It’s obvious that a lot of African American men and women, especially young men and women, get a lot, if not most of their gender messages from hip hop music. Especially those messages and ideas that revolve around sex, friendship, love, and marriage. It’s in my opinion that hip-hop music is more misogynistic to black girls and women than any other form of media consumed by this demographic. The derogatory lyrics, the soft-porn visuals. and the attitudes and behaviours of the industry are embedded into the developing and naive consciousness for young black boys and girls at an early age. Couple this with the the attitudes of a culture that already undermines and portrays negatively the humanity, sexuality, and overall worth of women, and we are doing a grave disservice to the African American female by supporting this industry. This subject, admittingly, is a topic that I feel strongly about. My opinion is very black and white, considering I don’t see the value, or perceived value, to our community that having black women function as sexual objects in music and video. When did Black women become the enemy of Black male rappers and the hiphop generation? Why have so many perceived successful African American men become so obsessed with dramatizing black women as oversexed and promiscuous?
Mulvey’s main argument in “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” is that Hollywood narrative films use women in order to provide a pleasurable visual experience for men. The narrative
In the early 1990s Laura Mulvey’s thesis concerning the patriarchal structure of an active male gaze has influenced feminist film critiques and Hollywood. Mulvey’s project is to use psychoanalysis to uncover the power of patriarchy in Hollywood cinema. Patriarchal influence upon cinema is found primarily in pleasure (pleasure in looking) or as Freud’s has put it, scopophilia. Mulvey suggests that it may be possible to create a new for of cinema due to the fact that patriarchy power to control cinematic pleasure has revealed.
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black
The misogynistic treatment of women in commercialized rap has become a widespread phenomenon which as a result has become commonly accepted by majority of the individuals in society. Rappers, in general, nowadays use women in their videos in a way which is both derogatory and exploiting. Black men in today’s society, especially in the entertainment industry, do not see women as their equals; rather they objectify them as being nothing more than sex objects. People in the Hip Hop industry do not believe that sexism and misogyny is as big of a deal as racism, thus they push this issue to the side by simply ignoring it and learning to accept it. This misogynistic portrayal of women is ruining the image if Hip Hop as both an industry and a form of expressive art. However, instead of taking action against this atrocity, many women simply believe that the images of women and their portrayal in rap videos does not represent nor refer to them as an individual and the type of woman they truly are. By being silent these women are allowing themselves to be victimized by the men of not only the Hip Hop industry but also general society. By not having a say in this matter of the false classification and portrayal of women, they are voluntarily allowing men to do whatever they please to do so, in any given time and with any approach they feel is necessary. They do not
If they see rappers calling females out of their name with big chains and expensive cars throwing all their money in videos, then they look up to the guys they see in those videos and are going to buy in to what their seeing and hearing on the radio, on TV, on the internet, on the streets and in school regardless if it’s true just like advertisement. Even though many of the rappers that rap about misogyny sound like they live what their saying, many don’t actually believe what they’re saying they’ll still say it anyway just to get a paycheck. Yet what a lot of the public fell to realize is that rap is about business and making money and they’ll do whatever it takes to increase their profit. Yes, a lot of what these big time record labels put out is wrong on many levels, but when their banks accounts have a lot of zero’s, they can care less about how their music is affecting young people. This situation is very multi-sided to say the least which is why I feel this article deserves to receive the Most Controversial Issue
The video essay argued against Laura Mulvey theory on male gaze and was mainly centred on the article of visual Pleasure and narrative cinema writer by Laura Mulvey. According to Mulvey(1975,p348) “The female is displayed for his enjoyment(connoting male phantasy) and that of the spectator fascinated with the image of is like set in an illusion of natural space, and through him gaining possession and control of the woman within the diegesis”. She went further stating that “in film the women as object of the combined gaze of spectator for all the male protagonist. She is isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualised” (p3488). Examples of such films given in the video essay is the skin I live in (Pedro Almodóvar), Spain 2011. The idea of female
Women have decided to consume hip hop regardless of the sexism and machismo of their rap artist spouses. Historically, black women who have sex with other women haven’t been recognized in the Black community. Also, the expectations are the same in hip hop culture because men reject lesbians. An example is the murder in 2003 of Sakia Gunn after she declared her lesbian identity to a group of males. We all know that in hip hop culture men predominate and precisely masculine. Women can achieve a higher professional success than men regarding no matter their sexual orientation. In other hand, women represent different controlling images like the whore, the mammy and temptress. Homophobia in hip hop is translated into forms of oppression, discrimination and violence for gays, lesbians and transgender. “Black women rappers interpret and articulate the fears, pleasures, and promises of young black women whose voices have been relegated to the margins of public discourse.” Their voices are in constant dialogue with the public and men rappers about sexual promiscuity, emotional commitment, infidelity, the drug trade, racial politics and black cultural history. If we pay close attention to female rappers, we will notice that they address questions of sexual power, economic opportunities and the pain of racism and sexism. Women rappers has been promoted as sexually progressive, antisexist voices because of “an understanding of male rappers as uniformly sexist.” Discussions of women
KRS One once said, "Rap is something you do, Hip-Hop is something you live." The difference between how Hip-Hop is portrayed (rap) and what the Hip-Hop movement is, is that Hip-Hop is a lifestyle but the Hip-Hop we see on television is a media creation. We have to look at hip-hop as a whole culture and rap as something that comes out of it. Although Hip-Hop was originated by a mostly Negro constituency, it has evolved since its creation into a "worldwide forum through which family, community, social and political grievances" (HHC) can be voiced through various art forms. Today, the Hip-Hop movement (if looked at as it's meant to be looked at) plays a very positive role throughout the political and social spectrums in America, and is
In the past 2 years alone, more than 3 dozen criminal prosecutions have had rap lyrics be presented by the prosecutor as a vital piece of evidence in the case. [Manly] In many of these cases the prosecutor will use violent lyrics created by the defendant to prove that that person is inherently dangerous and in other cases, will use the lyrics as a direct confession to having committed the crime in question. If you read into these cases you will notice a common theme between them; the defense will claim that the lyrics are freedom of speech and should be considered artistic expression, while the prosecutors will claim that the song is either a criminal threat or has too many similarities to the actual crime that it should be considered a confession. The primary basis for this debate is that hip-hop music is a misunderstood cultural practice because of the racial divide between the defendant and the criminal justice system.
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
Music and society have always been closely related. For years now music has been apart of people’s everyday lives all around the world. Having so many different genres out there, it makes it easy to be appealing to so many different ethnic backgrounds. However, one type of genre in particular has seemed to grab the attention of a younger generation. Rap music has undoubtedly had its utmost impact on African American youth, since many of the performers themselves are African American. An overtly masculine culture dominates rap music and creates gender stereotypes that become abundantly popular to the youthful audience. Three constant themes that are found within the rap culture are encouragement of violence, the misogynistic representation of women, an extreme hatred of homophobia. Each theme plays a detrimental role in the process of defining black masculinity as well as shaping the values, morals, and beliefs that its younger audience adopts after tuning into this “gangster lifestyle”.
1.) In this class we have examined the sociological forces that created the social conditions from which Hip-Hop emerged in the Bronx. Drawing upon Chang, as well as videos (Bronx is Burning, Flying Cut Sleeves etc.), discuss the sociological roots of rap. Specifically, what social forces (for example: state policies, global economic trends, technological advancements, community characteristics as well as race, class, gender politics) were present and facilitated the development of Hip-Hop?
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
Rap music is filled with imagery that degrades women. Women are continually referred to inappropriately in many songs, while men refer to themselves and other as pimps or players. Women are not only referred to by derogatory names, they are frequently lowered to sex objects for entertainment. The common idea of a woman in a rap video is one who is half naked while dancing flirtatiously and seductively behind, or in front of the rapper. Many female rappers make public appearances dressed inappropriately, their clothing is always revealing and skin tight, they have unfortunately accepted and entertained this idea. Young girls see these women as role models. As female rappers conform and accept their roles as sex objects they are making it socially acceptable and the young girls who see them as role models and look up to them think
Music has inspired and touched the lives of many aspiring hip-hop artists which makes it one of the most influential characters in America culture. Hip-hop has become one of the most vital, and profitable, forces in popular culture. Rap music is an international art form and is regularly heard in advertising including radio and television. Hip hop beats have influenced popular music genres from rock to jazz to reggae. The fashions, styles, and attitude of hip-hop have been adopted by America’s commercial culture industries and by youths from all cultural backgrounds. I predicted that hip hop music is here to stay because that 's only way they can convey their story without being arrested. Is here to stay because, the same inadequate education, inequality among poor people, Injustice and police brutality that hip hop music is talking about is still exist in American today.
One negative global implication that commercial Hip Hop in the U.S. produces is the characterization of young black women in four different personas: Diva, Hoe, Gold Digger, and Bad Bitch. When young black women hear music and see music videos that promote sexual conduct, they take on one of the different personas that is illustrated in the music and treat themselves as sexual objects. This characterizations affects the black community worldwide because this causes young black girls to be more sexually active at a much younger age, this results in teen pregnancies and