What is PBH? Part 2
This is part two of a series detailing what is Prose Before Hos (see Alec’s entry for his conception):
The term “Prose Before Hos” embodies the post-modern concept that the website strives for. The wordplay upon the fraternal phrase “Bros Before Hos” mocks sound-bite culture, Modern and traditional social values and movements, and even our own pretension.
The social revolutions that occurred in the 60s, in particular the sexual revolution, were about rejecting all the values that came before and reevaluating them in a Modern way. Women questioned everything from their role in the workplace to their bras, and redefined their gender roles to be more on parity with men. As we begin the 21st century, we can see the effects of this redefinition. A working woman is the norm. Women delay marriage until later and have fewer children. More women attend college then men. A woman in power is not at all unusual.
But as good as these changes have been, new questions arise. What is the new role of a man? How should children be raised? What are all the ramifications of equality, and where do legitimate biological differences exist? To answer these questions, we must take the philosophy of the Modernists and use it against itself, we must become postmodern. An honest look at the values of our society requires no holding back, nothing must be considered sacred.
The sharpest tool for rendering the sacred ordinary is humor and wit. The image of the superhero spanking the woman attacks both traditional and Modern sensibilities. It mocks the idea that a woman could be treated as a petulant child while also mocking the idea that these images are verboten. While the traditional interpretation may be that the superhero represents all men and the woman all women, in a postmodern world couldn’t the superhero represent the abstract ideal of the written word, and the woman represent all mankind?
It is the ironic re-appropriation of symbols that fuels Prose Before Hos, and as the liberal children of liberal children of the 60s it is the liberal symbols of our youth that we must question most urgently in order to find truth.
