美国国家公共电台 NPR--Kendrick Lamar's new song 'Auntie Diaries' divides the LGBTQ+ community

Kendrick Lamar's new song 'Auntie Diaries' divides the LGBTQ+ community

Transcript¹

After five years, Kendrick Lamar released his latest album Mr. Morale² & the Big Steppers last week. One of its tracks immediately proved divisive among LGBTQ+ people.

"Auntie Diaries" features Lamar rapping in the first person about how he learned to embrace his family members' gender³ transitions. To critics, the problems begin with the first line of the first verse: "My auntie is a man now."

" 'Auntie Diaries' is really about Kendrick's relationship with — not actually his auntie — but really his uncle," said Raquel Willis, an author, activist⁴ and former executive editor of Out magazine.

Speaking to Morning Edition co-host Rachel Martin, Willis said she understood Lamar's intention of "reckoning with both homophobia and transphobia, particularly within the Black community," but found his execution confusing.

In the song, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper repeatedly says a slur⁵ commonly wielded⁶ against queer people. He also mixes up his relatives' pronouns, and he "deadnames" them — using names that they no longer use.

He does the same to Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist, reality TV star, and erstwhile candidate for governor in California.

"That felt jarring," Willis said. "And I think maybe for a lot of other trans people it felt that way, because these are actual, real experiences we've had with family members who refuse to respect us and our identities, or have taken a long time to, kind of, evolve."

"I said those f-bombs, I ain't know any better," Kendrick Lamar raps. "Mistakenly, I ain't think that you'd know any different."

The song is in keeping with the confessional style Lamar cultivates on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The album art depicts⁸ him crowned with thorns, and he writes openly about struggles with a messiah complex and working it all out in therapy and in art.

The song culminates⁹ with Lamar standing¹⁰ up to a bigoted¹¹ minister, asking, "Mr. Preacherman, should we love thy neighbor? The laws of the land or the heart, what's greater?"

Some on social media have praised "Auntie Diaries" for using real vernacular¹² to depict⁷ personal growth, but Willis says greater artistic¹³ rewards lie beyond a cisgender man's journey to acceptance.

"I would be more impressed for him to talk about the epidemic¹⁴ of violence in which it's largely Black, cisgender men, killing¹⁵ Black and brown trans women, or talking about the numerous bills, moving around the country, to restrict our rights," she said. "We've got to move beyond this getting-the-names-right, getting-the-pronouns-right conversation."

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The LGBTQ rights group Freedom For All says hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have gone before state legislatures in 2022.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

6 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

7 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

8 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

9 culminates   

v.达到极点( culminate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Each civilization is born, it culminates, and it decay. 各种文明都要历经诞生，鼎盛和衰落。 来自《用法词典》
• The tower culminates in a 40-foot spire. 这塔的顶端是一个40英尺高的塔尖。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

12 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

13 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

14 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。