By: Dylan Kemp
A few weeks ago, T.I. had people up in arms after he revealed in a podcast interview that he goes with his 18-year-old daughter to the gynecologist to verify whether she is still a virgin. This might be the cause of a new bill that was proposed in New York this past week.
New York state senator Roxanne Persaud (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau) recently introduced new legislation that would prevent physicians from performing “virginity examinations.”
The bill argues these examinations are abusive and can have detrimental effects. The proposed bill states that “These examinations are not only a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, but in cases of rape, can cause additional pain and mimic the original act of sexual violence, leading to re-experience, re-traumatization and re-victimization.”
In response to T.I.’s statements, Assemblywoman Solages stated in an interview with the New York Times that “It’s misogynistic, it’s appalling… I was horrified to see this was happening. If a celebrity can impose his power to ensure his 18-year-old daughter gets checked, imagine what can be done in households across New York state?”
Recently, T.I. sat down on Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Red Table Talk to discuss his statements.
“Firstly, I came to clear up any misconceptions that have been surrounding how we interact and parent and what is appropriate and inappropriate,” T.I. began. “I think all of this surrounds a conversation that I was having in a very joking manner when asked how do I deal with parenting in this day and age. And so I just began to—you know, from a place of truth, I began to embellish and exaggerate. And I think that a lot of people kind of like, took it extremely literal. Because if you put any of my reputation by like who I am as a father and who I’ve been, I honestly thought people knew me better than that.”
