Y’all… I’m seeing red. I am just so blown and disgusted. I’m trying to hold onto hope in humanity, but it’s getting quite difficult.

I came across Madame Noire‘s report, ” Too Short Gives Disgusting Fatherly Advice About Girls to Middle School Boys.” To say I’m appalled would be the biggest understatement of this or any century.

Apparently, XXL magazine (who is linked in MN’s article, but will NOT have the honor of being linked here) has decided it would be a good idea for rapper Too $hort to give advice on “the game” to middle school boys. I’ll spare you most of the details, but essentially he encourages them to pin a girl against a wall and rub her genitalia. Yep, that’s the gist of it. This grown @$$ man is telling your sons how to commit sexual violence against his female co-eds, because he values being “in control of every situation.”

I found the video hard to watch, not just because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but because I went to school with boys who thought that kind of behavior was okay.  I was one of those girls who was “pinned against the wall” at one point, and no, it was not fun for me. The sad thing is I know those boys had no consistent male role model at home, and I know that somebody’s son today is in a similar situation and will actually take this person’s “advice” to heart.

Listen, I grew up on hip-hop. I’ve heard more b-words and h-words dropped by emcees than I care to count. I’m old enough to understand nuance and to know not to internalize those messages (not that I agree with them). But seriously, when does the misogyny end? As bad as hip hop has historically portrayed and continues to portray women, it should not surprise me that no one at XXL‘s offices thought this was going too far. But sadly, it does surprise me.

To everyone at XXL who was responsible for this travesty, what the hell were you thinking? This wasn’t a live broadcast. This was shot, edited, and then posted. At no point in that whole process did anyone stop and think, “You know, this isn’t right — we shouldn’t be telling kids to do this?” When it comes to women, do you consider anything off-limits, or “too” demeaning? Seriously, is there any such thing as going too far?

If not, then I fear for my daughter. I pray for her even more fervently than I currently do. You will not do this to mine or anyone else’s daughter if I can help it. You will not tell our sons that this kind of behavior is acceptable without REAL men like my husband standing up and saying something about it. This crap ends today.

If you’re reading this, I want you to flood XXL‘s lines of communication. Demand that they answer for this irresponsible tripe and voice your dissatisfaction. Contact their sponsors and pressure them to pull their ads from this “publication.” Don’t sit idly by and take this. I, for one, have had enough.

And when my own child gets to middle school, I hope the boys in her class know that she started taking kung fu when she was three. By the time she gets to sixth grade, she should be a beast. Try it if you want to!

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