The most effective weapon in a pimp's arsenal is his personality. Why is Snoop Dog considered a pimp-- blessed by the Bishop Don "Magic" Juan, an ex-pimp himself? He perfected the pimp mannerisms; he had game.



Ho's are never taken. They give themselves to a pimp. The process is called "choosing." A ho chooses her pimp, or the pimp needs to walk away. Only a chump gets mad at his ho because she wants to leave him, or the game-- a real pimp let's the ho go, after she gives up the dough.



In all relationships, the most reptilian, soulless partner will be the more dominant. Why? Because they don't care and the other person does. The pimp makes no compromise and for the pimp's respect, or affection, the ho must give up herself totally. It takes charm to achieve this effect-- a mix of dominance, style and psychological acumen. A pimp must learn a ho through and through, to know what buttons make her wet and what wet's her cheek with tears.

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Break a ho down



If you can not get a ho to choose you, you might have to find a woman, and break her down into a ho.



The process is a stripping away of the woman's ego, a cultivation of her dependency and need, until she is nothing but a ho, willing to sell herself to a pimp for affection and security.



Begin by letting the ho know, from the beginning, that you don't, and will likely never, love her. If she stays, she's got a weakness for you: pimps exploit all weakness.



The ho must be isolated from everyone who would speak ill of the pimp; the pimp must mold the ho's language, so force her to use YOUR words. Call her Philly and make her call herself YOUR philly. Have her call tricks Bo Bos. Create unique phrases, use them, and induce her to use them too. This is a process of programming the mind, introducing strings which will corrupt and mold the whole.



The ho should be taken away from her familiar life, shipped out to friend's houses in other states; taken to rich places and nice resturants and all the while she must be SHOWN she is inferior to the pimp and that if the pimp takes his hand away, the ho will have nothing. Take her somewhere and threaten to leave her if she disobeys a particularly nasty order, like licking the pimp's asshole. If she disobeys, let her go: pimps don't chase.



After the ho obeys enough of the pimps orders to know her place, enough of a routine is established, the ho needs to be broken further: subject her to psychological abuse. Fuck other girls in front of her, then force her to join in. Break down her ego. Make her cry at least once a day, then give her a little affection and sugar when she's subdued enough.



When she is so broken down, isolated and friendless, you may or may not introduce hard drugs. If your game is tight, drugs may not be necessary.



Finally, have her suck a friend's dick. When she's sucking dick, under the pimp's supervision, she is suffiently broken to be given official Ho status.



The rest is upkeep. Keep her broken. But keep in her need, above all else: needing your money, your security and most of all, your attention.

Those involved in prostitution activities refer to this sector of the underground economy as "The Game." Players, Pimps, and Macks are those at the top of the pimping game. To these men in power, it is a game in which they control and manipulate the actions of others subordinate to them. A "Player" or "Pimp" has a particular manner or style of playing the game. A pimp is "a man who procures clients for a prostitute" (Flowers, 1998 p.100). It should be mentioned here that by Flowers definition the majority of pimps are white. They are the owners of massage parlors, strip clubs, escorts services and brothels (Flowers, 1998). However, for the purposes of this research, I will refer to pimp in its street meaning of a man who works outside of the formal economy for the purposes of collecting monies from prostitute women belonging to his stable. In this context, although there has been one known white pimp in the U.S. called "Whitefolks" and one recent female pimp named "Big Lex ," pimps are by in large African American men (Owens & Shepard, 1998).

It's all about the game. Nothing in the game changes, but the name. It's all about getting that money. Some women have pimps that they give the money to, some are just out there on their own (Monica).

The pimping game requires strict adherence to the rules. The idea of a "game" parallels the formal economy in that one can be said to be in a game, e.g., he's in the real estate game. Players and pimps are also said to "have" game. To have game is to possess a certain amount of charisma and smooth talking, persuasive conversation toward women. The term "he got game" has been made popular in Spike Lee's movie "He got game" that opened in theaters in 1998. Spike Lee created a play on words, using the term "he got game" to mean basketball instead of its root urban meaning denoting black male charisma.

There are several rules that one must be willing to follow in order to be a successful pimp. The most paramount rule in the pimping game is, "the pimp must get paid" (Bromfield & Juan, 1994; Owens & Shepard, 1998; Slim, 1969). This means there can't be any "shame in your game" (Massi), one must require and, if necessary, demand the money. Second, any successful pimp will remember that the game is "sold and not told." This means that pimps are expected to sell it to a prospective prostitute that he wants to occupy his stable, without revealing his entire game plan. In order to do this, he has to develop "his game" or, "his rap." These consist of a series of persuasive conversations similar to poetic and rhymic scats that are philosophical in nature and ideological about life and making money. Examples include;

Keep on believing in me....and your next move will be your best move. Green for the money, gold for the honey. I'm in motion, just like the ocean. All a bitch gotta do is come on drink some of this love potion (Owens & Shepard, 1998).

Philosophically pimps believe all capitalistic pursuits are parallel to pimping. According to pimp philosophy, in life there are two types of people, pimps and ho's. It is up to the individual to choose which role to assume. A pimp says to a ho, "hmmm you look nice...you gonna make me some money"...and he puts her out there on the track the way an owner puts a horse out on a race track. When the ho has produced all she can for the pimp, she is discarded and the pimp finds himself a new ho to make him money. To pimps this is the basic recipe for all money making industries both legal and illegal (Milner & Milner, 1972; Owens & Shepard, 1998). In an example of this philosophy, Ice Tea, gangster rapper and former pimp, used the entertainment business to illustrate his point. "The producer says "hmmm you look nice...you gonna make me some money" and he dresses his ho up pretty and flashy and he puts him or her out there on the music track. When she or he is all used up and can no longer make him money, he moves on" (Owens & Shepard, 1998). With this philosophy in mind, a pimp believes one should either be the best ho they can be and get to a point where they can pimp themselves, or choose to be a pimp and pimp others.

The third and final ingredient for successful pimping is that a pimp must have a woman or women that want to see him on top. He is looking for dedication. He's looking for someone who wants to see her man in fine clothes and driving fine cars. His success or lack of success is a reflection on her. If her man is not looking his best, then she is not a very successful ho and this will make for an embarrassing impression. As a committed prostitute, she must work very hard to earn his respect, his love, and to keep him achieving the best in material possessions. He in return invites her into his social network along with the sense of security that it brings (Jarvinen, 1993 p.34).

I know about the game because I was [his] bottom bitch. I knew everything about hoeing, tricking or whatever. I was with [him] for eight years. He had women out here working their asses off. Wouldn't even ask him for money or nothing, not even 5 dollars, thinking that's making him respect them more (Massi).

The most well respected pimps are called "Macks." They are at the top of their game and employ many hardworking and successful prostitutes. Dominating the pimp scene are "players" who have an average stable of women, are well respected, and make a good living. Lowest in the hierarchy of pimping are what Johnson (1992) calls "popcorn" pimps. These pimps may have one or possibly two prostitutes on the street. They are seen as least successful in the game, and unlike more successful pimps, they may do drugs and allow their women to do drugs. In this study, six of the women previously had pimps ranging from popcorn pimps to players.

A pimp must be skilled at playing on a woman's vulnerabilities. In fact, he assesses her psychological state to determine if she is a good candidate for exploitation (Owens & Shepard, 1998). The true talents of a pimp however, are in his ability to keep his women happy, command money, and portray a deep mysterious and somewhat mean demeanor about him, one that conveys the message not to cross him. He is then said to be "cold-blooded," able to turn off any warm feelings and loving affection in exchange for certain emotional and physical cruelty. Two famous and successful pimps, Iceberg Slim and Ice Tea were said to be so cold blooded they called themselves "Ice" to let everyone know their capacity for heartlessness.

He would just snap. Like his whole expression would change. One day he came to my motel room to beat my ass. He came over just to beat my ass. And made it clear that he came over to beat on me. He said he had some extra time on his hands, that he didn't have anything to do, so he wanted me to know that he knew I was thinking about doing something stupid. And I was too. I was thinking about leaving him again. The last time I left him, I ended up in Cleveland....He beat me until I blacked out....But he was like that. He could be so much fun one time, silly and playing around and the next minute, he could be something else, somebody you don't want to fuck with (Massi).

A pimp's approach is never to cow down to his woman at any time. He cannot let love cloud his judgments concerning business. If he lets these weaknesses show, he will be left vulnerable and runs the risk of being less successful. Although pimps appear to be in control, in a sense, every pimp becomes a whore to his prostitutes. The pimp rule is "purse first, ass last" (Massi). He may treat his ho's in loving ways in return for the amount of money he requested she bring him. She must pay for his love with her sheer tenacity to work and bring him the money. In this arrangement, he gets their money, their loyalty, and their love. She must in turn request little emotionally and financially. Because of his generosity, he gives her what he thinks she needs.

Pimps are educated in the inner city and schooled on the pimping business by a mentor or series of mentors (Slim, 1969). They understand the meaning of business over personal ventures, marketing a product, and investing in your product first, so your product can return profits. Thus, there is a honeymoon period or courting time between pimps and prostitutes. This is the time in which the pimp runs his game. This may last one day or several months.

As alluded to earlier, in the pimping game, white girls are a more marketable product. All of the women in the study who had pimps were white. Two reasons for this exist. First, white girls remain the symbol of beauty in the United States. Second, white girls are believed to instigate fewer problems with the police. To a pimp, the police are more apt to arrest black women than white women (Owens & Shepard, 1998). This may have some basis in fact, given that more black women are arrested for prostitution and prostitution related charges than white women (Flowers, 1987). In turn, pimps believed that black women engage in more fights with dates, resist arrest more, and become belligerent more than do white women (Owens & Shepard, 1998).

Because pimps respect free enterprise and competition, women are free to "choose up" whenever they are dissatisfied with their current pimp.

You choose up. And if you're with a pimp and you want to go with another pimp, you have to put the money in the other pimp's hand and let your man know, you know, you're leaving and going with somebody else ....I've been with three (Elsie).

Outside pimps are free to attempt to seduce a woman away from her current pimp and into his stable for his financial gain. He may do this without retaliation from the current pimp, as the street rule is "Bros before Ho's" (Massi). With this ever present threat to his livelihood, it is in the pimp's best interest to keep his women happy. In the event that she is approached by another pimp, she is not to respond to his strategies. She is not to make eye contact with another pimp. If she does, then she is "out of pockets" a term referring to women who flirt with the other pimp, and is subject to being "broke," meaning physically reprimanded. On the other hand, the enticing pimp may choose to "break her" and take all her money. He is not subject to reprimand. Rules may vary in situations where a woman is prohibited from making eye contact with a pimp, to situations in which she is not allowed to make eye contact with any African American male.

I mean most of the time, if they're a true pimp, they're not gonna play like that. You know, they'll harass you and you mainly just turn away and look in the other direction or whatever, and try not to come in contact with them, because if you do, then they do what you call "break you", they take your money....He's allowed to harass you as much as he wants. But if I don't talk back to him, them I'm cool. But if I'm "out of pockets" that means you're doing something that you aint suppose to be doing. You know some pimps will beat you or you go through a lot of stuff....They're in control. You do what they say (Sonya).

A pimp's main job is to know his prostitutes inside and out, without letting them completely know him. "A pimp is the loneliest bastard on earth. He's gotta know his whores. He can't let them know him. He's gotta be God all the way" (Slim, 1969 p.3). These fundamental rules have been handed down from older pimps to younger pimps. The names change, but the rules remain the same (Bloomfield & Juan, 1994; Milner & Milner, 1972; Owens & Shepard, 1998; Slim, 1969). For those who occupy the position of street prostitute, a life of prostitution is much more than just selling sex.