Masculinity In Hip Hop Culture

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In the predominantly patriarchal history of the world masculinity and what it means to be a man have differed from culture to culture. When it comes to African American culture, particularly what it has meant to be a man has no clear set of universal rules or guidelines. There are a few different sources such as hip hop and television many young black men across America draw their sense of masculinity from. While hip hop music in particular has had and continues to have a very strong influence on both masculinity and femininity of the youth, young black youth in particular has been affected the most . In black media today the hip hop culture is often referred to when defining what it means to be a black person in society. In particular the …show more content…

Certains ideals such as hyper sexuality, material possesions, and hegemonic masculinity found in hip hop certainly highlights some of its negative aspects. Hip-hop in a sense at times can promote feminism in the sense of sexual freedom (at least in the lyrics provided) where certain songs condemn women for the same freedoms. It is suggested that many young people especially young black people begin to monitor and interrupt some of the messages and ideals that are taken in /followed. Personally the ideals in much of hip-hop do not reflect my own values or views on femininity or masculinity although I do listen to most of the music. Being an educated young black man I in a sense can see through most of the gimmicks and fads that of the music portrays and keep to my personal values more times than not. That said there are times that I do find myself reciting lyrics or enacting the same negative ideals that I personally do not believe because I may like a song. This is where education and awareness comes in and I am able to recognize and correct my behavior which is something I would like to see become more popular amongst my

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