cost-of-living

why do people always pull hip-hop and rap as a misogynist area of music? yes, many rappers are misogynistic, but it’s not the only genre. let’s talk about country music, about the preacher’s daughter trope, the cutoff jeans, the get-her-drunk mentality; let’s talk about pop music, about the drugs and the clubs and the possessive “love songs”; let’s talk about alternative music, about “she’s not like other girls” and the manic pixie dream girl; let’s talk about classical music, about the exclusion of women now and in history. 

My Grandfather speaks rapid Cantonese to me. He’s telling me what he wants from McDonalds. The kid behind the counter rolls his eyes at this. The woman behind us in line says “Speak English” under her breathe. The grip my Grandfather has on my arm tightens. My Grandfather can speak English. He can understand English. He can write English. But he came when he was in his twenties, and he has an accent that will never leave. And when he speaks English he hears- “How long have you been here?” “Can you repeat that again?” “I don’t understand you.” And it humiliates him. This man who left his family, who left his life to make a better one. The bravest man I know is embarrassed of his accent. And in McDonalds, the man who crossed the pacific in a freight boat with no papers and no one he knew in this country, bows his head in shame.