I have never felt bothered by Eminem. He, writer of blatantly homophobic and sexist and needlessly violent lyrics, is untouchable. I am a woman, and I am a teacher, and I have spent months leading an after-school writing workshop that promotes creative expression in the community’s disadvantaged youth, and yet I adore Eminem. I channel his power. I do not think, nor have I ever, that I am uncivilized or uneducated or even capable of turning a blind eye to something that is blatantly wrong, and yet I am unapologetic about my feelings here.

I know everything you argue about him. I just really, also, like his music.