All the endless discourses on patriarchy are constantly swept away by the reality of the facts: the model of the macho, sexist and chauvinist man, constantly receives validation of every kind, both from a sexual and economic point of view. And the most worrying aspect is that this validation often also comes from self-styled “feminist” women or from those companies that sell themselves as progressive.

Tony Effe: drugs, money, women

Let’s take the most recent and obvious case, that of Tony Effe, a trapper who became famous online years ago thanks to his group, Dark Polo Gang, which like all trap had three key topics: women, money and drugs (or street life in general). From exalting the mafia mentality, Tony Effe has tried to clean up his character over time, becoming today a mainstream sex symbol thanks to the summer hit “Sesso e Samba” and other collaborations with famous Italian singers, such as Emma Marrone and Rose Villain (both openly feminists). To be more radio-friendly he had to choose the topic that apparently is less controversial in the trap triad: women. So here is a continuous boasting about how much sex he has, with how many women, with what skill, with what size, etc., achieving considerable success, especially in the female world. And you might say? Well, it’s just a character, an artistic performance. Of course, the values ​​transmitted are not the best, and many kids will take him as a model and replicate that same attitude in real life. “But what does he have to do with it?! Parents and school should educate, not rappers!”.

Passing the girls around

Agreed. Given that every public figure has responsibilities (or at least those who sponsor them), we must also ask ourselves where the character ends and the person begins. For example, in the latest freestyle promoted by RedBull, the Roman rapper, in addition to the usual macho self-celebration, in attacking a colleague (the rapper Niky Savage who has just released a single with Fedez) refers to his partner, the influencer Roberryc, stating that he “fucked her” and then “passed her on” to other rappers, as if she were an object. At which point the girl in question indignantly posts a video response on Tik Tok, calling Tony Effe a “male chauvinist bully”, and saying that “her man” has already responded to him, forgetting however that “her man”, the trapper Niky Savage, in his lyrics uses the exact same expressions towards women that she criticizes Tony Effe for. It seems absurd, but that’s how it is. But is this a gossip article? No, not at all. What interests us is the social implications of all this ridiculous theatre.

The sexist world that wins

In fact, we live in the most hypocritical era in history from the point of view of moral values: on the one hand, everyone, in words, condemns the macho, patriarchal and sexist model, but on the other, with facts, they support it, sexualize it, incite it and finance it, even financially. Let’s think of Netflix, a company that in recent years has sold itself as an icon of progressivism and the feminist battle, which only a few days ago published a reel on Instagram in collaboration with Tony Effe to sponsor its own series. But the same goes for Google, Spotify, etc. The truth, unfortunately, is that the sexist model is winning, once again. It does so by convincing people that they are not, because in this way it reduces the sense of guilt of those who feel attracted to it, men and women. It does so by telling people that it is a character, covering its ass in an awkward and inconsistent way. But rather than taking it out on them, on these models, who in fact only take advantage of a system that is favorable to them, let’s take it out on those who build this system, every day. And let’s also take on our individual responsibilities, because each of us, some more and some less, is part of the problem.