The Sexism of Rapper Boef and the hypocrisy of Dutch social media users

In a song called ‘Welcome to the terror drome’ the great hip-hop group Public Enemy once said, “Crucifixion ain’t no fiction”. How right they were. It happened in the past and in 2018 Dutch rapper Boef is being publicly crucified on social media.

Rapper Boef last of the great gentleman

Like the Shallow Man, you might never have heard of Rapper Boef. Apparently, he’s quite famous in the Netherlands. During New Year’s Eve night, when most people were checking to see if they still had all of their fingers due to the annual Dutch firework frenzy, Rapper Boef was driving from a performance in Delft when he had a flat tire. Apparently, he was unable to change the tire himself but then fortunately for him,  a passing car with three Dutch ladies was kind enough to pick him up and give him a lift to his destination. How did he repay their kindness? By going on snap chat and describing them as whores!

The delightful sexism of Rapper Boef

Full of gratitude, Mr Boef went on Snapchat and said the following:

“Opgehaald door 3 kechs. Mijn leven is een film. Gelukkig oud en nieuw. Ik koop dit jaar een boot, wacht maar.”

“Picked up by 3 whores. My life is a film. Happy New Year! This year I’m going to buy a boat”

 

When in a hole stop digging

His comments went viral and he was quite rightly criticised. But he didn’t stop there, he then went on YouTube (as per the video below) and dug himself an even deeper hole. The video is in Dutch, so here’s an English summary of the incredible sexism of rapper Boef.

The word ‘kechs’ is apparently the Moroccan word for whore.

 

“Ok so I’ve made some of you angry by using the word ‘kechs’. But what were you doing in a club with alcohol, with short skirts till eight in the morning with boys? That I call kechs/whores. If you sit at home the entire day and do nothing, don’t study and listen to your mother and father, then I’ll call you a woman. But if you’re a whore, don’t get angry when I call you a whore, because you are a whore.

sexism of rapper boef

 

 

 

The fallout

His comments were widely reported in the media and what followed was reminiscent of Old Testament wrath, and furious anger!

Dutch social media went into meltdown with the mass rage of people offended by the sexism of rapper Boef. He then attempted to apologize for his remarks, but it was too late. People began calling for a boycott of him and his performances. Some radio stations have boycotted him.

 

His appearances at several festivals were cancelled along with many bookings he had throughout the country. Overnight he became more unpopular than a Zwarte Piet protester in Friesland.

Dutch social media pages were full of angry comments about him and his religion. A common view being that because he’s a Muslim that Islam is to blame for his views.

Double Standards

His comments were certainly unacceptable and backwards, especially in this day and age, maar…..(but) I can’t help but contrast the enraged reactions to his blatant sexism to what occurs when Dutch celebrities make racist comments.

Sexism in the Netherlands is wrong, but racism? Well… het was niet zo bedoeld/it wasn’t meant like that. I don’t recall a huge outrage when popular Dutch TV presenter Johan Derksen described a black politician Sylvana Simons as being as proud as an ape. That wasn’t racism, it was just a joke.

Or when the alleged singer and reality TV star Gordon made humiliating racist jokes to a Chinese candidate of the ironically named Holland’s Got Talent. It was fine, he was just cracking jokes, why is everyone so sensitive? You can’t even joke about peoples colour or heritage anymore. Wat een gezeik!

 

This week a Dutch teenager who apparently looks Moroccan claims that she was refused access to a bus due to the driver not wanting to allow Moroccans on board. The Police are currently investigating this. However, there wasn’t much in the way of sympathy for this girl on Dutch social media, quite the opposite. Immediately, lots of commentators denied that the incident took place, or that it was the full story. There was an almost total refusal to accept that such an incident could have taken place in lekker tolerant Amsterdam.

There’s a clear double standard in the Netherlands. Sexism and homophobia are quite rightly taken seriously and condemned, but anything to do with race is inevitably played down as being nothing more than Nieuwe Nederlanders whining for no reason or making false complaints. However, there are more important things to worry about such as why a show called ‘Gordon gaat trouwen/Gordon gets married‘ ends with him not going ahead with the wedding.

No ladies in short skirts were hurt during the writing of this post