“Pimp my ride”

“Trick my truck”

“What’s up pimp?”

These sound innocent enough right? Common phrases to mean something that’s good. You’d probably tell me that there is nothing wrong with these words and I’d be crazy to think otherwise. BUT what if I was to give you a reason to pause for a moment before using the words PIMP and TRICK to imply something that was good? Would you still think I was crazy?

THE PERCEPTION

See, in the context of these phrases, the word PIMP means to make flashy, to make-over something that is run down into something better than it is. It derives from the stereotypical image of a pimp in his flashy suit or often garish clothing, with women draped around him, smoking an expensive cigar and flashing money around. The problem is that various elements in society glamorize that life. They see nothing wrong with it. It’s in video games such as the Grand Theft Auto series as something that gets you ahead in the game. A pimp is seen as a status symbol, something to be sought after. It’s sung about and chased after from an early age in much the same way as dealing drugs or weapons. To be a pimp is to have money, wealth and power by any means.

THE REALITY

However, the reality of what a pimp is contrasts that image drastically. Think Terence Howard’s character in Hustle and Flow and you have a little more realistic image of a pimp. No glamor at all. Just a manipulative hustler who uses vulnerable people to get what HE wants. The song from that movie referenced the hardships of being a pimp as if the audience is supposed to feel sorry for the guy – “It’s hard out here for a pimp, when you gotta pay the money for the rent.”

Pimps are not nice, even if they have the bling and the expensive suits and Rolex watches and all the outward flashiness. They are often violent and abusive and use manipulation and coercion to draw their victims in. Then they use fear and shame to keep them enslaved. Gotta pay the rent right?

Still want to “PIMP” your ride?

Let’s look at “TRICK”. A trick is a term used for a transaction between a prostitute and a client. it’s also a slang term for a client along with John; eg: She did 10 tricks that night. So, like pimp, a “tricked out” object is used to imply something glamorous and sought after. something to be envied by others. In reality, a “tricked out prostitute” is degraded, used and abused, often strung out to numb the pain and certainly not glamorous. A trick in terms of a transaction is also not something to be proud of and if you are a trick, then again, it is not something particularly glamorous. However, the problem also comes from the fact that people who use the services of prostitutes often do not see anything wrong with it. They see it as a means to an end for themselves and as long as the woman/man gets paid then no harm done, right? That’s a whole other discussion for another time, but when you get down to the roots of the “trick” in this context, is it something that is to be desired?

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

So what’s in a word?

A lot when the implications are used to define the exact opposite of what the words actually mean in the broader, but more factual, context. It is time to start to look at the narrative that we innocently use to define things and use alternate words. By doing this, abolitionists then have the space to explain the meaning of words such as PIMP and TRICK to define what they are – abusive men and women who prey on the vulnerable and manipulate people in order to profit from them; and transactions that are more often than not, most definitely NOT glamorous.