reflect on 9 essays !

Jamie Moffett-Smith

Professor Harrison

Queer Studies 115

10/11/12

Shoot for the stars not your arms

“Smack My Bitch Up”

-The Prodigy

The phrase “Smack My Bitch Up”, is slang to request someone to inject you with Heroin or get you high. Similarly with the sayings such as, "Get me high." "Light my fire." "Shoot me up." "Smack my bitch up." This phrase became famous by The Prodigy, who are well known for the song “Smack My Bitch Up”. To “Smack Your Bitch Up”, does not mean to hit your girlfriend, it also does not mean to put violence toward any women as it may seem. In the music video “Smack My Bitch Up “ by the Prodigy, the video is full of many spectacular social norms such as drug and alcohol abuse and the side effects towards the people around them, as well as sex and gender roles that have been switched.

Throughout the video the woman in the video is constantly doing drugs and drinking. She does coke several times in the video as well as shooting up what seems to be heroin and continuously drinks even after throwing up a couple of times. It seems that the main character cannot get enough in her system, even as her body is rejecting it constantly by throwing up or making her rage she continuously does more and more drugs and alcohol. As the main character continuously does drugs it is as if they are doing them even more as a result of every time being rejected by a woman they are trying to hook up with. As the character does more drugs the video gets more disturbing as well as disorienting and it is harder to follow what exactly is going on. It is as if the people watching the video are continuously doing the drugs and alcohol with the main character that is doing them; so we end up seeing and feeling the disgust and disorientedness of the main character. One reason the character might be doing drugs and drinking could be that she is having an identity crisis and does not know how to handle or deal with the way they identified. She may be having a hard time identifying with the way she identifies with her sexual orientation, being part of the LGBTQ community as well as identifying with the way she identifies with her gender. During the music video it is hard to know for sure whether the main character is a female or a male, until the end where it is revealed that they seem to be female. It is still somewhat hard to know for certain whether they identified as a male or a female but that could be a part of the issue as to why they are doing drugs, because they too do not know for sure know how they identify.

In an article from the Pride Institute, they state that “LGBT people are more likely to use drugs, and have higher rates of substance abuse, and are more likely to continue drug abuse into later life.” (Pride Institute). It seems that this is becuase the distress and discrimination they face from such a young age to an older age as well. And from such a long period of time starting from when they first come out or seem to be a little “different”, to when they may be old and still “different” or “not normal” becuase they are part of the LGBTQ community. Another article states the rates of drug and alcohol abuse, from the Center For American Progress, which says that “it is estimated that between 20 percent to 30 percent of gay and transgender people abuse substances, compared to about 9 percent at of the general population.”(Center of American Progress). It seems in this article that it is more likely for a bigger percentage of of those belonging to the community whether they are lesbian, gay, or transgender abuse substances whereas those of the heterosexual community are not as likely. It seems that this is where the main character in the Prodigy’s video relates to, doing drugs and taking shots because she is struggling with the way that she is treated and how she has to identify. As well as “The stress that comes from daily battles with discrimination and stigma is a principle driver of these higher rates of substance use, as gay and transgender people turn to tobacco, alcohol, and other substances as a way to cope with these challenges. And a lack of culturally competent health care services also fuels high substance-use rates among gay and transgender people.”(Center of American Progress). Due to the great amounts of stress and discrimination, the main character could be turning to drugs because of a lack of a better way to cope with the daily issues she faces.

The main character seems or is assumed to be a member of the LGBTQ community and throughout the video seems to be trying to cope with what she feels, or her lack of feeling. In the music video she goes out drunk and high on drugs, trying to find a girl or woman to “hook up with” for the night. She sexually harrasses a woman and has a very pig like attitude towards everyone throughout the night. She rages when women reject her not only towards the women for example by pushing them away after she is rejected by them, but also towards herself and the others around her, even men. She changes the sex and gender roles of women that are seen to be socially accepted and throws them out and instead play out the actions that society usually refers to as “male actions”. The character plays out the roles of what is stereotypically seen as the male tendencies in the society, for example being “players” and only leaving the house to get laid, and treating women as sexual objects rather than human beings. Throughout the music video and throughout the night the main character is constantly looking to hook up with someone and goes through a club to find a woman to take home and have sex with. However, every time a male flirts with her she gets mad and blows them off. But, every time a female rejects her she turns to drugs and gets more high and drunk as the night gets later. After being blown off at the club, she goes to a strip club where there are nude women all over her and she takes one of them home with her and has sex with her. Afterwards she seems to look somewhat possessed and out of it and disoriented, and in a way disgusted with herself, after everything she has done.

In an article about sexual orientation from a group of Professors from the Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, says that “Gays and lesbians are said to be “inverted” because they do not conform to the expectation of opposite sex attraction. Inversion theory and the cultural gender belief system have had a significant impact on the way in which gender and sexual orientation have been researched. Research questions have been posed that assume that gay men are like women and that lesbians are like men in some manner. “ (Sexual Orientation, Gender Role Expression, and Stereotyping: The Intersection Between Sexism and Sexual Prejudice). The main character in this video can identify with what the Professors are saying in this article, because like it was stated that it seems from the outer perspective that those that identify to be lesbian are seen as men in a way and the main character seems to be portraying the actions of stereotypical males.

Personally this holds a huge impact towards the deepness and meaning in the film in which the music video is displayed. For example the drug trips where the camera has a huge effect contributing towards the video that makes it look like the main character and the viewers are on drugs and it makes things seem overly dramatic and disorienting. The camera effects make the watchers and audience feel very dizzy and like they are also on drugs, which gives a feeling of not knowing what exactly is going on throughout the night as well as how things are supposed to be seen by the main character and the viewers. There is an uncomfortable vibe and disgusting somewhat raunchy feel to the video and the actions that take place throughout the video. It also makes the women as well as the substance abuse seem like the main factor and that the world revolves around them.

The music video “Smack My Bitch Up” by the Prodigy has an underlying message of the way a big percentage of those of the LGBTQ community handle discrimination as well as coping with the way to identify by turning to drugs. As the main character in this music video used drugs and alcohol to cope with the way she was feeling with how to identify and/ or cope with being discriminated against. This video does not necessarily only portray how she copes with these issues but is assumed to refer to the high percentage of the people belonging to the LGBTQ community and the ways that they cope or handle these issues.

Word Count: 1559

Works Cited

Hunt, Jerome. "Why the Gay and Transgender Population Experiences Higher Rates of Substance Use." Name. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

"PRIDE Institute LGBT Treatment." Gay and Lesbian Drug and Alcohol Treatment. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

Reese, Amy, Carol Doyle, and Jennifer Miesch. "Sexual Orientation, Gender Role Expression, and Stereotyping: The Intersection Between Sexism and Sexual Prejudice (Homophobia)."Sexual Orientation, Gender Role Expression, and Stereotyping: The Intersection Between Sexism and Sexual Prejudice (Homophobia). 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

"The Prodigy Smack My Bitch Up (Uncensored)." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.