Watch: Is this 'feminist' Honey Singh spoof making fun of Yo Yo or yo women?
The video takes two hot topics and mashes them together without adding any actual humour.
Yo Yo Honey Singh is a phenomenon that's not easy for everyone to understand – the Punjabi artist's songs are catchy and ubiquitous, making him one of the most recognisable names in the industry. But, by now it’s also no secret his lyrics can be quite demeaning about women (to put it mildly). In 2013, there was even a case filed against him for his derogatory lyrics, which was later dismissed by a high court because the rapper claimed he had not written, sung or uploaded the song in question (Balatkaari, rape).
Which leaves him open to a lot of criticism and, as you might expect, satire. Earlier this year, a 20-year-old woman student made a Yo Yo parody that went viral. Now SnG comedy has a parody that tries to imagine a different kind of Yo Yo.
The SnG parody picks up things like PMS (oh no, it’s not a joke, he reminds us), making sandwiches for men, wearing short skirts, and so on. He starts off with, “I don’t have any right to judge you by the colour of your skin”, goes on to “you so sexy, but you know, in an empowering way”, and then says, “even if you are a friend friend I will hold open the door” (huh? thanks?).
Really, I’m not sure what they were trying to do with this video. What was funny about it? Honey Singh might not make me angry anymore (what’s the point of getting annoyed?), but this didn’t make me laugh either. It combined two red-hot topics, but could have done much, much more with them. The parody completely lacks conviction. And yes, spoofs should have conviction. At the very least, they should not leave people wondering whom you’re making fun of — Yo Yo, or yo women.
At the end of it all, I find myself thinking, “okay so do they want a cookie for bringing this up?” No, let’s not give SnG that cookie. If they were trying to be funny, bro, big fail. If you’re trying to please the women, well, thanks for your affirmation that small clothes don’t make me a slut and that I’m awesome because I lift weights, because, hey, I really needed it. “Feminists” have low self-esteem too *sniff*.
I’ll admit though, one thing did make me laugh. The Hodor bit — the one part that had nothing whatsoever to do with “feminists”. Maybe do a Game of Thrones spoof next time?
