A pimp is a man who controls prostitutes and arranges clients for them, in turn taking a portion of the profits. But the identity of the pimp goes far beyond the job description. A pimp is an all-encompassing identity. Characterized by stylish, flamboyant outfits and over-the-top personalities, most pimps are hard to miss. Their outfits consist of loud, extravagant, and highly feminized suits that could easily be associated with queer. However, the masculinity of these men are never in contention.
Masculinity is one of the main themes in the black noir genre. In the books, white males are automatically perceived to be masculine men. It is, however, the black male characters that are forced to prove their masculinity by their outwardly actions. In If He Hollers, Let Him Go, Bob struggles to find his manhood. All he wants is to be a man. To prove to himself and others that he is a man’s man, Bob does his best to dominate women, most importantly, white women. Additionally, the black man could not show any sign of weakness. In fact, Bob works in overtime to make sure all of his masculinity is on display and is not hesitant to pick a fight or vocally threaten others. However, the pimp character introduces a whole different type of manly men. In our latest book, Trick Baby, the author, Iceberg Slim, is a pimp. In all his pictures he is adorned in the feminized suit. Yet, even despite this “unmanly” expression, the masculinity of Iceberg Slim and other pimps like him is never doubted because of their extreme control over women. In a sense, pimps have an ownership of the women they manage. This is the type of domination that Bob strived for. Especially in the black community, the figure of the pimp has been revered. This is appropriate because of the ongoing process of proving that the black men are manly enough. The pimp would be the ultimate example because of the control that the black man has in the lives of their women not only their occupational opportunities but ultimately the majority of their lives, by taking profits and subjecting the women to whatever they discern to be acceptable.
Despite the feminine outward expression, Pimps maintained control over women that many black men desired, knowing that it was the valid proof that they needed to show they were manly enough.