Words and Music: Another Rant

Here's another bit that's been stewing for a couple of years.

It doesn't seem like so long ago, that women were ranting about how they were referenced in pop music, especially in R & B and hip hop. There was much made of the terms "bitch" and "ho". Sometime after, women sort of reclaimed the word "bitch", and made of it a badge of honor. Witness Meredith Brooks' "I'm a Bitch". "Ho" on the other hand, never lost its cachet as a derogatory term, and rightly so. After a while, I didn't hear that one so much. Maybe it's still out there, but I haven't heard it much lately.

A couple of years ago, I started listening to pop radio again after about a decade of only paying attention to rock stations. I continued to follow certain artists, but I ignored most of the rest of it. I started to hear another word that rankled me: "shorty".

I think I first heard it in a song by Sean Paul. Then it came up in an Akon piece. Next thing I knew, I heard it everywhere, even in conversation. That word drives me to distraction. It popped up in my consciousness again the other day via a featured performer in a Lady Gaga song. AAUUGGHH!!