Gender Roles In Hey Mama, By Nicki Minaj

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The song “Hey Mama” written by David Guetta and sung by Nicki Minaj, has a happy electro-house beat that makes people want to dance and sing along. What a person first sees when watching the music video is DJ Guetta, in the desert with some other people walking towards a box. As soon as he opens this box, Nicki Minaj, the rapper, starts singing. The lyrics Minaj sings are surprisingly sexist and can be off putting to the audience. David Guetta’s and Nicki Minaj’s song “Hey Mama” harks back to the time of socially established gender roles, gender exploitation, and gender inequality, which today’s society has been trying to combat.
In David Guetta’s and Nicki Minaj’s song, the old idea of established gender roles is evident despite being a song written in 2015. The lyrics, entirely sung by Nicki Minaj, are written by Guetta, fail to spread a positive message to the younger generation. This song sends a message that is close minded and chauvinist. The idea that …show more content…

Minaj is idolized among the teenage demographic and she sends them a negative message that goes against the fight for gender equality by singing this song. In 2016 we are still a long way from completely eliminating gender inequality. However there are positive role models like Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teen who is an activist for female education, “she’s given millions of girls . . . the opportunity to obtain an education and empower a future greater than caring for a household.” (Schemmer). With the help of activists like Malala and society slowly progressing, little steps are being made, and one day, gender equality will be a reality for everyone. Artists have the great opportunity to be heard by huge masses to educate and spread positive messages to improve our society, especially when the society is in an everyday fight to reach a milestone as the one of gender

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