97 Bonnie and Clyde

Enrique Irizarry
Jeanina Perez
March 8, 2010
WST 3015
Blog Number 4 Entry

The song titled, “97 Bonnie and Clyde,” by Eminem, creates graphic images of the artist killing his wife and his wife’s boyfriend and son. Eminem writes such lyrics as, “It’s just a little scratch-it don’t hurt, her was eatin dinner while you were sweepin and spilled ketchup on her shirts...,” while talking to his daughter who he names Hai-Hai in the song. With this song, Eminem perpetuates violence toward women who may have possibly cheated on their husband and who are trying to move on with their lives. Eminem and his wife were once intimate, but somewhere along the lines of their relationship they hit rock bottom. As mentioned in the textbook, “Women’s Lives,” “According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, ‘Every year, as many as 4 million American women are physically abused by men who promised to love them (260).” Eminem was perhaps who of those 4 million American men who promised to take care of and love his wife, but his wife did not feel that way so decided to move on without him.

With lyrics such as, “No more fighting with dad, nor more restraining order No more ste-da-da, nor more new brother…” are words that just strike terror among women who have been through similar situations or know of women who are in such problems. From my opinion, this song tends to stir up violence against many women who may not feel safe in their relationship and who may want a better situation for themselves and their family. Furthermore, according to professor of political science and women’s studies Jean Grossholtz, at the micro level of such problems, there stems “unhealthy relationships.” We can see in this song with words such as, “She’s takin a little nap in the trunk…” clearly depict that something was wrong in Eminem’s relationship also noted here when he stated that, “…mama was real real bad, she was bein mean to dad and made him real real mad, But I still feel sad that I put her on time- out…” I also believe that this song brings awareness of violence among women in heterosexual relationships. This song is controversial depending on where people are judging the song from.

From a women’s point of view, most women would agree that the lyrics and story created by the song are mostly true, that women do get beat by their husbands if they are caught with another man or are caught trying to run away from the relationship. Women, who fear, never come back easily. As Carlton Leftwich, an interviewee noted from a John Stoltenberg interview title, “I Am Not a Rapist,” he mentioned, “Your sense of security is gone, and once you lose your sense of security you’re never going to get it back.” Many women could agree with this when the level of violence is so high. Yet, many men could also say that even though these lyrics depict images that could be true, I believe that most men could argue that these lyrics cannot be generalized because not all men act in the same fashion with this particular situation.

Citation:
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Violence Against Women." Women's Life: Multicultural
Perspective. 5th ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2010. 257-75. Print.
Hedges, Warren, Andy Moose, Carlton Leftwich, and Erick Fink. "I Am Not a Rapist!" Interview by John Stoltenburg and Jason Schultz. Print.