This song is about incestuous sexual abuse of a sexually inexperienced sixteen year old boy by his thirty-two year old sister, whom the lyrics imply has custody of him. She is described as making love exclusively to her brother despite being "loose" and refusing to wear undergarments because of their inhibiting the flow of her sexual juices. The boy in the song feels guilt about the relationship, "I was only 16 but I guess that's no excuse," even though he also says he just wants to be her friend. This guilt is common in survivors of sexual abuse. She teaches him about some sort of penetrative sex in addition to oral sex. The song then refers to her prostitution of him, "She only wanted to turn me out," and his reluctance, "Don't put me on the street again." It says she whipped him until he cried out, which is again intermingling sexual abuse with physical abuse.
Once again, Prince is proving himself socially aware and politically active. I think it's interesting that all the way back in 1979 this song was out there letting people know that it's not just women and girls who get abused by men and boys, but that abuse can occur with the genders reversed. People still forget that, today. I also think it's interesting that the others who comment, not just here but elsewhere, see the shock value so much more clearly than any potential social commentary that might make us aware of what can happen so that we can help those who need help. There are lots of places for abused women and girls to go for help, but our society tends to disbelieve or ridicule male victims of abuse. It would be good if songs like this led to greater awareness and change. Instead, it's more common for them to be used as an excuse for censorship, which I find extremely sad.
This song is about incestuous sexual abuse of a sexually inexperienced sixteen year old boy by his thirty-two year old sister, whom the lyrics imply has custody of him. She is described as making love exclusively to her brother despite being "loose" and refusing to wear undergarments because of their inhibiting the flow of her sexual juices. The boy in the song feels guilt about the relationship, "I was only 16 but I guess that's no excuse," even though he also says he just wants to be her friend. This guilt is common in survivors of sexual abuse. She teaches him about some sort of penetrative sex in addition to oral sex. The song then refers to her prostitution of him, "She only wanted to turn me out," and his reluctance, "Don't put me on the street again." It says she whipped him until he cried out, which is again intermingling sexual abuse with physical abuse.
Once again, Prince is proving himself socially aware and politically active. I think it's interesting that all the way back in 1979 this song was out there letting people know that it's not just women and girls who get abused by men and boys, but that abuse can occur with the genders reversed. People still forget that, today. I also think it's interesting that the others who comment, not just here but elsewhere, see the shock value so much more clearly than any potential social commentary that might make us aware of what can happen so that we can help those who need help. There are lots of places for abused women and girls to go for help, but our society tends to disbelieve or ridicule male victims of abuse. It would be good if songs like this led to greater awareness and change. Instead, it's more common for them to be used as an excuse for censorship, which I find extremely sad.
@Kayti
@Kayti
~~ nice 'in-depth' analysis - or it could just be Prince being the sexually provocative artist he'd always been
~~ nice 'in-depth' analysis - or it could just be Prince being the sexually provocative artist he'd always been