About three weeks ago, I co-organized a petition concerning Big Sean’s planned performance at this year’s Lawnparties. The primary aim was to ask the Undergraduate Student Government to rescind its invitation to Big Sean and replace his performance with one from an equally well-known artist. However, this was not the only goal: I also wanted to raise awareness about lyrics and actions that reflect and reinforce a broader culture of misogyny and homophobia.
For those unfamiliar with Big Sean’s criminal history, it includes being arrested and charged with sex abuse in the third degree and forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment in the second degree of a female minor on August 4,2011. The rapper and Willie Antonio “Sayitainttone” Hansbro pled guilty to a lesser crime: unlawful imprisonment.
No less disturbing are Big Sean’s violently misogynistic and homophobic lyrics.
As a member of the Faculty-Student Committee on Sexual Misconduct, I was particularly shocked that USG thought it was appropriate to announce Big Sean’s performance with a video highlighting lyrics such as “You little stupid ass bitch, I ain't fuckin’ with you/You little, you little dumb ass bitch, I ain’t fuckin’ with you … Little stupid ass, I don’t give a fuck, I don’t give a fuck” during the time in which University students were taking the “We Speak” sexual misconduct climate survey.
The Office for Civil Rights mandated the University to administer a climate survey it was found to be violating Title IX. The University, like over 50 other universities, has broken federal law by failing to treat the victims of sexual assault with the dignity and equity that they deserve. That our student government was bringing a singer with a history of sexual assault to campus and paying him with student tuition money while the student body was taking the “We Speak” survey was ironic and upsetting.
Our initial attempts to voice our concerns were disheartening as well. University students dismissed Big Sean’s criminal past and reflexively questioned the women whom he was charged with sexually assaulting. Although studies such as the one by Kelly, Lovett & Reagan (2005), show that only a tiny proportion of sexual assault reports are fabricated (see“False Reports: Moving Beyond the Issue to Successfully Investigate and Prosecute Non-Stranger Sexual Assaults” for an in-depth analysis on false reporting), some students on this campus automatically questioned whether the alleged victim tried to “frame” Big Sean and whether she lied about being assaulted because she was embarrassed after having consensual sex or sexual contact with him and/or Willie Antonio “Sayitainttone” Hansbro or because she wanted to gain attention. Unfortunately, this is an all too common and misogynistic narrative about women — they are liars out to get men. This pernicious myth silences victims of assault, leaving them to suffer alone, and exposes others to attack by the unchecked serial offender (studies find that rapists on average have 5.8 victims). Ending the typical practice of assuming an accusation of sexual assault is a lie is one step each of us can take.
For those who doubt whether a performance by Big Sean would have a deleterious effect on campus, consider the impact that merely inviting him has had. Numerous survivors of sexual violence have approached organizers and me, expressing how “uncomfortable” they were with USG’s invitation. One peer discussed how the lyrics and Big Sean’s criminal background triggered memories of her sexual assault. Daily Princetoniancolumnist Tehila Wenger wrote that the invitation to Big Sean made her remember when she had been sexually harassed on a pier and triggered memories “of a high school girl [she] know[s] who deals with severe psychological trauma because her neighbor attacked her.”
Since voicing our concerns, Duncan Hosie ’16 and I have both been subjected to repeated personal attacks and a strong backlash. Hosie has been called a “fag” or “faggot” and University students wrote on Yik Yak that they wished he would contract AIDS. I was called a “ho” on the Google Doc petition to show support against Big Sean’s performance. On Twitter, people tweeted me to say that I need “black dick.” One person wrote on the Google Doc that “women deserve rape, every year.” Duncan has been ridiculed and wished ill for his identity as a human being, and I was reduced to a sexual object.
Some of the most passionate disagreement with the petition has come from students who feel that concerns about misogyny, on campus and in larger American discourse, unfairly target black men. As a minority from the Mexican border, I am sympathetic to these concerns. It is undeniable that African-American men are disproportionately maligned within the media and popular culture as violent rapists and abusers. This portrayal is how America has rationalized its violent treatment toward people of color in the past, from slavery to lynch mobs to Jim Crow. Furthermore, it remains a dominant way Americans currently rationalize the brutal treatment of African-Americans by the police. We are not arguing that Big Sean’s lyrics are unique, nor do we believe that hip hop as a genre is particularly problematic. We would object just as vehemently if USG had invited a white singer whose music similarly celebrated misogyny. Furthermore, we think it must be acknowledged that much of the current music industry that produces this type of misogynistic music is composed of white men — not African-American men who are frequently associated with it.
Big Sean’s performance perpetuates and affirms damaging stereotypes toward women and LGBT individuals and it will alienate survivors of sexual assault on our campus. It contradicts the University’s stated goals of empowering female students to participate actively in campus life. It rewards an individual who denies the humanity and dignity of others.
Over the past couple of days, many students have asked us about the possibility of an alternative event for students to attend instead of the Big Sean concert. With the hard work of a diverse group of students and the generous financial and institutional support of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, we are happy to announce that during the Big Sean performance there will be an alternative event at Campus Club. A live band, GoodMan Fiske, will be performing in the Campus Club backyard from 4:15-6 p.m., and there will be a barbecue. We hope that students will come to eat, enjoy the live music and sing along to popular hits that do not demean women or perpetuate homophobia. We hope that our fellow students will attend this event, standing in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault who have experienced feelings of alienation because of Big Sean’s impending performance.
Rebecca Basaldua is a senior in the politics department and a member of the Faculty-Student Committee on Sexual Misconduct. She can be reached atbasaldua@princeton.edu
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that the incident described by columnist Tehila Wenger occurred on a pier.
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