Pimp
Encyclopedia : P : PI : PIM : Pimp
A pimp finds and manages clients for a prostitute, engaging her in prostitution, often street prostitution, in order to profit from her earnings. Typically, a pimp will force or pressure the women to stay with him; he may also protect them from other pimps or abusive clients. Pimping is a sex crime in most jurisdictions. A popular opinion is that women cannot be called pimps, as the word implies male socioclastic dominance.
Often, pimps will initially present themselves as lovers or father-figures to women (who may be run-aways or otherwise lack a family network) before introducing them to prostitution and drug addiction. Most pimp-prostitute relationships are abusive, using psychological intimidation, manipulation and physical force to control the women in the "stable".
In 1949, the United Nations adopted a convention stating that prostitution is incompatible with human dignity, requiring all signing parties to punish pimps and brothel owners and operators, and to abolish all special treatment or registration of prostitutes. The convention was ratified by 89 countries, with the exception of Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, the United States and others.
In the Netherlands, Germany, and several other countries, prostitution is legal, though pimping is not. (See Prostitution in the Netherlands and Prostitution in Germany for more information.) Managing a brothel is not classified as pimping in these jurisdictions.
In the United States, prostitution is illegal except in licensed brothels in certain counties of Nevada; however, pimping is illegal everywhere. Some municipalities, such as the city of Chicago, have made it possible for female prostitutes to take legal action against their pimps without the danger of being prosecuted for prostitution.
The number of pimps and the prostitutes' level of dependency on them is usually higher in areas where prostitution is illegal or heavily restricted. In places where prostitution is largely unrestricted, the power of pimps seems to decrease, since the prostitutes are less in need of protection.
Pimps in popular culture
In the United States, urban pimps and prostitutes constitute a colorful and often overly dramatized subculture. American pimps are also known as "macks" and often refer to their business as "the game". The archetypical flamboyant and abusive African American pimp was described in Iceberg Slim's 1969 autobiographical novel Pimp, to be followed by several other similar insider descriptions by other authors.Subsequently, the pimp subculture has been portrayed, with varying accuracy, in a number of blaxploitation films. American pimps, as depicted in these films, would be seen as people from a lower-class urban setting without a higher education dressed in wild, flashy clothes and driving customized Cadillacs or Lincolns—Cadillac Eldorados in particular are seen as "pimpmobiles". The films Superfly, Dolemite, The Mack, and Willie Dynamite are good examples. Another good example would be Boss'n Up where Corde, portrayed by Snoop Dogg, becomes the most diabolical pimp in the game, after quitting his job as a grocery clerk.
The acclaimed 1976 film Taxi Driver revolves around an underage prostitute who is freed from her stereotypical urban pimp by a crazed psychopath.
There have also been American films that depicted pimps as coming from the elite of society, such as the character portrayed by Eddie Albert in Robert Aldrich's film Hustle (1975).
The 1999 documentary American Pimp features interviews with American pimps and prostitutes.
In television, notable pimps include Antonio Fargas as "Huggy Bear" in the 1970s TV show Starsky and Hutch, who was also a police informant and was played primarily for humorous effect. This role was later recreated in the 2004 film with Snoop Dogg in the role. Eddie Murphy also portrayed a pimp called Velvet Jones in a recurring Saturday Night Live comedy sketch.
The imagery of the pimp lifestyle has been popularized by hip-hop culture since the 1980s. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and Too $hort paid obvious tribute to pimping within their lyrics. Many hip-hop artists have embraced a modern version of the pimp image in their music videos by including entourages of scantily-clad women, flashy jewelry (known as bling-bling) and luxury automobiles. This popular image often downplays the use of force against women in an effort to portray the pimp lifestyle in a positive light.
In the late 1990's and earlier part of this decade, Charles Wright portrayed a character entitled "The Godfather", a pimp character in the WWF/WWE. This character helped popularize the slogan "pimpin' ain't easy"; this is also a song by rapper Big Daddy Kane. The movie Hustle and Flow (2006) featured a pimp played by Terrence Howard; its soundtrack contained the song It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp by Three 6 Mafia.
Pimping and prostitution have also been themes in the popular culture of other nations, such as China, France, and Russia.
In Shakespeare's Hamlet some contend that the word fishmonger (someone who sells "fish", a modern euphemism for vagina perhaps in use at the time) was in turn a euphemism for a pimp.[link][link]
The term "pimp" is sometimes used figuratively, as in poverty pimp.
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Pimp costumes, in recent years, have been marketed during Halloween and/or used in costume-themed parties either as a throwback to the 1970s and/or entertainment purposes.
One Houston-area art car artist was seen in the 2006 Houston Art Car Parade wearing a pimp-themed costume with a fur scarf.
P.I.M.P. a online magazine for the computer underground. The Chicago based magazine started in 1993 and ended in 1998 by hacker group probe industries. Several topics were covered including articles on cell phone cloning, hacking computer systems, and guides on banking computer systems. Creators Fringe and Stickman were investigated by the FBI and NSA but no charges were ever filed. The group of hackers that were involved with probe industries was considered a high level threat for most of the nineties.
Famous pimps and alleged pimps
- Don "Magic" Juan
- Iceberg Slim
- Charles Manson
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Snoop Dogg (self-styled)
- Bender Bending RodrÃguez
- Stephen Ward
- Too $hort
- Larry Williams
- Al Capone [link]
- Dru Down
- Lucky Luciano
- Charles Mingus (self-proclaimed)
- Heidi Fleiss
- Suga Free
Etymology
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of the word "pimp" are unknown, but it is thought to be related to the 16th century French verb pimper, which means "alluring or seducing in outward appearance or dress". Nowadays, the French adjective "pimpant" is used when talking about something which draws attention due to its flashy or clean look.In Medical Education
The term pimping is also used as slang in the medical profession to describe the process of attending physicians asking physicians in training (i.e. resident physicians or medical students) difficult questions — some would say just questions in general. This is usually used in a derogatory fashion by those being on the receiving end of questions, as in, "I got so nervous when Dr. Smith pimped me about the causes of pancreatitis!" [link]According to The Art of Pimping by Brancati, German surgeon Walter Karl Koch first recorded "Puempfrage" questions in 1889 to be used while seeing patients with his students in Heidelberg. In America, Abraham Flexner noted on his visit to Johns Hopkins in 1916 that Osler (likely William Osler) used rapid-fire questions on his students.
See also
External links
- [U.S. DOJ guide to street prostitution]
- [Pimp Anthropology], radio show from This American Life featuring an interview with a former pimp.
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