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How does rap music influence the youth today
How does rap music influence the youth today
Effect of raps on youth
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unending and unequal struggle for power, others view them as complementary. The Hip-hop world tilts towards the second assumption. However, the complementary role being played by the two is being benefited by men where the women are portrayed as dangerous objects of desires.” (85) Instead of using feminism to work towards equality, women, instead, are being objectified. Rap songs have included messages of sexism, injustice and equal rights, pointing out the issues in the music and hip-hop industry. Putting these issues in songs makes it more likely the issue will be recognized. One issue that has been noticed repeatedly in the music industry is women being portrayed as sex symbols. Again, being a sex symbol could be empowering to women, but
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black women. As hip hop music continues to become more popular, the sexist messages presented in lyrics and music videos are becoming more common to the everyday public, including young black girls developing a self-image. Instead of these girls being exposed to healthy, positive role models who encourage individuality and that there is more to a woman than her body they are given hip hop video models whose only purpose is to look sensual on screen. The strong women that do exist in the hip hop genre are pushed to sexualize themselves or their lyrics to sell records or stay relatively unknown. Although Perry’s arguments are logical, I believe that she is creating a slippery slope of logic. A genre of music cannot destroy the self-image of black women that has existed for generations.
When looking at the landscape of Hip-Hop among African Americans, from the spawn of gangsta rap in the mid 1980s to current day, masculinity and an idea of hardness is central to their image and performance. Stereotypical to Black masculinity, the idea of a strong Black male - one who keeps it real, and is defiant to the point of violence - is prevalent in the genre. This resistant, or even compensatory masculinity, encompasses: the hyper masculinity rife in the Western world, misogyny, and homophobia, all noticeable in their lyrics, which is in part a result of their containment within the Black community. The link of masculinity and rap music was established due to this containment, early innovators remaking public spaces in their segregated neighbourhoods. A notion of authentic masculinity arose from the resistant nature of the genre, but the move to the mainstream in the 90s created a contradiction to their very image - resistance. Ultimately, this in part led to the construction of the masculinity defined earlier, one that prides itself on its authenticity. I’ll be exploring how gender is constructed and performed in Hip Hop, beginning with a historical framework, with the caveat of showing that differing masculine identities in the genre, including artists
In the article “ From Fly to Bitches and Hoes” by Joan Morgan, she often speaks about the positive and negative ideas associated with hip-hop music. Black men display their manhood with full on violence, crime, hidden guilt, and secret escapes through drugs and alcohol. Joan Morgan’s article views the root causes of the advantage of misogyny in rap music lyrics. In the beginning of the incitement her desires shift to focus on from rap culture condemnation to a deeper analysis of the root causes. She shows the hidden causes of unpleasant sexism in rap music and argues that we need to look deeper into understanding misogyny. I agree with Joan Morgan with the stance that black men show their emotions in a different way that is seen a different perspective.
... it brought in sultry rhythms and made some adults worried about over-sexualizing music. However, today it is very common to hear something sexual in a song or verse. In today’s music industry, many women are just as successful as the men.
In conclusion, these theorists who explore hip hop all have generalized ideas of what hip hop represents. Johnson is more oriented towards the female side of hip hop, whereas Jeffries is focused on the unity side of what it offers and Smitherman thinks that it is a black CNN. Although each scholar focuses on different aspects of hip hop, it is evident to point out that all these aspects correlate with one another. Hip hop is a cultural tool formed out of a need to take a stance on the issues that relate to the black community. And that it’s a voice to relate and unite people who share the same struggles on which to advocate change.
Artist are not shy about their misogynistic lyrics, one example from Tupac, who some would classify as a legend, was very vulgar in his lyrics, for example in his song Wonder Why They Call You Bitch, he raps:
Hip-hop and rap music are commonly criticized for its anti-feminist lyrics and degrading exploitation of women in music and music videos. (Sharpley-Whiting ) Many feminists have taken action against the music industry, which produces these messages in the music they release. However, in the hip-hop genre there are plenty of successful female rappers promoting feminist views, artist such as Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige have made the choice to condemn the derogatory culture towards women. (Oliver, 382–384)
Yet, women have proven that they have the artistic skill to rap, they also deliver messages of feminism to other females. For example, in the song “U.N.I.T.Y,” Queen Latifah speak against the disrespect women receive, whether it be sexual harassment on the street, domestic violence, or just from society. A lot of the female rappers have their own message along with their own choice in male collaborators.
Pough states, “As much as we try to move away from allowing negative images to impact our lives, there are real implications that we need to contend with” (Pough, 84). Issues like this, that are very commonly talked about, help us to understand the relationship that women have with hip hop. However, there are many other issues that should be explored as well to gain an even deeper
3). The feminist movement's move to curb what it percieves to be objectification fueled by misogyny had been rather counteractive. For while the movement pushed against women bashing, prominent in rap music, it also pushed for sexual liberalisation for women. We have had explicit musical videos or music album from as way back as the 1980s from pop icons such as Madonna. And the trend has grown over the years.
Women have feelings and should not feel as if they must be “slim thick” or being called a “b****” by males. Women should not be authoritatively mandated what to look akin to, should not be an object to men, should not be coerced into a visual examination, and should not be something they are not. Not only music videos affect this image on girls, but Pornography does as well. Porn is so degrading to all women in the nation. Many males watch Porn, which puts this conception in their heads that that is how a woman should be homogeneous to, and how a woman should act while having sexual intercourse with a man, or just in general.
The oppressive picture displaying the sexual objectification of women that most hip-hop artists paint while rapping can only be described as appalling. Many artists imply that a woman?s sole purpose is to gratify a man?s every sexual desire. For instance, ?Nelly?s ?Tip Drill? goes as far to portray scantily clad women as sexual appliances? (Weisstuch). Though Nelly is relatively mild when contrasted to other hip-hop artists, his actualization of women cannot be ignored. By calling women ?sexual appliances,? Nelly essentially promotes the idea that it is customary to view all women solely as sexual objects. Moreover, the generic ?sex appe...
Misogyny and degradation of women is present in almost every genre of music, yet the one genre that completely revolves around demeaning women is rap. Over the years rap and rap music videos have continually become more sexual and degrading towards women. Rap has been criticized numerous times for this reason, and that is because rap is one of the most popular genres of music for the younger generations. It is more than a genre of music, it is a complete industry filled with clothing and other merchandise. The reason this constant demeaning of women exists is because rap as a genre that rewards the objectification of women. The excuses used to justify the misogyny in rap are incomplete and lack accurate support. The most effective way for this continuous cycle ends, is if the fight and protest comes from the women themselves. Men are the problem in the objectification of women but in order for it to stop, women need to step up and take control of the situation.
There has been an issue of how women are represented within the music videos this is mostly due to the lyrics which is mostly focusing on women’s looks rather than the personality like for example the 1975- love me 2015 say “You've got a beautiful face but got nothing to say” focuses on women’s look “beautiful face”. Another example of this can be seen in Robin Thicke- Blurred lines 2013 “what do they make dreams for, when you got them jeans on, what do we need steam for, you the hottest bitch in this place” which also refers to women’s looks instead of focusing on personality and other attributes that women
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...