various
female rappers
attest to the power
of performance.
Judith Butler
elaborates upon the
power of performance
in her theory on
performativity. She
argues that
“performativity has
to do with
repetition, very
often the repetition
of oppressive and
painful gender
norms”. Further, she
states that “this is
not freedom, but a
question of how to
work the trap that
one is inevitably
in” as a result of
stereotypes. Thus,
she encourages women
to repeatedly
perform gender and
sexuality, through
imitation or miming,
in order to loosen
the stronghold of
dominant
formulations of
gender and
sexuality, since
identities are only
“real only to the
extent that they is
performed” and are
not a set of
properties governed
by the body and its
organ configuration
(Butler 169).
Idealistic notions
of beauty and myths
which assert the
natural sexual
promiscuity of Black
women are undermined
and subverted by
Black women who
actively and
repeatedly perform
and portray
alternate notions of
beauty and of Black
female sexuality,
thus reflecting on
the constructive
forces which produce
these hegemonic
norms and disputing
their claim on
naturalness (Butler
131).
When Chuck D., of
the male rap group
Public Enemy summed
up the essence of
rap by indicating
that “rap music is
Black folks’ CNN”,
he was clearly
stating a fact
(Smitherman 20). Rap
music is an
important medium
within Black
society, used to
regulate Black
women’s bodies,
while articulating
information about
sexuality, beauty
and morality. It is
evident that Black
women’s sexualities
have been narrowly
defined as a result
of racist notions of
beauty combined with
sexist notions of
womanhood. As well,
historical
representations of
Black female bodies
in contemporary
popular culture
still shape
perceptions today.
However, after
analyzing Black
women’s exploitation
and oppression in
relation to the
modes of
appropriation
enlisted to control
Black womanhood, it
is evident that
Black female rappers
are unwilling to
tolerate these
notions of beauty
and sexuality, which
were constructed
neither by them nor
for their benefit.
Black female
lyricists are
successfully
dispelling
stereotypes about
Black womanhood, and
are using their
performances as
platforms to refute,
deconstruct and
(re)construct
notions of beauty
from Black women’s
perspectives. They
are challenging
racist and sexist
depictions of Black
women as sexually
wild and free,
making rap music the
vehicle by which
Black lyricists seek
empowerment and
establish positive
identities for
themselves and their
sisters. But, the
battle over control
of Black female
sexuality is far
from over. Society
will always strive
to control any
contagions that
threaten the status
quo for the
overarching White
patriarchal order.
This is why Lauryn
Hill warns her
sisters in the hit
song, “That Thing”,
to stand strong
against Eurocentrism
(“Look at what you
be in, hair weaves
like Europeans/ Fake
nails done by
Koreans”), and to
proceed with caution
when engaging in
sexual relations,
since there is a
fine line between
enlisting one’s
sexuality to empower
oneself and
enlisting it for
male benefit. Hill
states “You give it
up so easy you ain’t
even foolin’ him/ If
you did it then,
then you probably
fuck again/ Now that
was the sin that did
Jezebel in/ Showing
off your ass because
you’re thinking it’s
a trend”. Thus,
instead of playing
into gender and
racial stereotypes
which
over-exaggerate
Black female
sexuality, as is
indicated by the
reference to
Jezebels in the
song, Hill urges
“Baby Girl! Respect
is just the
minimum”. Clearly,
“rap music is not
only a Black
expressive cultural
phenomenon; it is,
at the same time, a
resisting discourse,
a set of
communicative
practices that
constitute a text of
resistance against
White America’s
racism, its
Eurocentric cultural
dominance”
(Smitherman 7), and
quite evidently,
misogynist
male-centred
definitions of Black
female sexuality.
Top
Honorable
Mention:
Listen to Their
Stories:
Foreign Exotic
Dancers in
Canada
by Tammy
Johnston
“Oppressed
people resist by
identifying
themselves as
subjects,
by defining
their reality,
shaping their
new identity,
naming their
history, telling
their story.”
bell hooks,
Talking Back
Canada
needs to take a more
active role in
negating the
exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers. The current
immigration policy
monitors the impact
this particular
group of women will
have on the Canadian
labour market, and
sets out to ensure
guidelines are
followed by the
employer and
employee in order
for a temporary visa
to be granted. The
policy does not
prevent foreign
exotic dancers from
exploitation once
they are part of our
sex club industry,
but instead makes
Canada accountable
only on paper.
Canada must take
responsibility for
the experiences
these women face
while they are here.
On December 1, 2004,
former Immigration
Minister Judy Sgro’s
“Exotic Dancer
Program” was
cancelled. This
program granted
special temporary
visas to foreign
exotic dancers to
enter Canada in
order to fill
positions in the sex
club industry known
for “forced
back-room
prostitution work” (LifeSiteNews.com,
2004, p.1). The
application process
required little
information to be
obtained from the
Canadian employer or
the foreign worker,
and no information
was required as to
medical or criminal
history of the
worker. Sgro
argued that the
Canadian sex club
industry had “a
right to have their
labour market needs
approved” (LifeSiteNews.com,
2004, p.1), while
the opposition
maintained that her
Exotic Dancer
Program exploited
women. The former
Minister also
claimed that
Canadian women did
not want to occupy
roles as lap
dancers, therefore,
international
recruitment was
necessary in order
to fill these
positions (Audet,
2004, p.1). This is
the point at which
the exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers in Canada
begins.
In response to the
controversy created
by Sgro’s “Exotic
Dancer Program,” the
Canadian Government
implemented new
immigration
procedures designed
to prevent the
mistreatment of
these women. Human
Resources and Skills
Development Canada
(HRSDC) is now
involved with the
recruitment of
temporary foreign
exotic dancers and
provides Citizenship
and Immigration
Canada (CIC) with
their opinion as to
the impact the
foreign dancer
applicant would have
on the Canadian
labour market. This
new process requires
a signed contract
letter between the
employer and the
foreign exotic
dancer, and must
include: the
duration of the
contract (maximum
period of one year);
the specific hours
of work per
day/week; wages per
day/week; duties to
be performed; health
coverage; and, any
other benefits and
deductions. The
contract letter must
show that some type
of relationship has
been established
between the two
parties (i.e., that
they have had prior
communication).
Employers must also
provide evidence
that they have first
advertised the
exotic dancers’
positions to
permanent residents
of Canada, but were
unsuccessful in
attracting qualified
Canadian personnel.
In addition,
employers must
assume full
responsibility for
transportation costs
to and from the
foreign worker’s
country in advance
of their temporary
arrival to Canada
(Government of
Canada, 2005).
These new changes
lengthen the
recruitment process
for the employer,
but do little to
control the
exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers.
Foreign women leave
their home country
and arrive in Canada
with the belief that
they will have a
“new and better
life;” that they
will acquire
“freedom;” that
there is “money to
be made in Canada;”
and, that Canada is
the “golden land of
opportunity” (Status
of Women Canada,
2003, p.3). This
belief is based on
information received
through advertising
and, by word of
mouth.
Unfortunately, upon
their arrival,
foreign women who
enter into the sex
club industry soon
discover that life
in the “golden land
of opportunity,” is
none other than a
life of slavery.
The Migrant Sex
Workers from Eastern
Europe and the
Former Soviet Union:
The Canadian Case
(2003, pp.4-5)
reports that foreign
exotic dancers are
naive in regard to
Canada’s laws and
the consequences of
violations. These
women are also
unaware of the poor
working conditions
in the field and
also of the
expectations of
clients and
employers. In fact,
some of these women
are of the
impression that an
exotic dancer’s life
is quite glamorous,
involving large sums
of money.
Therefore, foreign
women are uneducated
about the sex club
industry and are
deceived prior to
their arrival in
Canada. This lack
of information makes
them vulnerable in
the industry, and
allows them to
believe that their
exploitation is the
norm in our Western
culture.
In a recent
interview with
W-Five (2005),
Anna, a former
stripper, recounted
her experiences as a
foreign exotic
dancer in Toronto,
Ontario. Upon her
arrival from Mexico
all of her
documentation was
confiscated,
including her
airline ticket
home. She was under
the impression that
she would earn
$1,000 a month to
dance, but soon
learned that sexual
acts (for example,
lap dancing and oral
sex) were
mandatory. In
addition, Anna was
required to pay the
club and the agent a
fee which left very
little money for
disposable income.
The cost of a lap
dance was $10.00,
but once Anna had
paid the appropriate
people, she was left
with $2.00.
Therefore, in order
for her to make the
$1,000 promised, she
would have to
perform 500 lap
dances per month.
Anna also pointed
out that she worked
“on her feet eleven
to twelve hours per
day, non stop,” and
believed that the
agents who bring
these women to
Canada, exploit them
and that work in the
sex club industry is
a form of slavery.
A personal
interview, conducted
on my own, with a
Canadian “dancer” at
a local London
establishment,
further confirmed
Anna’s story. This
dancer maintained
that almost all
foreign exotic
dancers are
“on-schedule.” This
means a dancer is
paid approximately
$35.00 - $45.00 per
8 hour shift -- not
even Ontario’s
minimum wage -- and
must rely on
additional income by
performing lap
dances and other
sexual activities.
In Anna’s case, this
would mean that her
additional income is
$2.00 per lap
dance. Therefore,
her goal would be to
provide as many lap
dances as possible
in any given shift.
The London interview
also revealed that
most Canadian
dancers are
“free-lance.” This
means that instead
of being paid an
hourly rate, they
pay a set amount of
money to the bar
($10.00 - $20.00);
perform on stage (1
song set 3 times);
and retain all money
they make from lap
dances and other
sexual activities.
Unlike on-schedule
dancers, free-lance
dancers set their
own hours and choose
when and where they
work. However, the
managers of strip
clubs control who
works in their
establishment.
Therefore,
free-lance dancers
may feel a sense of
control over the
income they make and
the hours they work
compared to
on-schedule dancers,
but they too are
controlled by a
male-dominated
patriarchal
industry. As an
aside, in order to
speak with this
dancer, a fee of
$20.00 was required
for 15 minutes of
conversation (the
cost of a lap dance
and she was required
to sit on my lap!).
Bruckert (2002, p.
63) notes that
“on-schedule”
dancers can lose an
entire week’s
earnings for calling
in sick or for other
reasons considered
normal and
legitimate for
people in different
occupations.
These labour
conditions
underscore the
oppression of
foreign exotic
dancers in Canada,
and can be linked to
Enloe’s The
Globetrotting
Sneaker, (1995,
p. 228). Enloe
describes
manufacturing
companies, such as
Nike and Reebok,
exploiting Asian
women working in the
manufacturing plants
by paying them
little money to
produce a product
which in turn is
sold for a large
profit. This form
of oppression keeps
women in a life of
poverty and controls
the amount of money
women make.
Similarly, foreign
exotic dancers are
financially
controlled by
managers and owners
who make money from
their cheap labour.
There is no need for
us to look abroad
for examples of
Western society
exploiting foreign
workers as we can
find it in our own
backyard.
The report issued by
the Status of Women
Canada (2000, pp.
7-8), Migrant Sex
Workers from Eastern
Europe and the
Former Soviet Union:
The Canadian Case,
indicates that
foreign dancers in
the strip club
industry are sex
slaves whose lives
are controlled by
their employers.
Although these women
believed that their
lives in Canada
would allow them
financial
independence and
personal agency,
their lived
realities are
determined by their
employers’ authority
and control. Men
normally hold the
positions of
managers and owners
of strip clubs; this
illustrates the
“gender imbalance
between men and
women in the sex
trade industry”
(p.2). In the local
London interview,
the dancer felt she
did have control of
her life because she
had a choice of
where and when she
worked, and the
amount of money she
made. Her freelance
status gave her the
temporary means to
subsidize her
university tuition
for her degree in
Engineering.
On-schedule dancers
however, have no
choice -- their
lives are controlled
not only by
individual(s) but by
our government,
since their
temporary visas will
only permit them to
work in the strip
club industry. This
difference in status
promotes a division
among women in sex
clubs, and allows
one group better
pay and a sense of
control over the
choices they make.
The backlash
against the 2nd
wave of the feminist
movement is the
beauty myth. Wolfe (The
Beauty Myth)
argues that “modern
beauty ideology is
based on a mythical
perception of
‘beauty’ – a
socially constructed
set of ideas about
how female bodies
should appear and
behave” (p. 27).
Beauty (tall, blond,
well-endowed) is a
major factor in
hiring exotic
dancers (Bruckert,
2002, p.34). A
woman who
exemplifies our
Western society’s
ideal of “beauty” is
more apt to be
sought after by male
clients in sex clubs
than those women who
represent their own
culture’s norm of
beauty. These
women, as well as
Canadian dancers in
our Western
society, are
conditioned to
aspire to a form of
beauty which in
reality is
unattainable. Women
in the sex club
industry lose their
true sense of self;
however, foreign
exotic dancers also
lose their real
cultural identity.
Given that social
and institutional
conventions dictate
that youth is a
necessary correlate
of beauty, age
discrimination is
another factor in
the sex club
industry. Aging
women in the sex
club industry
industry have even
greater restrictions
placed upon them in
terms of where they
can work and how
much money they can
make. In sum,
“beauty” is a
“currency system”
(Wolfe, p. 30) which
keeps male dominance
intact and is a form
of patriarchal
power.
Foreign exotic
dancers, like all
women, are subject
to this beauty
objectification.
Kathleen Barry notes
in her book
Female Sexual
Slavery (1979)
that a major “cause
of sex slavery is
the social-sexual
objectification of
women that permeates
every patriarchal
society in the
world” (p.103). She
also adds that “male
domination reduces
women to a lower
status, holding them
in low regard, and
at the same time it
makes women the
object of men’s
personal need for
love, romance, and
sex” (p. 117).
Bruckert (2002)
notes that women in
the sex club
industry have
“whore status” which
renders them
“objects of the male
gaze” (p. 39).
This demonstrates
the oppression of
women in a
patriarchal society
whereby women are
codified as
submissive and as
objects for men’s
pleasure. Bartky’s
article, “Foucault,
Femininity, and the
Modernization of
Patriarchal Power”
(p. 26), illustrates
the Panopticon
to which our Western
culture subjects
women in their
efforts to meet
men’s approval.
Women like Anna live
in fear of club
owners, the agents
who helped get them
to Canada, and other
strip club staff.
The Status of Women
Canada research team
learned that foreign
exotic dancers are
“controlled and
brainwashed...told
that the only people
they can trust…talk
to is the bar, the
people in the bar,
the managers, the
owners, the other
girls” (p. 8). This
would explain the
cautiousness
expressed by a
foreign exotic
dancer in the London
interview, and the
“muscle” that moved
in to guard against
conversation. To
avoid deviation from
or defiance against
this regulatory
behaviour, owners
and managers
threaten the lives
of these dancers, as
well as the lives of
their families. As a
result these women
conform because they
are afraid of being
deported back to
their home country –
the country they
left for a better
life in Canada. The
effect this control
has on foreign
exotic dancers is
evident in their
very low
self-esteem, their
feelings of
inadequacy, and
their inability to
make their own
decisions (Status of
Women Canada,
2003). These women
are subjected to
mental, emotional
and physical abuse.
The violence against
women in the sex
club industry is
part of an
environment which
convinces them they
are inferior, and
which keeps them
subordinate and
under the control of
the sex club
industry. The
threat of violence
allows the owners
and managers to
treat these women as
their personal
property with little
or no regard for
them as actual human
beings with the
right to be treated
in the same way as
any other Canadian
citizen.
Foreign exotic
dancers,
unfortunately, do
not use Ontario’s
health and social
services to their
advantage. In fact
Status of Women
Canada reported
(2003, pp. 9-10),
that very few
foreign women knew
that such services
were available for
their use. Many of
those who did know,
chose not to use
these services
because of language
barriers and
different cultural
values. This is
another indication
of the ways in which
lack of information
can be used to
control foreign
women once they
arrive in Canada.
Limiting foreign
exotic dancers’
knowledge of
services which
should be available
to them aids in
keeping them captive
in a patriarchal
culture which
controls their
access to all
resources.
In the report issued
by the Status of
Women Canada (2003,
p. 34), an
unexpected theme
emerged which
related to the
relationships among
the dancers in the
sex club industry.
There appeared to be
competition between
ethnic groups which
was fostered by the
managers and owners
of clubs based on
the different fees
charged to clients
for various sexual
acts. As a result
of language
barriers, as well as
the women’s lack of
knowledge about the
sex club industry,
foreign exotic
dancers charged less
for lap dances and
other sexual
activities than
Canadian women.
This caused
competition among
women of different
ethnic backgrounds.
From the managers’
and owners’
perspective, this
division (between
otherwise potential
allies) keeps
foreign workers from
learning their legal
rights, and prevents
their adoption of
the English language
which could lead to
forming alliances
with permanent
residents of
Canada. If
alliances form,
foreign workers
might realize the
depth of their
exploitation and
begin to form
coalitions for equal
opportunity, equal
rights, and
financial gain.
This is another
example of
exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers and ensures
that they are kept
oppressed in a
patriarchal
society.
In the Toronto Star
(December, 2004),
Audrey Macklin,
University of
Toronto Law
Professor, said that
these women “are
foreign-born with
marginal status,
with no sure road to
citizenship, and
they are thought of
as worthless” (p.
E01). She also
claims that foreign
exotic dancers are
prepared to do
anything for money,
even if it is unsafe
or demeaning where
Canadian women
won’t. This is one
reason that clubs
prefer foreign
workers (Guardian,
2004). In his
response to Sgro’s
Exotic Dancer
Program, Jack
Layton, NDP leader,
notes that, “There’s
no doubt there was a
real element of
exploitation...no
action on it
because...‘oh, they
are just
strippers.’” Layton
believes that these
strippers should
receive the same
rights and
protections as any
other immigrant
looking for work
(Toronto Star,
December, 2004).
Judy Rebick, a
feminist and
Professor at Ryerson
University, claims
that Canada has
created another
“class of worker
with no rights,” and
that these women are
contract labourers –
slaves (Toronto
Star, 2004). This
illustration of
classism in Western
society reinforces
the lower status of
foreign exotic
dancers within our
Western society.
Some of the
recommendations in
the Status of Women
Canada’s Report
(2003, pp. 44-45) to
combat the
exploitation of
exotic dancers
include the
following:
1.
Distribution of
materials in the
countries of origin
reporting more
realistic facts
about the life of
exotic dancing in
Canada and the
realities of
trafficking.
2.
Distribute, to all
temporary workers,
visitors and
students at port of
entry, materials
regarding Canadian
laws. This
information should
be made available in
foreign languages.
3.
Offer courses in
English/French as a
Second Language to
all women, even if
they are in Canada
illegally.
4.
Public health
inspections should
be conducted of the
entire premises of
strip clubs and
massage parlours
(not just the
kitchen) on a
regular basis.
5.
Create a neutral,
regulated, governing
body to oversee
strip clubs and
massage parlours
during hours of
operation to ensure
that the rules
remain stable.
6.
Make it mandatory to
have information
written in various
languages about
health-related
issues (i.e.,
sexually transmitted
diseases, safe sex
practices, etc.) and
health and social
service options
(i.e., substance
abuse treatment,
shelters, medical
services) centrally
posted for the
workers in strip
clubs, massage
parlours and any
other establishments
involved in the sex
trade.
7.
Promote further
development and
provide funding for
existing social
service agencies
solely devoted to
the sex trade.
These agencies must
become an integral
component of the sex
industry, engaging
in very active
outreach in the
clubs and the
massage studios.
Their access to
clubs and studios
should be mandated
by law.
8.
Develop and fund
interdisciplinary,
joint service
operations which
work to combat
organized
prostitution.
Joe
Bissett, former
Executive Director
of Immigration
Canada, noted in his
interview with
W-Five that,
“the Canadian
Government has aided
the sexual
exploitation of
foreign women. In
most countries,
these girls from
Eastern Europe and
elsewhere are
smuggled into the
country illicitly by
false visas or cross
border.” Bissett
claims that because
Sgro’s program
provides visas
legally to
facilitate the
exploitation of
foreign women, it is
not necessary to
resort to illegal
tactics. Audet
(2004) states that
“while Canada
portrays itself as a
morally superior
nation which
respects women,
showboating abortion
on demand as
evidence of its
superiority, those
fighting trafficking
of women on the
front lines know
better” (p. 3). In
the same article,
Gregory Carlin,
Irish
Anti-Trafficking
Coalition said, “We
get more complaints
about Canada than
any other western
country” (page 2).
This is clear
evidence that Canada
is contributing to
the exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers.
Gillian
Long, Director of
Research for
Campaign Life
Coalition said,
“There are women who
come to this country
(Canada) and are
forced to work in
strip clubs, and
even brothels. Why
aren’t officials
concerned with
finding these women
and helping them”
(LifeSiteNews.com,
2004, p.1). The
Government should
provide funding to
organizations such
as Streetlight, a
non-profit
organization, which
provides assistance,
both community and
legal support, to
help anyone who
wants to leave the
sex trade industry.
In addition, funding
should be provided
to support and aid
foreign exotic
dancers who are
being exploited
while in Canada. We
should also consider
a mandatory
monitoring system of
each individual
foreign exotic
dancer to ensure
that we are
providing her with a
safe and equitable
environment.
We need
to ask ourselves,
“is Canada actually
aiding in the
exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers?” To some
it may appear that
we are, to others,
we are not. Based
on my findings, I
argue that Canada
should be held
accountable for the
exploitation of
these women. Foreign
exotic dancers
become lost once
they are in Canada’s
sex trade industry.
The new immigration
policies will not
put an end to the
exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers in the sex
club industry.
These women are
required to go
through a necessary
system of paperwork,
but are forgotten
once they are here.
In
conclusion, Canada
needs to take a more
active role in
negating the
exploitation of
foreign exotic
dancers.
We cannot be
a proud country –
the “golden land of
opportunity,” if
women are being
exploited and no one
is advocating on
their behalf. We
must listen to their
stories, hear their
voices and champion
for their equal
rights and fair
treatment as
individuals, and as
human beings.
References
Audet, E. (November.
2004). Canada
contributes to the
sexual trafficking
of women for
purposes of
prostitution.
Retrieved on March
11, 2005 from:
GOTOBUTTON BM_1_
http://sisphe.org/article.php3?id_article=1380-
Barry, K. (1979).
Female sexual
slavery.
Prentice-Hall
International:
London, UK.
Bartky, S. (1988).
Foucault,
femininity, and the
modernization of
patriarchal power.
In K. Verwaayen
(2004), Women’s
Studies 020E
Selected Readings,
book number M7146,
(pp. 19-29). The
BookStore, The
University of
Western Ontario:
London, ON.
Bruckert, C.
(2002). Taking it
off, putting it on:
Women in the strip
trade. Women’s
Press: Toronto,
Ontario.
CTV.ca. (2005).
W-Five: Naked Truth
part one and two.
Bell Globemedia
Inc. Downloaded/
Retrieved on March
8, 2005 from:
GOTOBUTTON BM_2_
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/
Enloe, C. (1995).
The globetrotting
sneaker. In M. Fonow
(2002), Reading
Women’s Lives,
(pp.227-23).
Pearson Custom
Publishing: Boston,
MA.
Guardian. (November
26, 2004, p.A9). No
shortage of Canadian
stripers despite
immigrants story.
Government of
Canada. (2004).
Foreign worker
program.
Downloaded/Retrieved
on March 7, 2005
from: GOTOBUTTON
BM_3_
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/epb/lmd/fw/forms/conexempinf‑e.pdf
hooks, b. (1989).
Talking back:
Thinking feminist,
thinking black.
South End Press:
Boston, MA.
LifeSiteNews.com.(July
27, 2004).Canadian
government insists
immigrant strippers
bare all for
officials. Retrieved
on March 1, 2005
from:
GOTOBUTTON BM_4_
http://www.;ifesite.net/ldn/2004/jul/04072701.html
LifeSiteNews.com.(December
1, 2004). Canada
abruptly ends
special visas for
exotic dancers after
inquiries into
underage strippers.
Retrieved on March
1, 2005 from:
GOTOBUTTON BM_5_
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/dec/04120102.html
Macklin, Audrey.
(December 13, 2004).
Few care about
abuse of foreign
stripers; Program
let clubs exploit
women with no
rights, it’s
‘slavery’ Activists
Foreign strippers’
treated like
slaves.’ Toronto
Star, p.E01.
Status of Women
Canada. (2003).
Migrant sex workers
from Eastern Europe
and the former
Soviet Union: The
Canadian case.
Retrieved on
February 28, 2005
from:
GOTOBUTTON BM_6_
http://www.swc‑cfc.gc.ca/pubs/
Streetlight Support
Services. (n/d).
Retrieved on March
13, 2005 from:
GOTOBUTTON BM_7_
http://stretlightsuportservices.com
Wolfe, N. (1991).
The Beauty Myth.
William Morrow &
Company.
