Should we be surprised that suburban teens are tricking for mall money when music and videos have made pimping such a cool lifestyle? Absolutely! We should be dumbfounded.

While many pundits and activists blame the money grubbers at MTV and BET, I’m amazed at the lack of explanation linking the glorification of pimping to the surprising rise in prostitution. A recent article on MSNBC detailed the increase in girls who “aren’t forced into prostitution but instead appear to sell themselves for thrills, or money, or both.”

That same article went on to quote from Rapper Jay-Z’s hit song “Big Pimpin’.” The song includes the lyrics, “I thug ‘em, f–k ‘em, love ‘em, leave ‘em/Cause I don’t f–kin’ need ‘em/Take em out the hood, keep ‘em lookin’ good/But I don’t f–kin’ feed ‘em.” Of course that’s what he does. They’re hoes. That’s what pimps do to hoes. And that’s exactly why we should be surprised. These articles are implying a connection between “pimp music” and prostitution booms, but they are not explaining how one begot the other.

While such songs clearly glorify pimping, they also just as plainly denigrate hoes to a level beneath dirt. So, how can music that makes pimping seem cool create a rise in the very people destroyed by pimps? Surely, the activists and columnists aren’t suggesting that teenage girls are becoming prostitutes because they’re excited by the possibility of being forced to screw horny old men for 200 bucks, 150 of which they’ll pass on to their abusive pimps. Surely, the only means of excitement available in the suburbs isn’t hoeing. Surely, there aren’t tons of young girls pining to be beat up and infected with deadly STDs.

Of course not. While the idea of music’s glorification of pimping makes sense at first glance, particularly when such music is degrading to the utmost, the theory is misplaced and overly simplistic. If the blame must be placed on the images kids devour daily while staring blankly at music videos, put that blame on the idolization of money and the idea that women’s only value is a sexual one. (Dollar, dollar bill, y’all).

That’s the reason Missy goes to the mall to hang with her friends and eat a pretzel, but winds up doing three guys at a local motel for $250 she can spend at the local Wet Seal. It’s all about the Benjamins and feeling wanted. Pimps can prey at malls because they know teen girls want to feel valued. And they also want clothes, purses, and everything else their parents’ credit cards can only buy so much of. We’re a society of consumers. We always want to consume more. And it doesn’t help that music videos and commercials between the videos encourage such expensive behavior.

So, until we can convince each teenage girl that she’s valued for something other than her body and the expensive regalia she wraps it in, we’ll continue to see an increase in teen prostitution. America needs to tell its daughters that while Snoop don’t love them hoes, their parents certainly do. And that’s all that matters.