Talk:Pimp/Archive 2

The modern slang term for pimp
The one article I really think Wikipedia hasn't mentioned was the slang term for pimp. Mainly due to the fact I have no idea of that term it should be mentioned in the main article of pimp. To me pimp really doesn't seem to mean anything to me about being sexual. Just saying okay. ;) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.103.233.227 (talk) 01:54, 24 July 2010 (UTC)


 * The term "pimp" (used as a verb) is covered within the Etymology section. You may also want to view Pimp (disambiguation) for more information. Cindamuse (talk) 22:41, 26 August 2010 (UTC)


 * The description of "pimping" as a slang term being first used on the MTV show "Pimp My Ride" is incorrect. The slang term originated with the world wrestling federation.  In 1998 wrestler Charles Wright debuted a "pimp" character known as "the Godfather"  he would come to the stage with a group of women he referred to as "ho's"  His character was highly stereotypical of the "1970's pimp".  The women were local strippers who were paid to surround him that evening.  The song written for Charles Wright's character contained the words "Pimpin aint pimpin aint easy man, pimpin aint easy man".  Soon "pimpin aint easy" became a common catch phrase, derived both from the Godfather's act and used as a colloquiolism in "the hood".  In low income black neighbourhoods in the United States, pimps and drug dealers are the only ones making money.  So anyone who is rich in those neighbourhoods is "pimping".  The etymology of the slang term becomes a little hazy from there, since both sources managed to turn "pimping" into a term that meant "being stylish in an over-the-top way".  Pimp my ride didn't air until 2004.  Frankly, "Pimping" was in wide use in the early 1990's but I only know that because I was there, and I'm not sure if there is a literary source for the fact.

For the rest, I suggest every Spike Lee movie ever made, Boyz in the Hood, The colour purple, fritz the cat, a book called how it was: growing up black in the 50's.

I apologize for being really bad at editing wikipedia, however, the reference was incorrect and I wanted to say something about it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.24.24.16 (talk) 03:52, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 209.129.115.2, 10 November 2010
Under Notable pimps, I'm sure that Miles Davis was one for a short period around the fifties.

209.129.115.2 (talk) 00:08, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Not done: Since that request is somewhere between patent nonsense and unreferenced, it cannot be added to the page. Should you, somehow, produce a reliable source verifying that fact, then we could consider adding it. Qwyrxian (talk) 01:54, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * We could consider that, but why would we? In his autobiography Miles says that he acted like one, but what is the point of listing that in this article? It was hardly his main line of income--you may know that he also played the trumpet. Drmies (talk) 18:58, 15 November 2010 (UTC)


 * I have to take issue with the statement that "most pimps are men". As a matter of fact, ALL pimps are men.  A female pimp is called a madame.  There are just as many madames as pimps, and certainly more of note since the media tend to glamourize madames.  You wouldn't see a male pimp getting away with writing a book called "the happy hooker" (authored by xaviera hollander) and getting away with it.  Which is why I would have to agree with the assertion that most male pimp/female prostitute relationships are abusive.  No woman would choose to have sex with men for money. It would be severely physically painful. Cervical dysplasia is often found in prostitues.  See "Cervical Neoplasia and human papiloma virus" http://sti.bmj.com/content/67/6/478.abstract  "The results demonstrate a higher incidence and prevalence of cervical dysplasia in prostitutes and therefore suggest regular cervical PAP smear screening in registered prostitutes twice a year" There is also an increased risk of hiv/aids among prostitutes.  here is a site that links to other sources http://www.avert.org/prostitution-aids.htm  Incidentally, can the person who refers to prostitution as legal in some countries please provide an encyclopedic reference.  I'm pretty sure it's just plain illegal.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.24.24.16 (talk) 04:03, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

The discussion so far
Greetings. Not considering the validity of the arguments given above, one thing remains after all these years of debate; this article doesn't give any information on pimping in countries where it IS legal. That's somewhat troubling. Not all countries that allow brothels are 3rd world nations being abused by rich westerners; one example of modern western states with laws allowing prostitution (and yes, pimping) might be Germany.

The problem here is that the whole article is very POV from the, and I'm going to say this even risking a backlash, American feminist, politically correct, viewpoint. While the 'facts' stated in the current article are most likely true in a subset of the whole set of 'pimping business', they are not universally true by any means.

Anyone know a professional pimp operating in a country where it's legal who could give this article a little touch-up? :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rimakela (talk • contribs) 09:49, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

Prostitution is legal in most counties in the state of Nevada in the US (though not in Las Vegas or Reno). See for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Nevada. It is also legal in some locations in Holland, such as the city of Amsterdam. See for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_Netherlands. In both these locations the activity is government regulated (e.g. government-mandated health inspections and condom use). I'm uncertain of the legal status of 'pimping' in these jurisdictions, though in both of them prostitutes normally work in buildings owned by someone else, and pay fees to them. Obviously even in jurisdictions where being a pimp/madam is legal, abusive treatment of their prostitutes by pimps/madams would be illegal, and the Wikipedia page on Dutch prostitution makes it clear that this sometimes occurs there.

Prostitution itself (the act of exchanging sex for money) is legal in England, though many activities normally associated with prostitution (e.g. pimping/being a madam, advertising the prostitute's services, soliciting for prostitution in public places, more than one prostitute working in the same building, not reporting prostitution-related earnings to the tax authorities, etc.) are illegal there. There are also some countries/locations where, while prostitution is technically illegal, the law is seldom or almost never enforced. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.107.0.71 (talk) 00:51, 28 May 2011 (UTC)


 * June 2011 ***

This saying that Pimps are not anymore valid is going too far. Some traditionalists who are comfortable with alpha maleness and the management factor of MALE pimps or Madams (depending on one's preference) actually prefer to negotiate prices or in/outcalls with a pimp. It is also somewhat unattractive to talk shop with the prostitute for pricing for others. You want to have memories of a prostitute not of have a conversation with it like a merchant or in fact any conversation at all! The more humanised, the worse, for some clients at any rate. Based on these reasons, pimps are NOT passe or dated. How many orders can a telemarketeer manage at a time anyway? And the whole idea of a millionaire pimp just puts one off somehow. This should be a middle class lifestyle assuring/level type of job at any rate, otherwise it will just put everyone off again - the kind of wealth and number of girls managed by a single pimp should not be excessive. Then finally attitude and flexibility as well as mindset. preferences, enjoyment of work or enjoyment of the joy of customers. It's not a necessity but definitely NOT no longer needed. Some of us prefer the presence of witneses and alibis as well in case something goes wrong or the sex workers are inclined to sabotage etc.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.50.37.239 (talk) 15:59, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

"Loverboys"
I doubt that the section on "Loverboys" should be included in this article. To begin with, the phenomenon as described does not differ so much from "pimping" in general - many prostitutes in general are coerced into dependence on their pimps via seduction or drugs. Furthermore, the existence of "loverboys" is poorly supported by cited documentation which, in any case, only cites about 30 cases, which is less than one out of a million of the estimated prostitutes active worldwide (http://prostitution.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000095). Finally, the idea that these sexually experienced immigrants, presumably from North Africa, are seducing the nice local repressed Protestant girls, seems to me the sort of thing that could easily be motivated by xenophobic hysteria, rather than legitimate concern. (68.175.69.32 (talk) 17:47, 19 October 2011 (UTC))

Ok sorry some of the sources do in fact claim several thousand victims not 30, but my criticisms still stand. Also, most of the sources refer back to the same single source stoploverboys.com or something, which can hardly be considered an independent observer. (68.175.69.32 (talk) 17:51, 19 October 2011 (UTC))

I agree that there's something wrong going on here with respect to the "Loverboys" section, but I feel like it's not the source. There's no principled reason not to use a website advocating a cause as a legitimate source of information. It's not like it's terribly controversial to be against luring underage girls into prostitution.

I just think the sentence about North African immigrants is misguided.

(1) It's an unwarranted generalization. In the stoploverboys website, we get one anecdotal statement about Moroccan boys. In the Spiegel article, we get another anecdote of a single Moroccan boy luring a girl into prostitution. How can we go from those two statements to the claim, if understood literally, that in many countries North African immigrants lead people into prostitution? That's not fair to the non-Moroccan countries in North Africa, and there's no reason to think from the two mentioned cases that this happens anywhere other than the Netherlands. Also, we have one person's opinion and one anecdote of an actual Moroccan loverboy. Hardly grounds for a generalization in an encyclopedia.

(2) There are some parties in the Netherlands who use inflammatory rhetoric against immigrants. While their ideas belong in Wikipedia as much as anyone else's, we should view generalizations about social crimes brought by immigrants with scrutiny. We shouldn't uncritically repeat those ideas.131.96.91.204 (talk) 15:50, 2 May 2012 (UTC) (A university library computer in Atlanta)