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Sociology how are women represented in music videos
Sociology how are women represented in music videos
Women representation in rap music
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Being aired at the beginning of February, Beyoncé’s hit single Formation served as the 2016 Black History month anthem for numerous reasons. Beyoncé being a long standing musical, entertainment, and fashion icon, her shocking release of this hit shocked the world when she unapologetically portrayed her blackness through the representation of Southern roots. She begins this musical call to action by asking the question of what happened after New Orleans. Foreshadowing a socio-political tone, she begins by paying homage to a New Orleans YouTube activist, Messy Mya who was killed in 2010 and those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In this music video that last approximately five minutes Beyoncé evolves into her self-identified role of a Feminist by exhibiting her call to expressive womanhood and activism by calling discussing the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Black aesthetics, family lineage, and the culture of the American South. This iconic the chorus chants “I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow bone it, I dream it, I work hard, I grind 'til I own it… Sometimes I go off, I go hard, get what's mine, I'm a star, cause I slay, we gone slay” calling women especially Black women to rise and figuratively kill. To work hard, set goals, and accomplish their dreams all being free and themselves. As soon as the music begins, the beat …show more content…
While some critics say her music video did not directly speak in context to the issues in the Black community. It is not her responsibility as pop start to directly or literally educate the public, but her role as a musician and entertainer did spark a much needed
Her influence is simply not a question; it is a salutation to a musical icon that has embedded her legacy into musical history. When I think of the word artist, I think of someone who is innovative, original and someone who has style and a sound all their own. One artist that comes to mind is Janet Jackson. They simply don’t make artists like Janet anymore. Unfortunately, she was the last of her kind.
On the night of December 13, 2013 Beyoncé, released her fifth self-titled album on ITunes. The album caught many people by surprise because Beyoncé did not set a date for the album, nor did she use any promotion; she did release a video on her Instagram asking her followers if they “were ready”. The buzz spread through social media like a wild fire. With no promotion or no warning, Beyoncé album took the world by storm and made it for her audience and critics to take in the album and it contents. Many people loved the album for not only its catchy songs, but also the growth and “looser” conservative Beyoncé. On the other hand many people did not feel that her album was growth, but a way to catch up to the overly sexual generation. Beyoncé has always been aware of her sexual side, pop side, and feminist side; this has been documented through her four previous albums. Yet, a lot of people have questioned if Beyoncé a feminist because of the content of her newest album. In order to answer that a person must ask him or her self; what is a feminist, why some people believe she is feminist, why others do not believe she feminist, and whether or not Beyoncé think she is a feminist.
...ng to this day, she is one of few who could compete with the men of hip-hop, but she never pretended to be anything but a woman. She not only sang about female empowerment, but she wrote about being a woman from the insecurities that we as women sometimes feel to the nirvana of being in love. Sensuality and femininity were always as important to her which was her strength, and message to get out to women especially those of color.
Nina Simone used music to challenge, provoke, incite, and inform the masses during the period that we know as the Civil Rights Era. In the songs” Four Women”, “Young Gifted and Black”, and Mississippi God Damn”, Nina Simone musically maps a personal "intersectionality" as it relates to being a black American female artist. Kimberly Crenshaw defines "intersectionality" as an inability for black women to separate race, class and gender. Nina Simone’s music directly addresses this paradigm. While she is celebrated as a prolific artist, her political and social activism is understated despite her front-line presence in the movement.
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
Whether it was rebellion, liberation, or changing an industry, Janis Joplin had a profound influence on the freedoms and opportunities that people have today. Many of the social norms of today where once the tabu acts that created disapproval during the counterculture. When Janis Joplin began challenging social norms it was to define who she was, and in return she set an example for others to define themselves as well. Women were expected to illustrate femininity and obedience, and in true Janis from she disregard gender roles and encourage women to take control of their image and sexuality. Janis Joplin turned the music industry into a women industry, and her rise to fame was proof that a women was a significant and irreplaceable part of society. By being different Janis Joplin was able to represent the population of people who had never experienced true
To be labeled as a feminist is such a broad classification therefore it is divided into various subsections, one such subsection is known as hip hop feminism in which Ruth Nicole closely associates herself with throughout this essay I will thoroughly discuss this form of feminism. Ruth Nicole is a black woman that categorizes herself as a girl, by her definition a girl is far from independent. Black girlhood discusses the shared experiences of the ever-changing body, which has been marked as vibrant, Black, and female, along with memories and representations of being female. As a result, Ruth Nicole wrote Black Girlhood Celebration in order to share her personal and political motivations of working with black girls within the community. A conversation that is not often articulated about due to a language barrier. In which this discussion accurately details a means to work with black girls in such a way that does not control their body or pilfer black female individuality. Under those circumstances, Brown believes that black girls are being exploited for their physique through the use of music and instructed to conform to white norms constructed by society.
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.
Peoples, Whitney A. ""Under Construction": Identifying Foundations of Hip-Hop Feminism and Exploring Bridges between Black Second-Wave and Hip-Hop Feminisms."Meridians 8.1 (2008): 19-52. JSTOR. Web. 2 May 2014.
He was tired of George Bush ignores the real problems that were going on at that time. Thousands of people died. Lil Wayne knew that this song would bring more attention to the disaster that was going on in New Orleans. Today in 2016, 10 years later, after hurricane Katrina, singer Beyoncé brought more attention to the city of New Orleans with her song entitled “Formation”. The filming took place in Los Angeles, but features references to Hurricane Katrina, with Beyoncé on top of a police car in a flooded street and later cut to a man holding a newspaper with Martin Luther King Jr. face on it with the title “The Truth”. Later a young hooded boy dance in front of a line of police officers with their hands up before the video cuts to a gratified wall with the words “stop shooting us “ tagged on it, at the end of the video the police car sunk with her on top. Not only did this song, bring awareness to the 10th anniversary of hurricane Katrina it also brought awareness to police brutality, racism, and the “black lives matter movement.” I stand with Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, the people of New Orleans and the countless others who are pushing for a change in the way minorities and the lower class citizen are
...ieved much in her short life, including having won a Grammy. Although her life was cut short at the age thirty nine, that did not stop her legacy. She helped to pave a path for all African Americans in the future. For example, Diana Ross; she grew up in the housing projects and found her voice also in church. She eventually got signed to a record deal and was at one point declared the most successful female singer of all time. Being a big hit also brought in much money for Washington. Some of this money helped to financially support Martin Luther King Jr. in his fight for Civil Rights for all African Americans. Therefore, since Dinah Washington overcame the prejudice and became a huge success, she showed all that whatever a white could do, an African American could also do. She showed that no matter what race, with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.
Mclune (2015) is an African American woman who is opposed to sexism on black on females in the hip –hop culture and wants this nonsense to come to an end once and for all. As a Black lady, Mclune (2015) voices and reveals her angry and frustration in her article. Mclune (2015) discusses how black women are frowned upon by hip-hop male singers in the music industry and the affects this has on the women. The hip-hip male singers do this by showing black women as
In the month of March 2016, Women of the World Poetry Slam had Rachel Wiley, a poet and body-positive activist, present her now viral poem called “The Dozens” (Vagianos 2016). This poem was about slams white feminism as a clear indication of whiteness self-defense mechanism. In this poem Wiley included various kinds social events that have occurred in the past years and just to name two: Raven Symone on blackness and Miley Cyrus and Nicki Manji at the VMAs. White feminism continues to become more problematic as the media continues to allow it to be because whiteness makes money; however, intersectionality about race, public imagery, and actual feminism also continues to go viral as the diversity of American become more and more productive.
“Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots”. This is the opening lyrics of one of the best songs ever written in the rap industry “Keep Ya Head Up”. It was written by who many people consider the best rapper in history, Tupac Amaru Shakur. Tupac is still considered one of the greatest and is still being played today by true Hip-Hop fans. People that do not know much of Tupac view him as a criminal. A criminal that got tatted “Thug Life” across his stomach and was the center of violence between the East Coast vs. West Coast rappers in the early 90’s. But the true Hip-Hop fans know the real Tupac Amaru Shakur. He didn’t promote violence like the rappers that are around now. Chief Keef, Fredo Santana, Lil Reese all promote Chicago’s war on drug trafficking, guns and murder. Tupac was different. He tried sending positive messages and did a phenomenal job with this song. In this song Tupac focuses on women’s rights which something unheard of in the rap industry. That is quite sad because up to this day, most rappers do not rap about women’s rights or try sending a positive message. That is why Tupac was different and he wanted the ideal women standing up for herself with this song.
It has been played in many other countries and is listed in many major hit charts in those countries. It became one of her best-selling singles. Beyoncé has been singing about women’s independence since she was in the hit group “Destiny’s Child”. Many of her songs support women’s lifestyle and keep cheering up girls with her powerful and expressive vocals (Armstrong). In addition to her songs and lyrics, her beautiful appearance fascinates many female audiences and influences from teenagers to grown-ups as if she was a role model. A negative side of the video is that the video gives the impression that men are always to be blamed and women are always “victims” of the relationships, which is not