Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Do what to my popcorn?


I am disturbed by the use of the word “pimp” when used to describe a car, a house, someone’s swag, or today… popcorn.

I LOVE a good magazine article while I am on the treadmill. Nothing makes those three miles go faster than reading about how to organize your thoughts, how to let stress motivate you, or how to dress up your most comfortable pair of jeans. Today I flipped to an article entitled “Pimp your popcorn” with a list of different ingredients you can add to your snack to make it delicious.

For the life of me I cannot figure out why anyone would use this word to describe something positive.  

A pimp is an agent (usually male) for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. This act is called procuring or pandering. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing, and possibly monopolizing, a location where he or she (i.e. the prostitute) may engage clients…
The pimp-prostitute relationship can be abusive and possessive, with the pimp/madam using techniques such as psychological intimidation, manipulation, starvation, rape and/or gang rape, beating, confinement, threats of violence toward the victim’s family, forced drug use and the shame from these acts. Pimps can be arrested and charged with pandering and are legally known as procurers.
Via Wikipedia

In other words, a pimp is someone who makes money from the rape and abuse of a woman or several women. So why in the world are we replacing words like “cool”, “awesome” or “rad” with the word PIMP?
Have we become so numb to the misuse of others that we don’t realize what it is we are saying? Or do we just tell ourselves, it’s only an expression and doesn't really mean anything?

Verses like Matt 12:36 make me sick to my stomach. Knowing that I will have to give an account for every idle word I have spoken makes me stop and realize that I say A LOT. I don’t want the things I say to be meaningless and hurtful, but how much do we actually think about what it is we are saying?

Be slow to speak and quick to listen… James 1:19

Slow to open our mouths for no reason other than to hear ourselves talk, and quick to hear from those who are in need of serious healing and love.

Rapper Nelly tried to redefine the word "pimp" by saying that it is an acronym for "positive, intellectual, motivated person." This is who is influencing young people right now… a motivated person?? Motivated to do what, exactly?

I've heard this word used in conversation around me, but generally it's teenage boys or guys who say it (not that this is any better). I think what bothered me the most today was the fact that a woman wrote this magazine article, and it was published in a magazine written FOR women. 

I realize this blog post won’t change the vocabulary of the publisher of a magazine, but maybe it will help us all to stop and think about what we are saying and why we are saying it… 

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