PublicSpectacle.org /
Our Projects / 99 Voices Project /
The production of
Public Spectacle’s song “99 Ways To Please a Man” is currently underway, in
partnership with the DC-based Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project. This
tool will present as a rap video that consists of a dialogue between young
women that characterizes what IPV can look like, sound like, and feel like to
be in. The song has been performed in a variety of settings, conferences and
assemblies to illustrate how cultural norms about gender can systematically
attack the self-esteem of women, leaving them more vulnerable to experiencing
violence within intimate relationships.
99 Ways
99 ways to please a man
i've got 99 ways to please a man
a million fish out in this sea
i've got to keep him wanting me
i'll need 99 ways to please my man
with highlights streaking through my hair
got a Brazilian wax down there
--and painted fingers match my toes
still wish i had a smaller nose
but i've got 99 ways to please a man
99 ways to please a man
reading ways to boost our sex
i hope i'm better than his ex
she had 99 ways to please a man
were her tricks the same as mine?
--we've all bought in to this design
we got 99 ways to please a man
99 ways to please a man
i spend a paycheck on my clothes
all my credit cards are froze
--lord knows it's hard for me to lease
and keep this plan
i'm buying 99 ways to please a man
99 ways to please a man
but if i'm showing too much skin
he says i'm flirting with his friends
--jealous- possessive, it depends: i defend my plan
using my 99 ways to please a man
--he's got to keep you in his sight
it's cuz i look so good tonight
i've got 99 ways to please a man
--you know they're fraught with contradiction
he's aroused, but with suspicion
and this deal that Cosmo's pitchin'
-- i think it's a scam
selling me 99 ways to please a man
--cuz you can't go out too much sexy
he says it's only to protect me
from my 99 ways to please a man
--we've got 99 ways to please a man
we got 99 ways to keep our minds imprisoned
--we got 99 ways to hate the bodies we've been given
we got 99 ways to compete with other women
--second-guessing how we're livin'
i think it's a sham
--brought up with 99 ways to please a man
it began with soft seductions (repeat 5X)
now i'm scared of rage erupting, and it's hard
for me to function
--he keeps the upper hand
and i keep 99 ways to please a man
--99 ways to please a man
i've got so many ways to please
--but they all keep you on your knees
if i'm too sexy i'm a skeeze
--these virgin-whore dichotomies got you caught in a
jam!
trying with 99 ways to please a man
now i've got nowhere to confide
he says he's sorry and he cried
--but still he hit you right upside with an open hand
what of 99 ways to please a man?
--well, i would leave if i were you- (repeat 5X)
yeah, that's just what i tried to do and now my arms
are black and blue from tryin to take a stand
--he's got 99 ways to keep you- Damn!
He says he loves me more than life
and he can't wait til i'm his wife
--too bad he held you with a knife and unleashed
his plan
i'll need 99 ways to leave this man
--the way he treats you, it ain't right
you know it's not that black and white
--but it was more than just one fight
i've got to get home safe tonight
i need 99 ways to leave this man
don't give me 99 ways to please a man
give me 99 ways to take a stand
--give me 99 ways to express who i am
give me 99 ways to get out of this jam
--give me 99 ways to write off this scam
give me 99 ways to fight off this man
--you know i'm doing all i can
but you have gotta understand
--i need 99 ways to leave this man
©Jaime Rothbard/Public Spectacle
