Muting, Mortification, and Motherhood
83
explains, male writing is considered (not ^problematically) to be “by nature
procreative, while female writing is somehow by nature infanticidal,” then
Eminem’s song performs a male version of abortion on himself and his mother
through his artistic voice and against hers. As long as the rapper keeps rapping,
as long as he apologizes, as long as he preempts her speech, he prevents her
from apostrophizing and animating him. By verbally killing himself, he takes
away her reproductive rights, rhetorically undoing his birth, negating her
decision to keep her baby, and revoking the freedom of choice given her by Roe
v. Wade. And, in conclusion—or, I hope, as a point of genesis for further
discussion—we thus see how one of the most controversial and antagonistic
figures in popular culture manages to construct, however objectionably, through
his rap an intersection of canonical poetics, questions of intentionality and free
speech, the acute political issue of abortion.
Cornell University
Lynne Stahl
Notes
1 While I am leery o f plunging too deeply into biographical criticism, and I certainly have
no wish to psychoanalyze Marshall Mathers, Eminem’s frequent allusions to real people
and events (or at least his “creation” o f poetic characters who share names and traits o f
actual figures in his life, e.g. his estranged wife, Kim, and his daughter, Hailie) seem to
validate and even invite a biographical approach to some degree, and in fact his brand o f
poetic verisimilitude serves to make his rap all the more potent by playing on the
listener’s uncertainty. Morally questionable though it may be, this blurring o f the
distinction between art and reality is a powerfully effective technique for painting a vivid
image that involves and discomfits the listener. Throughout this essay, I refer to “the
rapper” as I would “the speaker” o f a poem— an entity distinct from Eminem the person.
2 On The Slim Shady LP, Eminem’s 1999 major-label debut album, the songs “Brain
Damage” and “My Name Is” both refer to the rapper’s mother in a derogatory manner,
imputing drug use and child abuse to her.
Works Cited
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“Eminem.” Encyclopcedia Britannica Online. 2009. Web 03 Dec. 2009.
“Eminem's Mom Ready To ‘Set The Record Straight.’” Market Wire. 2000. Web. 1 Dec,
2009.
Johnson, Barbara. “Apostrophe, Animation, and Abortion.” Diacritics 16 (1986): 28-47.
Print.
Mathers, Marshall “Eminem”. “Cleaning Out My Closet.” The Eminem Show. Eminem.
Interscope Records, 2002. CD.
Moss, Corey. “Eminem's Mom Nets Measly $1,600 From Lawsuits Against Her Son.”
MTV Networks, 8 Aug. 2001. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). FindLaw: Cases and Codes. Reuters. Web. 2 Dec.
2009.