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History of hip hop music
The misogynistic portrayal of women in rap
The history of hip hop and its influence on america
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Hip – hop culture was developed in 1970 to provide an outlet for the African American youth. The Hip – Hop culture includes rapping, DJing, break dancing and graffiti writing. Soon, with the years, this genre was introduced to mainstream media and has grown to be one of the most popular music category. While misogyny exists in all genres, critics have claimed that it is the most common in Hip Hop. As indicated by the infographic, 1 in 4.477 songs contain some type of misogyny. Some of them include describing women solely through their body parts, and hypersexualizing them. In particular, women are immensely identified by their butt, their breast or their genitals as shown in some very famous songs like Baby got Back, Rack City, and My neck and my Back. Women in such songs are treated as objects that are used for male’s pleasure. Many critics have identified that rap music has elevated levels of violence directed towards to females. Slide 4 Another form of degradation towards women in this genre are through demeaning slurs like B*tch, Ho, etc. As one …show more content…
The Pop music is also one of the most famous genres among the young generation. Sexism in this field is subtler than Hip -Hop and expressed differently. The common theme of most Pop songs is about love. In these songs the mention of sex is less indirect as more euphemism are utilized. Many of the love songs sung by men use possessives nouns when referring to women. Furthermore, many songs use the allure of sex in women. They showcase women being the gatekeeper of sex, for which the men are seeking the key for. Do female song writers also indulge in this sexism? if so then how? Yet, many of the female song writers unknowingly abet sexism in this genre by showing their desperate yearning for men’s attention. They portray themselves helpless for the man’s love and victimize themselves to be dependent on the man with a certain
In his most recent album, Kanye West raps, “Now if I fuck this model/ And she just bleached her asshole/ And I get bleach on my T-shirt/ I 'mma feel like an asshole.” He suggests that it is the girl’s fault for getting bleach on his tee shirt, which she only did to make herself more sexually appealing. This misogyny in hip-hop culture is recognized to bring about problems. For instance, the women around these rappers believe they can only do well in life if they submit themselves to the men and allow themselves to be cared for in exchange for physical pleasure. In her essay, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hoes”, Joan Morgan argues that the same rap music that dehumanizes women can be a powerful platform for gender equality if implemented correctly.
In modern day society, popular culture has gained equal status to world issues and politics. Music, movies, and literature have started cultural revolutions and challenged the straight-forward thinking many individuals have accepted in the past. But while popular culture can advance new ideas and create movements, it also has the ability to challenge advancements society has made. Imani Perry’s essay, The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, focuses on hip hop and its negative impact on women and body image.
Hip hop is a form of art that African Americans have been using to get away from oppressions in their lives and allowed their voices to be heard in some type of way. As soon as big corporations seen the attention hip hop brought to the scene, they wanted to capitalize on it. These corporations picked specific types of attributes that some hip hop artists had and allowed it to flourish. The attributes that these artists carried were hypermasculinity, homophobia, violence and sexism. In the book, Hip Hop Wars by Tricia Rose discusses some of these specific attributes. One of the most damaging attribute is when hip hop is used to sexualize and demean everything about being a woman. Tricia Rose writes about this issue in chapter 5 of her book
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.
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 .
“The widespread perception of Black women is based on mainstream misogyny” and because it is main, a social norm, and a way for young Black people to be unified “[Black females] accept stereotypical views and unconscious behaviors that devalue women and esteem men”(Henry, West, & Jackson 245). As long as hip hop continues to thrive on misogyny and people continue to ignore that it is an issue Black females will continue to reap the internal and sometimes physical
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
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)
The most popular new music to emerge from the ‘80’s was rap music. It first developed in the mid ‘70’s in New York City, and soon in other urban areas, primarily amongst African-American teen-agers. It became very popular with the urban public that it soon began to spread throughout the United States and much of the world. It replaced rock music as the creative force in music of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. However, as popular as it was then and it is now, the lyrics of many rap songs have caused controversy. Many believe and have charged that these lyrics promote racism and violence and show contempt for women.
Today’s hip hop generation is criticized for its negative portrayal of women. Every music video that is produced features scantily clad women with dancing sensually. Feminists speak against them because they are continuing to sexualize the female form, degrade women by using terms such as “bitch” and “hoe” to describe them, and in all continuing to make them second class citizens. Radical feminism focuses on such oppression in society and the existence of patriarchy/male dominance. All of which is evident in Hip Hop.
Similarly to other industries, females are unequally represented within Hip Hop culture across the board. From the start, emcees were traditionally males, proving the struggle for a woman to pursue a career in Hip Hop difficult. In modern society, it seems the culture is obsessed more with how a woman is portrayed rather than if she is a talented artist. For advertising and recognition, it is almost imperative that a female artist wears tight, skimpy clothes and “give the audience a show” with provocative dancing and lyrics. For women, beauty is basically expected by society. Keyes might refer to most of today’s female artists as “fly girls” (2016). Salt N Pepa and TLC are prime examples of prominent female figures within Hip Hop culture that dressed in a way to attract attention. For these women, the outfits merely grab the attention of the audience so they can then focus on the message behind their lyrics. While women are already underrepresented in the field, they also have to work harder for the same success that male counterparts
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
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.
In today’s society, dancehall music is one of the most popular forms of music, however, the themes and lyrics of many songs that fall in this genre tend to be vulgar, offensive, violent and sexist. Sexism in dancehall music is one of the main topics of this paper and is apparent through the negative portrayal of women found in both the lyrics and music videos of such songs. This is an important issue because since dancehall music is so popularized today these negative representation of women, are being popularized to a huge majority of people, potentially giving them the idea that it is acceptable to treat women in such demeaning ways.