Video Vixens

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As music becomes more and more popular, access to music and music videos continues to rise. Young women are constantly sexualized and degraded within the music world. African American women are especially being negatively portrayed and sexually exploited within music videos in the hip-hop culture. In particular college aged women within the same group. The drive for these artists to make money has caused them to utilize their opposite sex peers in a negative way to attract attention. These women feel the pressure to live up to the standards, size and look wise, portrayed in these hip hop music videos. These standards include being of a certain complexion which is usually a lighter one and a certain body type which is usually a thinner one with emphasized assets such as buttocks and breasts. The women stars of music videos are often referred to as video vixens, which according to Merriam-webster.com a vixen is a sexually attractive woman. Expanding on the definition there is an article entitled, “Effects of Stereotypes on Sexual Decision Making among African American Women” which states; “These images, with their highly sexual undertones, may influence the way in which African American females view themselves as well as influence the way in which others value and interact with them” (Davis and Tucker-Brown 2013). Viewed as nothing more than video vixens on and off screen, young African American women are having difficulty with a healthy self-identity and engaging in healthy relationships with others.
Hip-hop music videos In understanding the detriment caused to African American women by hip hop videos, one would have to know what a hip hop music video consists of. Hip hop is the musical form of expression mostly used by African A...

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...Pan African Studies 5.9 (2013): 111. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Henry, Wilma. “Black Female Millennial College Students: Dating Dilemma and Identity Development.” Multicultural Education 16.2 (208):17. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Jackson, Andrea, and Nicole M. West and Henry Wilma. “Hip-Hop’s Influence on the Identity Development of Black Female College Students: A Literature Review.” Journal of College Student Development 51.3 (2010): 237-251. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Sharpley-Whiting, T. Denean. Pimps up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women.
New York, NY, USA: New York University Press (2007). Print. 6 Dec. @013
Wallert, Kerry and Roger Wessel. “Student Perceptions of the Hip Hop Culture’s Influence on the Undergraduate Experience.” Journal of College Student Development 52.2 (2011): 167-179. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.

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