Hi everyone, I hope this is allowed. I would like to share the translated lyrics of a song from two french male rappers (called Bigflo et Oli) who sang about a prostitute in an empathetic and beautiful way. The song itself is very sad, and you can listen to it here. I do recommend to listen to it as you read the lyrics, I find the delivery to be the best part of the song ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wGB2Pyrqkc&ab_channel=BigfloetoliVEVO

The title is "Salope !" (which means "Slut !" ) and for this reason I put it off for a very long time thinking it would be misogynistic. There might still be some issues with the song of course, but I hope no one minds if I share it here.

The lyrics are very poetic and some of it will be lost in translation. I tried my best.

When the moon appears, you might see her in town. She has two names, one for life, the other for the night. She's given up on her studies, time was harsh on her. Between the coffee shop and the pharmacy, she has her habits. The habit to be in the cold, legs bare. Standing straight in the dark, you'd confuse her for a lamp post. Fighting against time, she dances with her shadow; way too young to be doing the oldest job in the world.

Her perfume mixed with the smell of surrounding gasoline, she lets herself believe she will be able to leave someday. She's left her dreams bruised a couple streets away. Some do it by choice : she's never had any. When she goes home, she closes her eyes in front of the elevator's mirror. At night, all cats are grey, and all her clients are lonely. They take bits of her whenever they close the door, and marks appear when the caresses become too rough.

She's funny and smart, however, the men who meet her are not here to get to know her. Under the Big Dipper, she does everything to please them. She doubts, and when her makeup runs, she blames the rain. Of course she'd love to be elswhere, leave this place; but she's been taken hostage by the coffee shop and the pharmacy. Cornered, as each night is already tomorrow ; she has so many regrets in her small handbag.

Seasons pass, one gets used to anxieties. She thinks "could be worse" when looking at the homeless man next street. Fates look alike in the perimeter; she paces - she stayed here but travalled thousands of kilometers. Often, her prince charming disappears like a mirage. They don't remember her name, she wants to forget their faces. Sacrifices for a better future, if only the moon could talk, it would have so much to say.

She has a son, her bit of soul, her moment of calm, the star that guides her in the dark night. She meets him at dawn after the horror, she comforts herself in his smell, his heart and his body. He doesn't know yet about her street corner, he gives her the love they don't give her at night. She watches him sleep, and suddenly becomes desperate : how to tell him where his father has went ?

One day she will leave, she will take him away. She will pack a suitcase, one morning, she can't wait. She will flee from the claws of Paris' ring road, she will have a house, a dog, a castle, a husband. She told herself none of it will last, a bad time that will pass, she believes in miracles. She's almost forgotten she must go back tonight, between the coffee shop and the pharmacy.

Her mother thinks she's been hired as a cabaret dancer, but her scene is two meters squared. She was the most beautiful back in her home country. She sends her news, well-written lies. She pretends all is well, but when she is about to hang up, it burns her to tell her to come back and get her. But she knows that they're here, the wolves watching over her; she'd hate for them to hurt her only marvel.

As for us, we were leaving the club, in a car, we were going so fast. Smoke, music, just us friends, we wanted to laugh. We didn't want to go home, and some of us were too drunk. We didn't know where to go, when suddenly we saw her. And so we slowed down, when we passed the pharmacy, right next to the coffee shop. How fucking stupid can you be, when you're alongside friends. We rolled down the window, we yelled "Slut!"

The comments are all very positive from both men and women. Though most people are focused on the social stigma against prostitutes and not against prostitution itself (but purchasing sex is already illegal in France so that might be why), people are mostly talking about how most prostitutes did not choose their path and don't have other options, and deserve more empathy.

I wonder what you all think ? Of course, the song is about them having been misogynistic at some point, whether the car episode was real or an image for the song, but I think the end is meaningful as it shows a behaviour that many men still find acceptable and funny (so many videos on youtube about men going to amsterdam just to mock prostitutes... and they have millions of views) and superposes it to how quick women who are forced into prostitution are dehumanised and belittled despite having a story of their own to tell. That's my perspective, and I find the last verse very important as it shows how cruel the accepted male behaviour is.