Senegalese recording artist Akon, who recently performed with Gwen Stefani on American Idol, gave more than a concert in Trinidad.
He told the audience that he was going to have a dance off, and the winning young woman would receive a trip to Africa. Seven got onstage and danced and he picked one as the winner.
The problem? It was all a con. The “winner” was 14 — and the prize was to be dry humped all over the stage by Akon. It’s after the flip.
(Trinidad Express):
The crowd roared their approval of the eventual winner, who was then taken two short steps “to Africa” by Akon and promised that she could name her prize herself, if she defeated the best of Africa: none other than Akon himself.Akon, who collaborated on the track “Smack That” with Eminem, has a single, “Don’t Matter”, that is currently ranked number one on the Billboard World Singles Chart.Later on, Akon would have his way with the petite young lady: turning, twisting and even flipping her body, while mimicking sexual positions and acts all over the stage for three consecutive rounds.
His DJ, Virgin Islands native Benny D, even joined in during the second round and together they sandwiched the young lady on the floor of the stage. In the end, Akon declared himself the winner, even though the crowd adjudged that his female volunteer had won the contest.
I’m no prude, but this stuff is off-the-hook bad. One, where were the parents? Apparently her father, a pastor at the unfortunately named Flaming Word Ministry of Chaguanas, is outraged enough to bloviate to the media, but what was she doing at the concert to begin with — she’s a minor. Akon’s whole sham contest to allow him his moment of personal exhibitionism and use of young ladies as sex toys is just rank, IMHO, however, if the women are of age and want to consent to debasing themselves onstage, that’s their right. But a 14-year-old? And what about the clubs?
If Akon wants to have a simulated sex show onstage, fine, then the club/concert needs to have an age requirement and carding, otherwise he can simply say “she didn’t look underage.”
[UPDATE: The club has an 18 and over policy. The club owner, Johnny Soong, said “We do check persons IDs. Obviously she got through the crack. Except that he goes on to say that no one on Trinidad usually carries ID on them. Therefore, obviously it renders an ID policy useless.]
[UPDATE 2: The girl surfaced to comment, and look — she’s the one apologizing (!):
“I was shocked when Akon pulled me to dance. I did not know what to do and with the crowd cheering and stuff I guess I got a little carried away but there was nothing I could have done about it. I was in a state of real shock.”The article, which heaps a lot of blame on the victim here, also reported that her parents knew she was going to that concert. She’s a child — all the adults are the ones who need to take responsibility for this situation.]…”I am so sorry about everything and I am sorry for disappointing my parents and my brother Ian, who is a public figure in his portfolio as the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Crime Watch. I will learn from this experience for sure. This week was the worst week of my life,” she added. She was interviewed at the Crime Watch office in Chaguanas.
The misogyny and sexism continue, regardless of color.
***
It should be noted that Trinidad/Tobego is the same place that is in turmoil over the prospect of Elton John coming to perform at a jazz festival this month because his presence would tempt islanders into homosexuality.
The Archdeacon of Trinidad and Tobago, the Venerable Philip Isaac:
“The artiste is one of God’s children and while his lifestyle is questionable he needs to be ministered unto. His visit to the island can open the country to be tempted towards pursuing his lifestyle,” the Archdeacon told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaperA quote from a Trinidadian reader concerned about the impact of John’s visit:
As one of the readers over at my pad wryly said, “Just remember: This is the place that wants to keep Elton John from performing because he is an abominable faggot. Watch the [Akon] video, and you can see for yourself what genuine righteousness looks like.”“We have a huge problem with homosexuality in our population because unlike our foreign counterparts our free up nature and infrastructure cannot support the conditions of this lifetsyle.”
H/t, Robin.
96 Responses to “Hip hop star Akon dry humps 14-year-old onstage”
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Omigod that was like watching a rape.
I feel sick to my stomach. I couldn’t watch the whole thing.
I hate everybody.
(Well, Pandagonians & my own family & friends excepted. Just everyone else.)
God.
I don’t understand why I should care if Akon dry humped a woman who was in 18+ venue.
And that makes me sad.
I just noticed the Amazon.com text ad on the lower left side of the page display links to Akon’s music: “Konvicted”, “Trouble”, “When Abortion Was A Crime”, and “I Wanna Love You”. All advertised for sale. Do I ignore the ad because I don’t want to give him traffic, or should I click the ad so he gets charged for the clickthrough? :-/
One of my problems is the con job he’s pulling. He invites women up onstage to perform. He tells them that it’s for a contest, that he has this contest everywhere he goes and that they’ll get a trip to Africa for the next stage of it. Then, once they’ve done whatever it is he asked, he yanks the rug out from under them - - haha! There is no trip! There is no real contest! It was all a sham, so come here and let me have my way with you!
There are women who would go onstage to perform sexually simulated acts with him, if he asked. If that’s what he wants, he should ask for it. He’s tricking women into performing for him/the crowd and then setting up a situation where they can’t refuse.
Plus, this woman happened to be a fourteen-year-old girl.
It’s the club’s job to check ID; that stuff about people not habitually carrying ID isn’t good enough.
I’m still mad that someone india.arie worked with is revealing himself to be manipulative and misogynistic. This is his stage show, to showcase his music? What a great artist.
You see that plot in a lot of porn, too, the need to “trick” the character played by the actress. The Bang Bus videos are a classic example—they harangue their mark until she gives in and gets in to have sex with a bunch of guys in a scene that has so much humiliation it’s indistinguishable at times from gang rape. Then they offer to pay her, but at the last minute, HA! No money. I saw one where they waved it under her nose, then threw her out of the bus before driving off. Granted, it’s all staged, which makes it better than this, since the actresses get the pittance they were offered in real life. But the whole theme is there—coercion is sexy, it’s not hot if she wants it, the sex isn’t the point, making mockery of women is the point.
There’s a way to do over-the-top sexy stuff in dancing that isn’t coded to scream humiliation-of-women. Prince was the master of it.
I can’t believe the girl is apologizing for being the victim of a public humiliation ritual. We lived in a fucked up world.
What the hell??
Oh, gag. I can’t remember what book I read in which the narrator, when faced with grossness or violence, tells herself, “kittens. Think of kittens. Pretty, fluffy, cute, innocent kittens. And puppies, fresh-baked cookies. And flowers, lots and lots and lots of pink flowers.” This video prompted me, after the gagging stopped, to repeat that chant.
Tinfoi, I’m with you on the hating-the-world thing today.
Maybe one day, one of these girls will knee him.
Just one question:
Where were that young girl’s parents? What parent in their right mind allows a 14 year old to attend a concert of this nature?
Don’t parents pay attention anymore?
Regards,
mike
Sorry..that was three questions. Got carried away.
Regards,
mike
When Akon was on AI (yes I watch) my friends and I were texting each other (we do that through every episode) with things like “Who the hell is this? He sucks!” Now I know he’s more than musically untalented, he’s a misogyinist ass. One more album to avoid.
I didn’t even know who the hell Akon was until I was up early yesterday morning. I was flipping channels and found VH1 actually showing videos. Video was boring. His music sucked. I despise bad R&B.
that is one of the most horrible things i’ve seen in quite a while… if he were in the USA I feel like he probably would have been arrested…. maybe? because that was obviously sexual assault.
There are jurisdictions in which Akon could be prosecuted for a type of felony sexual assault for engaging in that type of conduct with a girl of that age.
In searching for blogging about this story, there’s an incredible dead silence on big lefty blogs. Why am I not surprised…
Disgusting.
I’m actually not surprised that the girl is the one doing the apologizing. My observational experience of Trinidad is that there is not a lot of critical cultural examination of sexism and misogyny. Which, of course, doesn’t make it okay, but it does help me understand the girl’s mindset when she apologizes. It’s deeply saddening.
I don’t know what you mean by “of that nature,” but my parents allowed me to go to hardcore shows in clubs when I was 14. I’m glad they did, because nothing bad happened to me, and I think those experiences were pretty formative and positive. But if something bad had happened to me, I’m sure that people would have asked what kind of parent allowed their 14-year-old daughter to go to punk shows in clubs.
I guess I think the “why did her parents let her go” question is a little bit of a variation on the blaming the victim theme. We could have an interesting discussion about how old kids should be before they’re allowed to go to concerts, but it’s not really the issue here. The only person who’s misbehavior is at issue right now is Akon.
Did he just essentially rape her on stage? He had her in a position where she could not escape, pinned down in front of a tightly packed crowd that was cheering her on. I myself feel violated for her just looking at the video.
Pam, this *is* a big lefty blog. There is a silence on the right and the left about misogyny. Don’t make this about the left, especially in a forum that is pointing out th problem. This is a GLOBAL problem. To say otherwise is to be part of the problem. Don’t be the problem, Pam.
Akon must be good buddies with R.Kelly. (WHY the hell hasn’t R.Kelly had a speedy trial? It’s been delayed for, what, 5 or 6 years?! I loved “I Believe I Can Fly” but I’m glad I’ve never contributed a cent to R.Kelly’s cause, unless you count the one time I rented Space Jam when I was 13.)
And the GIRL apologized?! What the…?
That is awful. If that was a “dance contest” then he didn’t even give her a chance to do anything! I don’t understand how that’s even dancing. It’s seriously people like him that give that genre of music a really bad name.
She really, really should not have felt the need to apologize. It’s him who needs to apologize. and go into retirement.
You ought to pay more attention to who hosts your cliips.
After the Akon clip, anyone who desired was invited to watch “Girls salt waster fishing” where the emphasis was on…you guesses it…girls bodied in the vicinity of fish.
You ought to pay more attention to who hosts your cliips.
After the Akon clip, anyone who desired was invited to watch “Girls salt water fishing� where the emphasis was on…you guessed it…girls bodies in the vicinity of fish.
Lovely, let’s simulate the gang rape of children onstage. Can feeding Christians to the lions be far behind? (Settle down, Amanda.)
Well, it is THE LEFT who SHOULD BE SHOUTING FROM THE MOUNTAINTOPS about misogyny. So don’t excuse the other big blogs by saying, “the righty blogs don’t complain about it either!” Since when do they set the standard for what is right and decent?
The other big blogs didn’t exactly rise up en masse to take Kos to task over his post about Kathy Sierra needing to get a thicker skin when faced with death threats. (Though many did, and I’m thankful to them.) Many of the bigger blogs, of course, were strangely silent.
I watched the video about half-way through and felt like others here: that I was witnessing a rape. I couldn’t see where she even had a chance to try to get away. The irony of this is it comes a few days after the 2-day forum on Oprah about misogyny in the hip-hop and R&B industry. I’m sickened that people, especially women (which is such a betrayal to the rest of us fighting against this crap), continue to support these “artists” and that corporate greed is more important than human rights. I realize this isn’t the only arena where corporate greed wins out, but it’s today’s catch.
Pam,
Which big lefty blogs would you expect to pick this story up? It looks to me like people wouldn’t even be aware of this story unless they were specifically interested in hip hop, the international music scene, Trinidad, or women’s rights issues. Of those topics, the only one I happen to read up on is women’s rights issues.
In other words, Pandagon, Feministe, etc. are the very places I would expect to see this story. Since I don’t really follow any lefty blogs that cover the other topics, I couldn’t guess where where else it would show up. (Some of the snark blogs might pick it up, if they think they can make something of it.)
I also wonder if the recent Imus-sparked arguments regarding misogyny and hip hop play a role here. It’s possible someone is out there thinking that they can’t write about this because they got flamed two weeks ago for calling out misogyny in hip hop (which is most likely a misinterpretation of the flame, but I suspect it’s a relatively common misinterpretation).
You ought to pay more attention to who hosts your cliips.
I used that particular source not because it was palatable, but because YouTube yanked the clip after Akon’s record company freaked.
Don’t make this about the left, especially in a forum that is pointing out th problem.
Oh, yes, it is about the left as well as the right. Sadly, this stuff gets called out by the right oftentimes because they are racist (see Malkin, Freeperland), to underscore and support their own view of minorities as evil, oversexed, violent, etc. Prior to the Imus debacle, the major lefty blogs largely steered clear of race issues re: misogyny in minority culture for fear of appearing racist (something I’ve blogged about many times), blacks in turn only confirmed this feeling by being defensive about “airing cultural dirty laundry “and hearing any social commentary by The Man. The third rail then paralyzes the discussion in the progressive community; meanwhile, women of all colors are treated like crap and it gave Imus the license to try to excuse his comments on the backs of the pathology within hip hop.
I also wonder if the recent Imus-sparked arguments regarding misogyny and hip hop play a role here. It’s possible someone is out there thinking that they can’t write about this because they got flamed two weeks ago for calling out misogyny in hip hop (which is most likely a misinterpretation of the flame, but I suspect it’s a relatively common misinterpretation).
Let’s just say that if it was, oh, Toby Keith (or insert some other right-leaning entertainer) caught doing what Akon did on video, the lefty blogs would be all over it because of the political slant, not inherently because of the misogyny, though that would be political correct icing on the cake. Once you add race, particularly when the misogyny is minority-on-minority — all bets are off, the progressive crickets chirp because of the racial discomfort involved.
That’s exactly right. I think the issue is whether it’s ok that supposedly progressive blogs don’t care about women’s rights issues, along with a whole bunch of other “special interest” issues which in fact are vitally important to vast swathes of the world’s population.
Plus, this guy is not exactly obscure. He was on American Idol a few weeks ago. I hear his stupid song all over the place. You don’t have to be a big hip-hop fan to be exposed to him. I’ve actually encountered him a lot more recently than I’ve encountered Imus.
So why not add references to this to his Wikipedia entry?
Was that the girl in the background screaming OH MY GOD!!? over and over?
Rape indeed. Absolutely disgusting.
Asha
She was. Man, I’m 22, and I wouldn’t be mentally OK after that going on!
I will have to agree that I feel like I’ve witnessed rape after watching the video.
The fact she apologized doesn’t surprise me much, sadly. But the fact she did, makes me livid that yet again, the victim must somehow make amends for something that is utterly not her fault.
He performed recently (in March?) on the Nickelodeon Kids Choice awards with Gwen Stefani. Guess none of those kids were old enough to bring onstage.
Disgusting. But thank you, Pandagon, for bringing it to my attention.
I just emailed Amazon and my local Fox (American Idol) affiliate, suggesting that they rethink their support for a man who sexually assaults a child on stage.
Whom else should we contact to ask why they promote this child rapist?
Amanda, Prince was overtly sexual in his songs. That is no longer the case. Prince is now being blasted for his religion and beliefs by Christofascists like Michelle Malkin. As for Akon’s ‘dry hump’, I think it is absolutely appalling. And he is not the only one that appalls me. The videos in hip-hop, esp. the one in which 50 Cent swipes a card on a woman’s ass, are a disgrace. The way Beyonce and other females in pop, R&B, hip-hop, country, and rock as well as Nancy O’Dell and other women in Hollywood dresses are all disgusting and I would not even think of taking my cousins to see them in person. They are all a disgrace to Gens X and Y. Are there any men in hip-hop that are idols? Are there any women at all in our pop culture that are idols? From what I’m seeing — the answer to both questions are no.
Most of you won’t take the following proposal seriously, having too much hipster cred on the line, but I think it’s about time:
Blanket boycott of hip-hop. At the least, of all major commercial hip-hop artists. The genre’s big sellers do no good, least of all to the communities they represent.
I could have sworn that was Nelly, not 50 Cent.
I think it would be much more effective to boycott objectionable artists and reward good ones.
It was Nelly.
How foul.
I hope some good woman with a head on her shoulders lies in wait for this bastard on his next tour. I totally agree with the poster who said someone should knee him in the crotch. Watching a woman surprise him and fight back successfully would set an example, if he ever has the nerve to do it again.
On stage, that is. Can you imagine what this guy does on his own time?
Plus, I bet that girl has bruises. I think her head got banged around quite a bit. Apologize, my god.
Don’t just be offended by this ACT on it. This guy has been on American Idol TWICE this season and is a VERIZON spokesperson. Urge Verizon to drop him. We have Verizon’s contact info on our site. www.whataboutourdaughters.org
That’s as bad as when a friend of mine dragged me to a “male review” where the “dancers” basically just dry humped every woman there (well, not me because I was too busy cowering and trying to get my friend to leave). Watching that at a place that is usually only used for bachlorette parties, and that has a strict 18+ policy was really difficult for me to deal with…this, just makes me totally sick. That poor girl.
And, I kinda agree with the idea of a boycott of popular rap, it’s really only about 10% of all the rap that is produced each year…if everyone who reads this would tell someone (like e-mailing your local radio stations when they play things that you find offensive and etc.) and get just one of your friends to do the same, then maybe we’d get something done.
I didn’t see this video until days after the event and believe me I was sick to my stomach. The fact that Akon basically wiped the stage with the girl was appalling enough, but then you add the fact that she is fourteen, thought she was winning a legitimite prize….
Akon’s music was always a little suspect to me and his grating voice didn’t help matters. But to see this blatant disregard for women as shown quite clearly in this video makes me wonder how many people will still buy his music and watch his videos regardless. (RKelly still gets millions)
As to the Elton question, its actually a few pastors and bigots trying to cause trouble. Most of the people in T&T are of the opinion that they should just let the man sing! Especially as there are MANY homosexuals in Trinbago already and they were there BEFORE Elton’s visit was announced. In fact many citizens have written in to newspapers asking for a comment from those same protesting pastors about Akon’s actions onstage as they are certainly more reprehensible than Elton John playing a piano and singing onstage.
So far , no comment from any.
If this SOB had actually ripped off her clothes and raped her onstage, would those morons still have cheered him on?
I like to think the answer is “no.” But I wouldn’t bet the house on it.
Wht rll ngrd m wr th mrns wh cngrtltd hr whn sh rtrnd t th flr. rl lst wk, sh ws cmpltl nrpntnt, lmst plsd wt hrslf. gss nw tht th grvt hs snk n sh s rmrsfl. Th thng s tht dn’t knw f nybd ntcd t, bt hr lgs wr prtt tght rnd hs wst thrght th whl thng nd t thn nd f t ll whn h lvs hr sh s smlng… Wht’s m pnt? thnk tht th xynsv md cvrg hs mbrrssd hr, ntt tht sh ws dr hmpd n frnt f chrng crwd…
“Oh, yes, it is about the left as well as the right. Sadly, this stuff gets called out by the right oftentimes because they are racist (see Malkin, Freeperland), to underscore and support their own view of minorities as evil, oversexed, violent, etc.”
Pam, no disagreements. I’m only disagreeing that this is ABOUT the left.
It’s about misogyny.
Frankly, I have been busy forwarding Nicholas Kristof’s NY Times multimedia presentation on the global slave trade of prostitution to anyone who will hear and do something about it. There are silent corners in the places that self-identify as right and left, which doesn’t surprise me. As the woman in the multimedia presentation discusses, the right and left often want to use tragedy to frame issues rather than acting upon it. That’s why many of these blogs exist. They are framing devices. Funny enough, the commenters here at the lefty blog have already started to give real solutions to stopping this. I wonder if Malkin’s posters did the same, or if they just used this horrifying act to burnish their self-esteem as holier-than-thou. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter unless we forget the tragedy. Then we become the problem.
By the way, watch the video to see the particulars of misogyny. Then, let’s do something about it. Talk to other abolitionists. Let’s find solutions rather than redirecting the subject to our own clumsy moral models. Let’s stop the real suffering.
huh, theres actually footage of akon and his dj doing the same thing to tara reid, which freaked me out even tho she was laughing [maybe cuz it looked kinda painful!] i guess its some lame ass shtick hes created for himself
ick.
I’ll be back when I have more to say, but for now, ick.
I’m black and I am proud to be a progressive rock fan!!!
i watched this with the sound turned off: not sure if that made it better or worse.
can’t post more right now: must go shower–and pour bleach in my eyes…
i’m with you, aloysius: ick.
Quite apart from the appalling violation of this young woman’s boundaries, I would think this could be prosecuted as “false advertising” in many US jurisdictions. I know that in Massachusetts, there are pretty detailed laws about how public contests can be run.
I know zero about Trinidad and Tobago’s laws, though.
By “prosecuted” I meant “pursued in civil court” because it’s a tort, not a crime. Legally. At least, the “false advertising” part.
Akon needs to be charged by the Trinidad authorities for the delinquency of a minor….totally disgusting
Disgusting and cruel. Couldn’t watch past the first few seconds.
Ugh — I feel diseased now, and only watched a few moments; that was more than enough. Not that this has any actual impact or value, but fwiw, I am deeply ashamed and apologize to the world, and especially to the young woman involved, on behalf of my gender.
To be clear: if this were a woman of legal age, who had of her own free will engaged in this (and had not been deceived into it), then more power to her. But she wasn’t, and she didn’t (and she had been), so: no.
KC Apr 22nd, 2007 at 11:40 pm:
“if everyone who reads this would tell someone (like e-mailing your local radio stations when they play things that you find offensive and etc.) and get just one of your friends to do the same, then maybe we’d get something done.”
Indeed. This is one of the ways that the reichwing and the christofascists have assumed power beyond their numbers in the polity and the marketplace over the last few decades. ‘Bout time we were fighting back. Today Imus; tomorrow the world.
1. 18+ show
2. she’s NOT AT ALL dressed like your average 14 year old
3. did her parents SEE the outfit she had on when she went to that concert? i know that whenever i went to a concert, knowing that i looked older than my age, my parents always checked my clothes.
4. i’ve been to an Akon show, and even before i went i knew about the ‘trip to Africa’ act… and at the 2 shows i’ve seen when he talks about the contest, the tone in which he speaks of the trip implies that he’s bull sh*tting.
5. Finally, in a lot of island cultures, epecially in trinidad, and other african cultures… going to a club, party, or concert and seeing this kind of dancing is to be expected. Honestly, I remember being like 12 or 13 and dancing to a song where a part of it has a dance move where it would appear to people like you’re humping the floor.
in all, no one should be punished, or if anyone should, it should be the parents or the girl. if she didn’t know about the contest, judging by her dress, she knew about the age requirement for the show and lied about her age.
Disgusting. Did you notice the “related videos” that pop up from metacafe? “My Craziest Sex Experience” and “Cheerleader Catfight”. wow.
The article is the worst part. It really heaps all the blame on the girl. She is going to “take stock of her life” and the “party lifestyle”. Right. Because enjoying life means inviting rape.
A 14 year old girl is unwillingly dry humped on a stage, and TT’s Newsday still has to throw in a “she was asking for it, look at what she was wearing” dig.I am so sick and tired of people making excuses for piss poor parents. As far as Akon I don’t think he did anything wrong. The young lady had no business attending a venue of this magnitude. We totally under estimate the youth of today. I think we should make them be accountable for thier actions. When I was 14 no I didn’t make the right choices all the time but I was aware of my actions. If you as a parent can not account for your 14 year-old child where abouts at all times what does that say about you as a parent? My motto is start teaching your childern to own their actions.
akon is some what to be blamed because he no better or don’t he where was this child’s parents when she got dressed and walked out the house,who brought this underage child tickets to an aldut concert she had no business there she should have been home in the bed where children belong,the parents,the child and akon need to be held accountable for there actions and there role that played apart in all of this it’s a shame
Are you kidding me, I have seen pics of this girl and no way no does she look like 14, and the WTF is she doing leaving her parents house dress like that. Her parents should never had let her leave the house point blank to go to a concert where the crowd was going to be 18+ and dressed like that, further more the only reason this is gettig hyped up is because she is 14. She gave some bullshit apology but I have seen photos from the event she was not shocked when she got on top of him and started grinding, she knew what she was doing the only reason she is apologizng is because she got caught, if things had gone off without a hitch I doubt we would even have heard of this. Akon is nasty so what, time we stop blaming artists for fast, young girls (not women, but GIRLS) who want to act 5 times they age and not expect to get caught, its one thing if you knew the girls age but another when they full out lie about it especially when they show proof to support their “I am over 18 claim”. Time to start putting the blame on them, they want to act adult let them accept the end results of their actions.
Yes, this is wrong. But it’s obscure and irrelevant, except to fans of a particular genre of music. The BLB (I assume you mean The Daily Kos: Pandagon is a BLB). How many readers of the Daily Kos care about this guy or his music? What relevance does it have to them getting a fair day’s pay, or having a roof over their heads, or getting decent medical care, or being treated fairly in the workplace, or not being raped, or not being sent to Iraq, or about a hundred things that have more influence on their daily lives?
Why do you care about it? It seems like you’re just looking for opportunities to condemn people, no matter how obscure. What does that achieve? I suppose it makes people think black men are rapists. And that black music is misogynistic. If you were arguing for some kind of action that was not occurring, say prosecution of the performer for child abuse, perhaps I could make more sense of why you’re raising the matter. Can you explain?
Similarly I don’t think it would be pertinent for a blog about the unfair treatment of black people, though perhaps one on black culture (if such a thing exists) would have something to say of influence.
Why this would be relevant to a party political blog is unclear to me.
The kind of blog or website it would be relevant to would be one about that type of music. *They* certainly should talk about it, and condemning it would be useful there as it would help put such behaviour beyond the pale.
I see nothing here but self-righteous, if validated, indignation. What does that achieve? Motivation for real causes, I hope.
“black culture (if such a thing exists)”
Oh dear, that sounds terrible. What I mean, of course, is that culture amongst blacks is plainly not homogeneous, or necessarily restricted to blacks for that matter.
“Frankly, I have been busy forwarding Nicholas Kristof’s NY Times multimedia presentation on the global slave trade of prostitution to anyone who will hear and do something about it. There are silent corners in the places that self-identify as right and left, which doesn’t surprise me. As the woman in the multimedia presentation discusses, the right and left often want to use tragedy to frame issues rather than acting upon it. That’s why many of these blogs exist. They are framing devices. Funny enough, the commenters here at the lefty blog have already started to give real solutions to stopping this.”
Formulation of policy, monitoring of politicians’ and institutions’ behaviour (in detail and for gotchas), message control and the various kinds of action all need to happen in parallel. A blog omitting even most of these in its own material is not a big deal, but there do need to be other blogs (or web-sites of some kind) that deal with these matters. If comments remain free and open, it should be possible to link to relevant sites to retain balance. Complaining about big blogs missing some aspect you’re interested in is useless (and I’m sorry, but feminism is a mere aspect of leftism, just as party politics and essential education are, for instance). Relevant comments are more effective, if less self-gratifying, than complaints. So thank you for mentioning this.
Note to those in the lower portions of the thread: I have a daughter. I have a wife. I have a mother and sisters and a mother-in-law and aunts and cousins out the wazoo. Ahem…
Rape is not the victim’s doing, it is the rapist’s.
Rape is not the victim’s doing, it is the rapist’s.
Rape is not the victim’s doing, it is the rapist’s.
Rape is not the victim’s doing, it is the rapist’s.
How many more times do ya’ll have to hear this? “who let her out of the house dressed like that?” It just makes me want to…. grnaargh!
Please, for the love of God and all that is holy, someone explain to me how sneaking out of the house or wearing revealing/older/whatever clothes, at ANY age, is a crime that should JUSTLY and FAIRLY be punished by rape, real, simulated, or open to interpretation (which I’ll generously concede this might be)? It is NOT women’s responsibilty to cower in fear and look for a big strong daddy to make the rapists go away, it’s the rapist’s responsibilty to, y’know, NOT RAPE. This kind of stunt is reprehensible no matter what the “partner’s” age.
The inclusion of sex in music and performance in clubs has been common for a very long time.
The age of the participants should be a moot point considering restrictions concerning admittance. Similiar conditions are found anywhere underage patrons use false ID to have
alcohol. Mob psychology in that people are swept into actions beyond commonality are more
likely to occur when liars such as Mr. Akon use the crowd to access this demented state.
Mr. Akon is nothing more than a con artist. The young girl is nothing more than a fool.
The actions of each on the stage were and are beneath any measure civil. As long as the mob
seeks this sort of entertainment it will occur. Lynch mobs and other group activities have alot
in common. A question worth asking would be, If someone from the crowd had intervened to
stop the assualt how would the staff of the club reacted? How do you defend sexual assualt?
The young girl is still a fool. Mr. Akon is still scum.
How would the man know that she is 14 the way she dressed? She could be doing that shit everysince. I can’t even believe she is 14 and dressed like that up in a club for 18+. Suppose she got drunk and someone took a greater advantage of her? She needs to check herself and Acon needs to check himself for getting on like he escape from prison.
I have to say I’m appalled with the blame-the-victim mentality shown in the recent posts. How the child was dressed is completely irrelevant. She was not “asking for it” just by what she was wearing. The idea that men can’t control themselves in the presence of women is irresponsible and unforgivable. As plainly stated above:
What’s next? Are you going to argue that any woman not covered head-to-toe is “asking for it?” Why is it that women are continually required to bear the responsibility for men’s actions against them? If “she was asking for it” isn’t on the bingo card, it needs to be. That phrase perpetuates the idea that women are evil and conniving (Adam and Eve anyone), and that somehow men can’t control themselves unless we’re covered and not even appearing female.
As for some other thoughts:
When people think there’s nothing wrong with objectifying women or that how a particular and famous man treats women is irrelevant to the rest of the world it undermines women in all aspects of life. Don’t forget that Akon’s behavior influences others in how they treat women. His behavior also influences girls and young women in how they feel about themselves. If that kind of treatment is deemed acceptable then what else can young women expect from society when they are grown? That they have to continually apologize for tempting men? It looks that way.
This behavior needs to stop now. All women need to value themselves enough to say to the music industry, “No, I will not buy albums that denigrate women. No, I will not listen to radio stations that play music that denigrates women.” If we’re out dancing at a club we need to show that we’re not willing to put up with it. One of the Spelman women interviewed on Oprah said she stops dancing on the dance floor when a song comes on that she objects to. She doesn’t leave the dance floor. She stops dancing. Right on the floor. She stands there until a song comes on that doesn’t denigrate women. Then she’ll start dancing again. That’s one way to start society changing. This is a huge problem spanning thousands of years, but we need to start ending it now.
Neka said:
Akon is somewhat to be blamed because he know better (or don’t he?) Where was this child’s parents when she got dressed and walked out the house? Who bought this under-age child tickets to an adult concert? She had no business there. She should have been home in the bed where children belong. The parents, the child and Akon need to be held accountable for their actions and their role that played a part in all of this. It’s a shame.
(Don’t agree with this, but I’ve fixed the spelling and punctuation to make it easier to read)
me: “Yes, this is wrong. But it’s obscure and irrelevant, except to fans of a particular genre of music.”
cl: “When people think there’s nothing wrong with objectifying women or that how a particular and famous man treats women is irrelevant to the rest of the world it undermines women in all aspects of life. ”
Doesn’t promoting this clip re-enforce that?
“Don’t forget that Akon’s behavior influences others in how they treat women. His behavior also influences girls and young women in how they feel about themselves. ”
Only men and women who listen to his music. That’s my point. Why give this any time, except perhaps to discuss it with existing fans? Why not take it to the consumers of his music? Are you afraid they won’t listen to you? That seems condescending and undemocratic to me.
“If that kind of treatment is deemed acceptable then what else can young women expect from society when they are grown?”
Acceptable by whom? How can something be deemed unacceptable (or acceptable) by someone if they don’t know about it? Again, why give this publicity?
“That they have to continually apologize for tempting men? It looks that way.”
You’re jumping to a conclusion. Yes, this is the effect amongst the audience. But you just made the audience bigger. How does that help? Better, IMO, to work with the audience to persuade them to reject this sort of crap. They are the ones who will most effectively condemn the behaviour. Perhaps there is more of an Akon-listening demographic here than I realise?
Shame on you. Getting booty under false pretences is fraud.
i am still in shock,because akon is one of my fav. arthist, i would want to believe that he was under influence by drugs or something.
OMG! WTF?! are you kidding me.
that was the grossest thing ever!
my friend told me to watch this video and i didnt even like Akon before (his voice urks me) but now that ive seen him con some girl onto the stage so he could throw her around and hump her. wtf?!
i mean didnt she get hurt while he was “having his way”?? he groped her!
all i know is that if that was me being dry humped by him im pretty sure that he would have no more singing career to speak of with all the negative publicity id be giving him.
Akon dry humped a girl on stage - who cares? i am a teen myself and it is a common fact that young girls in this day in age do not look their age and males in their early 20s and older fall for their mature looks. It is annoying that this is causing so much commotion around the world, not only in T&T. This is only being blown out of proportion because Akon is a well known and quite successful artiste. Yes, he did trick the ladies into this so called contest but why give it so much media attention and try to damage the man’s career when the deception of looks fools men all over the world and has worse consequences for example engaging in real sex with under age girls? The person/people who should be “told off” is the 14-year-old’s parents. It is true when they say “the pastor’s children are the worst” and this girl is one of many who give us reason to say so. As a pastor, he should not be allowing his daughter to be attending the concert of a secular artiste; especially if it is an 18+ event and she is there unaccompanied by a responsible adult. She should know better, we see artistes calling girls up on stage and serenading them making them feel “special” and so on and so forth. I could go on forever about the hypocrisy behind this issue but I am going to conlude with this: The girl should not have been allowed by her parents to be at an 18+ event and so Akon is not to blame for the fact that she was such a great dancer to have won the competition, I am not praising him for his actions as no woman deserves to be treated in such a way, especially not in public, but he was none the wiser about the girl’s age. Leave him alone and stop giving him stick, it happens all over the world. Her parents are to blame, regardless of if she lied to them about where she was going; if they were responsible they would have checked up on her whereabouts.Sexual assault of a minor is a-ok by me.
looks like Akon was the one doing all the “dancing”, “Dance contest?” yeah right! So wrong of him, taking advantage of that poor child. I’ve never liked his music anyway and to be honest I’m not even surprised at his behavior.
akon mi loose off u. mi bet mi money and loose star
i’ve seen worse, don’t know what all the fuss is about. i don’t know how it is in other psrts of the world but here in the caribbean that’s what getting on stage with the performer is all about. i guess it’s because she was underage, o, and what was she doing there to begin with being underage and all.
i admit sometimes the parties could take it a bit far but when you get on stge with a a performer that’s what to expect and i’m assuming that the young lady knew what she was getting into.
i hear alot of people speaking against it but as per my experience wether it be female performers or male, whenever a fun is called on stage that’s where the dancing competion and who can mash up who begins.
Foont all yall that think 50 cent is the only rapper, and so what if nelly swiped a card on a girls ass?! we “niggers” as yall like to say, dont say shit when u rock musicians scream “kill the niggers, kill the Jews, go shoot up your high school because you got bullied!! rooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaar!!!” did you ever think about that?
too all those who want to blame akon, i have one question.how would he know she was 14yrs old?the last time i check he was not clairvoyant,maybe you’ll are.you need to watch the whole video and just not part of it.there are parts where she is ontop of him,riding like if dady just gave her a new pony.
I agree with the last commenter. How was he to know that the young lady was only 14, because she sure wasn’t dressed like a 14 year old, nor was her behavior. True enough, the whole scene was ridiculus but if she wasn’t there (being that it was an 18 and over club) it never would have happened! She is apologizing now only because it has been spread all over the world, but she wouldn’t be apologizing if her dad and her community wouldnt have saw the video. She enjoyed it because she could have easily said no, but instead she endured it for not only 1 round, but 3 and rode Akon like her life depended on it. If she had no control over the other parts, she had control over riding him, and she went right along with it!!!! So dont put all the blame on AKON because it is not all his fault. He shouldn’t have put on a fake contest but the little girl, and I say little sarcastically, shouldn’t have been in a big girl club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey look I am a Trinidadian and personally i think people have over looked a lot of things when passing judgment of the situation. let me start by saying for the record i do not condone sexual relations with minors. also that while this probably is the case against akon it was incidental.
now i like most locals blame a lot of this on Zen. im sure that some of the blame falls on the girl’s parents, but i can understand why allowed her to go. in our country mega foreign artists dont normally just show up for concerts. its usually a “once in a blue moon” one time event. yet it was the duty of Zen management to restrict entrance of patrons under the legal age limit (even if they have parental consent). what is sad about all this is many of you are sitting here mouthing off the girl. good grief she’s 14. she was 14 in a place where ppl assumed that she was 18 and she did just that. she did what many of the other women wanted to, do dry hump Akon. apology aside she nor akon should have been placed in that situation if she was denied entry.
as for akon’s behavior. granted it was over the top but its pretty standard party ethic. do a google search for ” trinidad and carnival” and you’ll see what i mean. sure the bible thumpers would like to hide that fact but hey they wanted to ban elton john. shows you how crazy they are. especially when there is an established gay community in trinidad and their own gay clubs. go figure. assuming they speak for the whole country is like assuming Pat Robertson speaks for all Americans.
dude u people r crazy, do u know how many girls out there would love to be humped by akon? im 14 and im guessing all of u who r commenting r all adults. u think ur kids r some angels that never do things like that? u gotta be kidding me. a lot of girls loose their virginity well before 14 or 15. but dude watcching that vidoe was pretty wierd. i mean wat was he thinking?
timmy it is way different when he is pretty much raping a girl and she didn’t even get what she was suppose to get…Think about it…Common sense.
wow. I have been on the internet reading over this controversy. Everyone really needs to drop it. Akon is only doing what the crowd wants. Welcome to something called the REAL world. If you have ever been to a club and on stage then you know in the heat of the crowd and all of the pressure of what they want you to do then you will do things you normally would not do in your average state of mind. If she was in an 18 or over ONLY club then she was responsible for anything she did, seeing as she claimed to be 18. Im pretty sure Akon did not know she 14. Its not like she had a sign saying she was. Teenagers do stupid things, sometimes this stupid but this is going to go two ways for Akon. Crushing his career or from what i have seen help thanks to his new song “Sorry, Blame it on me” where he is taking the full bame for all his actions. Very respectable in my opinion. I see no rape only a very sexual atmosphere. Get over it people.
that is so discusting , cnt actually believe he did that . Just shows what kind of a person he reali is .
Uh, if this is the new Pandagon comment section, I’m out.
Get over it, Akon-defenders.
Note the disparity of power here?
The kid isn’t in much of a position to refuse someone clearly her superior in terms of control over the situation. (That’s why kids can’t give consent).
HE, on the other hand, can perfectly well pick out from the crowd a partner who is at least his age-peer.
Why would anyone defend this?
It’s waay worse than calling her a nappy-headed ho.
Shades of Roman Polanski. Feh.
OK I’m not saying that Akon is completely blameless but the girl wasn’t exactly fighting him off. What exactly was she doing in a dance off of this nature? We all know that what they really mean is the slutiest girl wins. Her parents shouldn’t have let her go. She doesnt really need to apologize for it but i wouldn’t call her a “victim” by ANY means. There’s fourteen year olds doing wilder things on youtube. There’s plenty of blame to go around in this matter.
And before anyone says anything Im not an Akon fan. Never bought a song or album of his in my life. Just putting in my 2 cents.
Is it not possible to assign blame to both parties?
I think that we, as a society, risk not learning enough from certain events insisting upon a mentality in which one party must be ‘right’, and the other ‘wrong’–especially when this occurs because we are inclined to protect pet causes.
Wow… that was horrible. She looked 14, from what i can see.
Akon can go hang himself. This video made me disgusted. I do like his songs, however. I’m just gonna go on limewire and download hsi songs from now on.
And most likely, his record company MADE him sing that.
Jut still.. wow…
i still love his music
Regardless of her apparent age, why is it ok to simulate the RAPE of a woman of any age in front of a cheering crowd? What does it mean that it’s considered standard ‘party ethic’? Why is ’sexiness’ somehow equated with a woman’s willingness to be debased? Pop culture now is so pornified - I feel truly alienated… it just seems so, I dunno, pathological, mentally ill. Those people would rather keep their diseases than ever admit that it was a disease… Something to consider: Just because you happen to like it doesn’t make it healthy…
I seriously doubt Akon (or whoever the fuck he is) even gives a rat’s ass whether the whole scenario was psychologically damaging to the girl. I don’t care if she seemed to be willingly participating. There’s a thousand people cheering her on, so the message she’s receiving throughout is ‘It pleases us very much that you debase yourself.’ It’s easiest to just comply in that kind of scene… can you imagine the consequences of telling the guy ‘No - get off me!’ onstage… the heckling she’d have gotten. I can imagine it was probably really intense for her - and no doubt traumatic in some very deep ways. I think that not a few men would like to believe that young women are immune to that sort of thing so they don’t have to be accountable for treating people inhumanely. Trust me, that was fucked up.
I don’t know if anyone should be charged, or if there can be such a thing as blaming. The girl did what lots of experimenting teenage girls do (emulate their heros who let themselves be publicly debased). Akon did what most hip-hop stars do: debase women to make himself look cool. The girls parents did what most parents do: slip up in their judgment.
The problem is with pop culture… What kind of nutjobs pay good money to watch people hurt other people is what it boils down to.
PS Just for the record, I am not suggesting that sexuality is debasing. The video was NOT about sex. It was COMPLETELY about dominance. That it was performed through the vehicle of sexuality was almost circumstantial.
Well I think Its Both of there Faults.,
1.Akon is wrong for not show no respect to the girl young or old you should show respect.
2.That little girl should have been home doin some homework or somethin instead of fallin for that pure pressure from her family and akon.
3.The parents should have kept tabs on there daughter instead lettin her little behind go all around enough for ass to get snatched up and raped or kidnapped.
he’s a good singer
I totally agree with Sally. That’s nasty man. ewww…..
4 me i think it was the gurl’ s parents if they knew it was only 4 18 and older y woul they let her go that is so stupid and know thas how she ended up and if u look at the video u can see that that she was actually liking it
and if u look at some of her pics she looks like ah fuckin hoe