Gender Disparity In Rap Music

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Important findings Most notably found in the content analysis of 75 songs was the disparity between the number of references per song and gender as they vary in genre (see figure 14). In all genres studied, the number of male references outnumbered that of female references. These results support the idea that songs that are recorded by men have more references to sexual topics. Despite seeming mildly varied when divided into the coding genders, (shown in figure 14) when shown broken down by simply male or female artist, there is a ginormous disparity (see figure 15). The mean difference between the number of references between male and female artists is 82. Considering the total number of references is only 525, a difference of 82 references …show more content…

By presenting these negative themes, such as drugs, violence, or sex, in high volume, the public quickly becomes desensitized. The findings of this study show that in popular music, sexually-charged themes are being presented at high rates, which can lead to desensitization in the future if it has not already happened. The culmination of this study may lead to potential positive social change on the societal level by opening the eyes of musicians and producers to cut back the number of sexual themes that are being shown to the public through such a widely-enjoyed type of media.
Further Research In addition to this study, further research would be beneficial in accurately discussing the abundance of sexual themes in all genres of music. Having more than one coder would be advised as to limit the probability of human error in miscoding or simply overlooking certain phrases. Further research would also need to be done in other genres and subgenres to ensure a truly representative sample of music. Finally, further research into the writers of the songs would be advantageous because the gender of these people could vary from the gender of the artist which would change the outcome.

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