“She takes my money when I’m in need”. Those lyrics from Kanye West’s song “Gold Digger” shows his misogynistic views about gold diggers and how women use men for money. Still, in other parts of the song he shows that he shows that he loves them (“It takes too much to touch her; from what I heard she got a baby by Busta; my best friend says she use to f**k with Usher; I don’t care what none of y’all say I still love her.”). Kanye is one of many artists (especially hip-hop artists) that uses misogyny in their lyrics and see all women this way. The concept of a gold digger is quite popular and has been glamorized over history, however, the term revels misogynist and stereotypical ideas about women’s worth and motivations. When it comes to pop …show more content…
It used to be different times when Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn were the “gold diggers”. Nowadays with all these offensive nouns they put to woman it’s not the same anymore. These term treats women like objects that have no ambitions, no value to offer to a man. It makes her seem like she has no life, no career, and nothing positive to offer to the relationship, except, of course, sex. If you look some of the other lyrics of Kanye West’s song you see his reference to plastic surgery (“She was supposed to buy your shorty Tyco with your money/She went to the doctor got lipo with your money”). Women often do plastic surgeries to boost some self-esteem, in order to look “perfect”, for the standards set by men. After all, for men everything is about having sex with sexy women. As in another rapper’s words (“All I f**k is bad bitches/I don’t want no mediocre.”). During the video clip of the song women are shown as models of magazines wearing lingerie and showing most of their body parts. Although there’s no sexual contact between Kanye West and the other models, they’re all shown in a pornographic way. These women lay on seducing positions, touching and rubbing themselves in a very sexual way. This is how media sexualizes the portrait of a woman showing to young girls that being successful is to see their bodies as a trade for social …show more content…
More specifically, a young woman that dates an older man is immediately considered a gold digger and cares for nothing more except his money. On the other hand, if a young man dates an older woman, the man is not judged at all despite his intentions. In this case the woman is considered a ‘cougar’ that hunts for younger men to have sexual relations with them. No matter what the intentions of men may be in a relation, it’s always the woman that gets degraded and called names. If she’s young and dates older rich men, she’s a gold digger. If she’s above 40 and dates younger men, she’s a cougar. If she has kids, she’s a MILF. There are so many names for women that are related to her attitude, look, etc. but there are none for men. It seems to me that at every age, women are seen as predators that harm
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.
The very title of the song endorses the use of the expression “bad b*tches”. In the music industry, the used of the word “b*tch” is not uncommon. It is most commonly used by men as a means of degrading women. Female rappers, like Trina, try to change what is a degrading word and turn it into a compliment. Female rappers like herself use this “bad b*tch” persona as a defense mechanism. They call themselves these distasteful words before a man has the chance to do it. They see it as strength and rejoice in beating them to the punch. It is a dangerous game they are playing. Throughout Trina’s song “Da baddest b*tch” she referred to herself as a bad b*tch multiple times. “I'm representin' for the bitches/All eyes on your riches” Trina’s depiction of a “bad b*tch” in this song is a woman that is concerned with money and the possession of money; A woman that would do anything to make money no matter the cost. This message is a harmful one. The word “b*tch” is not empowering; it is demeaning. Women give men an excuse to refer to them as “b*tches” because women call themselves’ and other women “b*tches” and “bad b*tches”. Women need to wake up and really that they will not be respected by men or either other women with such behavior. Calling yourself a “b*tch” or “bad b*tch” is a welcome mat to disrespect. Women should resist the catchy lyrics and clever hooks of the songs both me...
The song is set around Chief keef being on the phone and talking to a woman, he refers to the woman on the song as a bitch, hoe, and thottie. The word thottie is derived from the word thot, which is an acronym for “that hoe over there”. The song states “You wanna Glo up, baby, Keef got you/You's a gold bottle, these hoes pink Moscato/Baby I'm the owner, you can be my castle”. This line right here compares the woman to other women by saying she is a better bottle of liquor than other women and calls her his property when he says you can be my castle. Then he goes on to say in the song “ Baby cause I like you/Only reason I text you and why I Skype you/I just wanna fuck on you, I don't wanna wife you/But you gotta brush your teeth and do what I say though/(Hello?)/Bitch can you hear me?/Keep your pussy in park, no 360... I don't wanna smell you/Cause I'ma cut/you off, quicker than I met you/I'ma swipe your name up off my schedule/And if smoke this blunt, girl, I'm gon' forget you”. The lyrics basically says the women is just there for his sexual pressure and he does not plan on making her more than that; he also tells the women that he has to be the one in control if she wants to continue this relationship; then he tells her, he will completely stop communicating/seeing her, if she does not do what he wants her to do and she can be
The controversial artist Kanye West has always attempted to make known what he thinks, no matter if he has to be disrespectful or graphic in his illustrations of said topic. So it wasn't a real surprise when he chose to focus his energy into reveling to the American public horrors happening that had a direct connection with the beloved diamond stone. West's 2005 music video “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” shows the corrupted underground diamond trade in the African country, Sierra Leone. From this groundbreaking video, West showed the devastated lives those who worked on the mining rivers live. However upon further investigation into the issue of diamond workers in Sierra Leone there emerged the true source of the situation, a violent conflict between the government and rebel leaders. Due to this conflict the entire country was thrown on a downward spiral. This downward spiral eventually resulted in the people longing for the conflict to stop and for the country to come together as one again. The people of Sierra Leone want to forget about the events that transpired during their civil war, however the more we look and attempt to learn from what happened, the better we set ourselves up for the future. West's video only depicts one side of a multifaceted struggle of the diamonds in Sierra Leone, however from this one side the public is encouraged to research more into the conflict themselves and uncover the truth behind the diamonds that we so desperately love.
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.
Hip Hop has been around for decades. Due to positive perceptions behind the idea, many DJs and artist started to come about. Hip Hop solely originated in New York city where DJ Kool Herc is the founding father of Hip Hop. The main components within hip hop was Break Dancing, Rap, Beat Boxing, and Graffiti. These components originated from the Ghettos of New York city. Hip Hop culture formed in the 1970s during many block parties and gatherings in New York, where DJs from all over Manhattan and the Bronx came and created mixes and breaks on the turn tables. Alongside Kool Herc is GrandMaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa who created Universal Zulu Nation, which was music to decrease violence, drugs and get kids involved. Around this time funk,
...to being single man but yet an unmarried woman is called a spinster or an old maid. When men are doing jobs that often women do, we try to pay men extra by giving them fancy titles for example a male cook is more likely to be called a chef while a male seamstress will get the title of tailor. Other terms that show how negatively we view old women as compared to young women are old nag as compared to filly, old crow or old bat as compared to bird, and being catty as compared to being kittenish. There are no matching metaphors for men.
I was twelve when I first heard the name “Kanye West”. He was featured in a song I rather liked at the time called “Forever” and whilst discussing the song with my friend one afternoon I remarked:
Kanye West has been an icon in American hip-hop culture for over a decade. His music, fashion line, producing skills, and flamboyant personality has influenced many people for generations to come. Coming out of Chicago, many people in the music industry didn't even think Kanye had a chance to become a figure in hip-hop, but his hard work and persistence paid off. Kanye started off his music career as a producer. He produced music for the likes of major artists such as Common and Jay-Z. His first major breakthrough came from producing Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint”— which is certified 2x platinum. Kanye believed he could be a successful rapper as well, but music executives didn't believe he had it in him. That all changed when Roc-A-Fella records signed Kanye to their label, and gave him a chance to shine as a rapper. Kanye’s background, critical analysis, and importance all shows that he has become one of the most important characters in American hip-hop culture to this day.
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:
The semantics of the word “hoe” lead to defenders’ thoughts that a man can be a “ho” too. Men who defend this thought might point to the fact that a ho is “…anyone who has ‘too much’ indiscriminate sex…” (Rose, 171). In this instance, they are putting less weight into the fact that these words are used to put down women. Rappers might use these terms in lyrics in order to diss another man by attacking their manliness. Defenders of hip hop like rappers say that “bitches and hoes” are a specific type of girl, and that when they use those words, they don’t mean to reference all women. However, the reality is that rappers use these words pertaining to all women. Women who listen to the music are attracted to this demeaning image, because at least it would be “about them”. So, when hip hop’s defenders’ say that “there are bitches and hoes” to further their argument for hip hop, they reassure women that a hyper-sexualized image and lifestyle is acceptable. For this reason, this argument ignores the effects of these impressions on women, and attempts to legitimize the classification of women as figures existing to be used by
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)
Men and women are portrayed differently in media in relation to their socially constructed roles. As mentioned above about the agentic and communal roles, there is also double standard of ageing. Women’s lives: A psychological exploration defines “Double standard of aging” as, “the stigma of aging is much greater than it is for me” (Etaugh & Bridges, 2013, Pg. The media shows the public by giving them the bias that ageing men are more acceptable than aging women.
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.