The Slave, the Woman, and the Ego · Part 2 of 5
The Slave, the Woman, and the Ego (Part 2): Rape and Human Trafficking — Two Expressions of the Same Cultural Sickness
An examination of coercion, power, misogyny, colonialism and the cultural conditions that can normalize exploitation.
By Haley Rodeles
“A pimp is happy when his whores giggle. He knows they are still asleep. All whores have one thing in common, just like the chums humpin’ for the white boss: It thrills them when the pimp makes mistakes. They watch and wait for his downfall. A pimp is the loneliest bastard on earth. He’s got to know his whores, he can’t let them know him. He has got to be God all the way.”
— Iceberg Slim
Summer 2026 has much of the internet talking about consent because of a viral voice note shared on TikTok by content creator @kcuity8 on June 24, 2026. This voice note has sparked debate over whether or not this voice note shared by @kcuity8 is a healthy example of consent or not.
Then on July 8, 2026, on an internet show called Second Date Update, 15 minutes into the episode Corey & Ashley (Voice Note No No), Ashley shared an eerily similar voice note sent to her by Cory—containing identical key words and flow of talking points to the hot TikTopic voice note posted by @kcuity8—after their first date.
Both men are lying to these women; they are reciting a script of coercion reused and recycled by misogynistic men. These men use words like “romantic” and “intimacy” to trick a little girl looking for love, like the big bad wolf, into coming closer so he can consume her.
Quite frankly, a man ought to be able to meet his needs without lying to a woman. It is sufficient to say that across every platform, no matter if they are defending or condemning these voice notes, everyone claims that they feel uncomfortable when they hear these men speaking.
Misogynistic men have let their Ego decide that women as whole human beings are not worth more than a man’s most selfish desires, and this is why human trafficking exists.
Slavery is about power and domination.
In the book The Right to Say No. Marital Rape and Law Reform in Canada, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi (2017), Chapter 3, Part III it says, “The Definition of what constitutes [as marital rape] criminalisation also appears to differ between reports and databases” (p. 53).
However, why does rape need an alternative definition in marriage?
The criminalisation of rape is important, but as Francesca Gottardi’s review of this book in Human Rights Quarterly Vol. 41, No. 2 (2019) reminds us, “there would be not much use in criminalising a conduct if it were not enforceable through the community” (p. 542).
So, what does this have to do with human trafficking?
Well, what we know about rape is that it is a display of power and lust. In other words; it is the Ego that wants to conquer what it has deemed as dominatable.
The European colonizer brought the word for and concept of rape to native America, spreading the ideas of colorism and slavery along with them. In his video We Had No Word for Rape: Indigenous History, Colonial Sexual Violence & the MMIP / MMIW Crisis (2026), Thosh Collins reminds us all that General William Harney famously reported how Native Americans never raped their women, and that his white soldiers should emulate such honor and dignity.
America has a cultural sickness that allows its citizens to believe they deserve to abuse power over those deemed as lesser.
Every American must start to care—deeply and truly—about the humans being trafficked, rather than continuing to willingly or unknowingly reap the benefits of slavery that is happening all around us.
Entitlement of the Ego must end.
God bless America.
References
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Brooke, & Jeffery (Hosts). (2026, July 8). Second Date Update: Corey & Ashley (voice note no no) | brooke & jeffrey in The morning | second date. [Audio podcast episode] Premiere Networks Inc.
https://www.brookeandjeffrey.com/featured/second-date-bjtm/content/2026-07-08-second-date-update-corey-ashley-voice-note-no-no/ -
Collins, T. (2026, May 5). We Had No Word for Rape: Indigenous History, Colonial Sexual Violence & the MMIP / MMIW Crisis YouTube.
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Gottardi, F. (2019). [Review of The Right to Say No. Marital Rape and Law Reform in Canada, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, by M. Randall, J. Koshan, & P. Nyaundi]. Human Rights Quarterly, 41(2), 540–547.
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.library.unlv.edu/stable/26795110 -
Life With Melonie (2026, July 22). Women 80+ Share The Raw Truth About Their Marriages YouTube.
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Mardorossian, C. M. (2002). Toward a New Feminist Theory of Rape. University of Chicago Press Journals. [Department of English State University of New York at Buffalo].
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/337938 -
The Unpunishable Woman. (2026, July 14). Marriage Doesn’t Change What Unwanted Sex Is. It Just Changes What We’re Allowed To Call It YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3OWhS9nNRU -
U.S. National Park Service. (2022, July 15). Harney re-examined part II: Harney’s treatment of Native Americans. Harney Re-Examined: A New Look at a Forgotten Figure.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/harney-re-examined-part-ii-harney-s-treatment-of-native-americans.htm