Noise du Jour: “Bitch, I Stole Your Purse” By Wendy Ho

At first glance, listeners may be tempted to dismiss Wendy Ho. Indeed, her trailer trash sensibilities and absurd, clown-like afro seem like reasons enough to simply stop listening and go do something more worthwhile, like file your taxes or make a sandwich, however this would be a mistake. Certainly her choice in hairstyle is unfortunate, but to focus on her follicular shortcomings would be ignoring the power and depth of her verse, to overlook her natural, lyrical talent.

Take “Bitch, I Stole Your Purse”, the first single from her new album. Here we have an anthem, a declaration, from a woman seeking to claim her territory, to draw a boundary between herself and her rivals. It can be argued that, in many ways, the stealing of a purse is a metaphor for superseding another’s femininity. This is encapsulated by the lines:

I own your purse, it reminds me of a cunt.
Empty it out like that time of the month.

Clearly Ho is saying that she not just taken another woman’s purse, but that she has absconded with her reproductive rights as well; by emptying her purse —read: womb — she has cut down a potential rival. By the time Ho relates to us that she has also carried on an affair with her rival’s mate there can be no doubt left to the song’s underlying theme. It is in this theme that “Bitch, I Stole Your Purse” proves itself to be more than just a well crafted song and instead shows itself to be a stunningly realized, neo-postmodern-sex-positive-anarcha-feminist™ manifesto in the form of a modern day Eddic poem, detailing the challenges faced by today’s white, urban — and possibly meth-addicted — women. Truly it is the work of a fearless artists, willing to present herself and her world to her audience with unflinching candor. I for one applaud her.

Wendy Ho- Bi$%h, I Stole Yo’ Purse [YouTube] : Ectochat : Thanks, Ry-Tron!