The Problem With Too Short, XXL and Young Girls

Blogging at News One, Dr. Boyce Watkins laces into XXL for giving Too Short another platform to deliver misogynist messages to young boys about how to "turn a girl out." He says it's yet another example of a situation where "keeping it real" went terribly wrong.

XXL Magazine learned a valuable lesson this week: Not to allow “fatherly advice” to be given by a man who has made an entire career out of defining himself to be a proud sexual deviant. The rapper Too Short was granted the magazine’s platform to give an “advice” video to young boys about how to “turn a girl out.”

In the video, Too Short explains that for boys who are first entering high school, they shouldn’t waste their time trying to get girls to kiss them. Short’s logic? Why ask for something that you can simply take, and why settle for a kiss when there are so many more sexual goodies in the bag of an underage female.

So, being the “father figure” that XXL has decided that he should become, Too Short explains how you can push a girl against the wall and put your hand down her pants to “play mind games” and convince her to give you what you desire. It’s sad that teaching various forms of sexual aggression has become the new way to “keep it real.” But this is yet another example of a situation where “keeping it real” goes wrong.

ColorofChange.org has issued an online petition against XXL and its editor, Vanessa Satten, calling for the editor to resign and for the magazine to make things right. In a world where three out of five black girls are victims of sexual assault before the age 18, the last thing we need are major publications allowing rappers to train young boys to continue the trend.

Read Dr. Boyce Watkins' entire blog entry at News One.