sexism and misogyny that he did not want to take that image home. That image (complete with
doghouse, beware the dog sign, with a naked black female head in a doghouse, naked butt
sticking out) was reproduced, "uncritically," in the November 29, 1993 issue of "Time"
magazine. The positive music review of this album, written by Christopher John Farley, is titled
"Gangsta Rap, Doggystyle" makes no mention of sexism and misogyny, makes no reference to
the cover. I wonder if a naked white female body had been inside the doghouse, presumably
waiting to be fucked from behind, if "Time" would have reproduced an image of the cover along
with their review. When I see the pornographic cartoon that graces the cover of "Doggystyle," I
do not think simply about the sexism and misogyny of young black men, I think about the sexist
and misogynist politics of the powerful white adult men and women (and folks of color) who
helped produce and market this album.
In her book "Misogynies" Joan Smith shares her sense that while most folks are willing to
acknowledge unfair treatment of women, discrimination on the basis of gender, they are usually
reluctant to admit that hatred of women is encouraged because it helps maintain the structure
of male dominance. Smith suggests: "Misogyny wears many guises, reveals itself in different
forms which are dictated by class, wealth, education, race, religion and other factors, but its
chief characteristic is its pervasiveness." This point reverberated in my mind when I saw Jane
Campion's widely acclaimed film "The Piano" which I saw in the midst of mass media focus on
sexism and misogyny in "gangsta rap." I had been told by many friends in the art world that
this was "an incredible film, a truly compelling love story etc." Their responses were echoed by
numerous positive reviews. No one speaking about this film mentions misogyny and sexism or
white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.
The 19th century world of the white invasion of New Zealand is utterly romanticized in this film
(complete with docile happy darkies--Maori natives--who appear to have not a care in the
world). And when the film suggests they care about white colonizers digging up the graves of
their dead ancestors, it is the sympathetic poor white male who comes to the rescue. Just as
the conquest of natives and lands is glamorized in this film, so is the conquest of femininity,
personified by white womanhood, by the pale speechless corpse-like Scotswoman, Ada, who
journeys into this dark wilderness because her father has arranged for her to marry the white
colonizer Stewart. Although mute, Ada expresses her artistic ability, the intensity of her vision
and feelings through piano playing. This passion attracts Baines, the illiterate white settler who
wears the facial tattoos of the Maori--an act of appropriation that makes him (like the traditional
figure of Tarzan) appear both dangerous and romantic. He is Norman Mailer's "white negro,"
seducing Ada by promising to return the piano that Steward has exchanged with him for land.
The film leads us to believe that Ada's passionate piano playing has been a substitution for
repressed eroticism. When she learns to let herself go sexually, she ceases to need the piano.
We watch the passionate climax of Baines seduction as she willingly seeks him sexually. And we
watch her husband Stewart in the role of voyeur, standing with dog outside the cabin where
they fuck, voyeuristically consuming their pleasure. Rather than being turned off by her love for
Baines, it appears to excite Stewart's passion; he longs to possess her all the more. Unable to
win her back from Baines, he expresses his rage, rooted in misogyny and sexism, by physically
attacking her and chopping off her finger with an ax. This act of male violence takes place with
Ada's daughter, Flora, as a witness. Though traumatized by the violence she witnesses, she is
still about to follow the white male patriarch's orders and take the bloody finger to Baines,
along with the message that each time he sees Ada she will suffer physical mutilation.
Violence against land, natives, and women in this film, unlike that of gangsta rap, is portrayed
uncritically, as though it is "natural," the inevitable climax of conflicting passions. The outcome
of this violence is positive. Ultimately, the film suggests Stewart's rage was only an expression