“She takes my money when I’m in need”. Those are some of the lyrics of Kanye West song “Gold Digger” where he shows his misogynistic views about gold diggers and how woman in general are gold diggers. Still in some other parts 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 yall 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 truth is that men like gold diggers, but they’re still represented as misogyny.
What is a gold digger? A gold digger is a person who dates others purely to extract money from
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In fact most of wealthy men like dating a gold digger. The thing about getting a woman and dating it is that it requires energy, game and time. Most of men in career don’t have them three. That’s when money jumps in. They find women with an aspiration to live at higher-standard, who require successful men and that go by the common saying that a successful man is one who can make more money that his wife can spend; a successful woman is one who finds such men. What’s relevant is that men are attracted towards gold diggers the same way that gold diggers are attracted to wealthy men. Social psychology suggests that humans have the tendency to act in a specific behavior when they get rewarded for it. This thing applies to wealthy men and gold diggers. These men with no time or energy or game but with money are still men and they have sexual needs. Gold diggers are ready to give them sexual pleasure in return for a higher standard living. At the end everybody is happy as both sides are rewarded with what they want. Now when it comes as how they are seen in the eyes of male public it seems as …show more content…
Gold diggers is only one aspect of the misogyny in music culture. It started in US during 1950-60s with movies about gold diggers such as, How to marry a millionaire, Gentlemen prefer blondes, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, etc. Both Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn are praised for their roles in these movies. At the time they represented the typical woman, and they were praised by man all over the world. The audience was attracted to the sexy Lorelei Lee who asked innocently: “Don’t you know that a guy being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn’t marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but my goodness, doesn’t it help?” The Beatles too sang about how man would buy diamond rings to a girl just to make her feel alright with the top hit song at the time, Can’t buy me love. Madonna also singed about gold diggers but used a different term for it, material girl. She represent women in the song and all she cares about in a guy it’s how much is he willing to spend on her (“Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me/I think they’re OK/If they don’t give me proper credit/I just walk away”). But much has changed since those times when women were not referred with words such as bitch, hoe, thot (that hoe over there) and many more. If you look at the lyrics of Kanye’s “Gold Digger” and compare it with “Can’t be me love” and “Material Girl” you can see the huge difference on how Kanye
After listening to “Gold Rush Brides” by Natalie Merchant and reading its lyrics, I have come to a conclusion that this song is about the suffering of women who weren’t white during the Gold Rush era. She sings, “Who were the homestead wives? Who were the gold rush brides? Does anybody know? Do their works survive, their yellow fever lives in the pages they wrote?” This shows how women’s effort and work (excluding white women) during that time wasn’t as recognized as it should be. She also sings. “Dakota on the wall is a white-robed woman, broad yet maidenly. Such power in her hand as she hails the wagon man's family. I see Indians that crawl through this mural that recalls our history. Women at that time were insufficient in California. Men
“Kanye Ran onto the stage saying, ‘I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!’” (Top 10 Outrageous Kanye West Moments), says Kanye West at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards after Taylor Swift had just won “Best Female Video.” People that are like this have typically not always been this way. They were probably raised as a polite and respectful person before they were exposed to fame and fortune, and other “celebrities,” making them feel like they are the only people on the planet. Causing them to do things like that. Although, Kanye West is an amazing musician based on his 14 Grammy Awards and multiple albums going “Double-Platinum” (Manheim, James M., and Carol Brennan). He fell victim to fame and fortune, and turned into an arrogant and overconfident person making him more popular and praised among media. But looked down upon by everyday people. Kanye Omari West, born on June 8th, 1977, is a world famous rapper who, like all other celebrities, started out like a nice person who made nice music for nice families to listen to. West was a confident and competitive person even as a child, “He was determined even then to get out of his crib and be free, even if he split his head in the process—and he did. He has fought ever since to do exactly what he wanted to do—no matter what,” says Donda West, his mother in her book, Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar. By the time West was ten, he was already creating his own raps, and according to the people around him, he was pretty good at it even at that young of an age. (Manheim, James M., and Carol Brennan) West was not too interested in school as he grew up, but he was able to get by because of his talent. If he dropped out of one ...
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.
bell hooks shows us that black male sexism is real and it is in America’s music. She is correct, but it is not just against the white people of America. Snoop Dogg’s album is degrading toward the girl whose butt’s out of the doghouse, but it
“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds”
Lyrics expressed of feminism and another of exploitation. This is another huge controversy as now women are becoming more mainstreamed than men in the hip-hop culture. For example, female Rapper, Nicki Minaj was noted for one of the wealthiest rappers alongside some of the prominent men in hip-hop. In her article, “Now That's a Bad Bitch! The State of Women in Hip-Hop” Ahsa Layne stated, "But at what cost?" This implies how women are stereotyped by the image of their bodies and how men perceive them as words described so openly in hip-hop as “bitches” or “hoes.” When hip-hop was first starting out, we heard more women expressing unity and empowerment amongst each other and in the black community. For example, one of my favorite hip-hop songs is "Doo Wop (That Thing)” by Lauryn Hill was a song to encourage women to choose integrity over hypocrisy and self-respect over sacrificing their identities. During my time of hip-hop, this is what I preferred to listen to more. Now as we have the millennium culture where hip-hop has evolved in my eyes as almost unrecognizable. Consequently, it is a market driven industry of self-exploitation in the hip-hop culture and this type of exploitation sales at all
The Gold Rush was a time when many people in United States rushed west in hopes of discovering gold. This attracted thousands of people from all around America. Women played a key role in the Gold Rush. They had lots of jobs when it came to migrating west.
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 classic film Gold Diggers Of 1933 is based in the era of the Great Depression, the aftermath of World War I which lasted from 1929 to 1939 thus the result to World War II. The Great Depression occurred during the time when films were evolving and becoming hits, but made it hard for film producers and companies since money was tight, unless you were rich and born into wealth like Brad Roberts in the film, who could easily just loan the money to the film makers. The time period and film go hand in hand as it relates to the time where life was tough in America and money wasn’t a easy thing to have access at all times. Clearly the film Gold Diggers Of 1933 indicates the time period of American life and The Great Depression
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)
Being a black woman in this society and seeing how sexism is the number one seller in this society makes it really hard for Mclune (2015). Mclune (2015) discusses “Notes of a Hip Hop Head” by Kevin Powell stating “Socioeconomic” is the reason for the sexism in the hip hop field and it is a way to keep the black females quiet (p.222). Kevin Powell states “But just as it was unfair to demonize men of color in the 1960’s solely as wild-eyed radicals when what they wanted, amidst their fury, was a little freedom and a little power...” (Mclune, 2015, p. 221-222). Mclune (2015) clarifies that Powell completely overlooks that females also have a hard life and an insufficiency, yet they still have to overlook the objectification that black men bring to the table. Even though sexism is not the answer, it will always sell no matter
A Higher Level of Knowledge Work. Kelley (1990) described an old distinction that divided the work force into blue-collar and white-collar workers. Blue-collar workers typically did manual labor in a factory for hourly pay, whereas white-collar workers did knowledge work in an office on salary. However, changes in the nature of work and the workplace have led to large growth in the numbers of a particular kind of knowledge worker—the gold-collar worker, whose most valuable assets are problem-solving abilities, creativity, talent, and intelligence; who performs nonrepetitive and complex work that is difficult to evaluate; and who prefers self-management. The gold-collar worker is, for example, the computer engineer as opposed to a lower-level knowledge worker such as an input operator. Kelley pointed out that even though the name is new, there have always been gold-collar workers like designers, researchers, analysts, engineers, and lawyers.
Adam Smith wrote in his masterpiece, the wealth of nations, “It is the necessary, though very slow and gradual consequence of a certain propensity in human nature which has in view no such extensive utility; the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another” (Smith, 2005). This propensity in human nature led to the development of currency – a medium of exchange accepted by a community of people. For centuries, gold and silver were used around the world as currency; in 1834 the United States, formerly on a bimetallic standard, converted to a gold de facto standard. This policy made it so the dollar was backed by gold at a ratio of $20.67 per ounce. The Gold standard was used until August 15, 1971 when President Richard Nixon
The negative perception of women throughout popular culture in the form of music has greatly impacted the portrayal of women on today’s society. This study involves on examination of sexist ideologies in dancehall lyrics that portray women in stereotypical and negative manner. This particular king of music explored in the study is dancehall music, a popular genre in Jamaican culture today. The primarily focus is on the effect of popular songs have on women in society, as well as how song lyrics can cause objectification of women and how are the roles of men and women reflected.