XXL Feature 'Too Short' on Common Sense, Long on Misogyny

A Harris Publication publication






















XXL Feature 'Too Short' on Common Sense, Long onMisogynyby Mark Anthony Neal | NewBlackMan
Mydaughters don't know who Todd Shaw, aka Too Short is, yet he claims to know them, as he advised their malespeers—provided instructions—as  tohow to rape and sexually assault them.  
Ina society that continues to assert its familiarity with the bodies of Blackwomen and girls—the rhetorical groping of the Michelle Obama being only themost visible example—Too Short advising boys to "take your finger and put a little spit on it and you stick yourfinger in her underwear and you rub it on there and watch what happens,"—whatwe all know as a "finger f*ck"—is, unfortunately, not all that surprising;seems more like the status quo for Black women and girls.
Thoseoffended by the feature, a video that initially appeared at the XXL website,quickly responded.  As JamilahLemieux write at Ebony.com "This FORTY FIVE YEAR OLD MAN wants the young fellas to "get inside agirl's mind"…Coercion, perhaps even assault, is of no consequence here. Hence,no explanation of how to proceed if the target in question says "Stop! Idon't want you to do that!." 
Agroup of scholar activists organized an on-line petition ,demanding that Harris Publications, the publisher of XXL, remove the magazine'seditor-in-chief Vanessa Statten.  AndStatten has to go; allowing such content to be posted, whether it crossed herdesk or not, is unconscionable and bespeaks a larger crisis we face injournalistic integrity.  Thefeature also bespeaks, as well, our willingness to use Black girls ascommercial fodder, deemed expendable, because they are perceived as lackingpublic voice.
XXLMagazine and Shaw, have since issued an apology, but as Akiba Solomon notes ,it's an apology that takes no ownership for statements that encourage andsanction criminal acts against girls. And this is not simply about politicalcorrectness; besides advocating rape and sexual violence against Black womenand girls, diatribes like Shaw's also further criminalizes Black boys, withininstitutions—our schools—in which Black boys are always, already criminalized.
HarrisPublications, which also publishes King,Juicy and Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement (equipping law enforcementwith the very tools to be used against Black boys), knows this dance well; it'sa blueprint for disengaging yourself from controversy, deployed brilliantlydaily by shock jocks, elected officials and a host of professionals—some ofthem even Black—knowing that there will be little recourse to their brand. 
Factis that few, who are regular subscribers of XXL or regular consumers of theircontent will feel compelled to reject the publication, no more than thoseoffended by statements, by say Misters Whitlock or Martin (as examples of tworecent controversies) will stop watching Fox Sports or CNN (or listen to TomJoyner). 
Weneed some new strategies—this protest, petition, and wait for the apology,suspension, removal is getting old.  
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Mark Anthony Neal is the author of five books including theforthcoming Looking for Leroy:(Il)Legible Black Masculinities (New York University Press) and Professorof African & African-American Studies at Duke University. He is founder andmanaging editor of NewBlackMan andhost of the weekly webcast Left of Black . Follow him onTwitter @NewBlackMan.