Misoginy And The Depiction Of Women In Hip Hop @therealcomm125rys-blog - Tumblr Blog

“The b**** tried to gag me. So, I had to kill her. Yeah, straight hittin’/ Now listen up and lemme tell you how I did it/ Yo, I tied her to the bed, I was thinking the worst but yo I had to let my n****** f*** her first yeah/ Loaded up the 44 yo, then I straight smoked the h**”…. Does anyone see the problem with the messages being conveyed in this song? Does anyone else think that the way women are being portrayed in this song will have an impact about how society will look at these women? VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

#NWA

Intoduction

Have you ever listened to a Hip-hop / Rap song? Well, if you have, then chances are you heard a lyric referencing a woman. And usually, these references are degrading and are just plain wrong. Since its creation in the 1970′s, the way in which women have been portrayed in Rap music has had a huge influence in shaping the female identity in society. As one of its most prevalent themes, misogyny could be found in almost all pieces of hip hop music. Misogyny is defined as, “the promotion, glamorization, support, humorization, justification, or normalization of oppressive ideas about women. In this genre of rap music, women (specifically African American women) are reduced to mere objects—objects that are only good for sex and abuse and are ultimately a burden to men.” (Adams, Fuller, 2006)

#misogyny #hip hop

WHY?

An idea proposed in an Journal I read stated that, “To properly analyze cultural components… one must look at the dominant culture that has an immeasurable influence on all aspects of society and subsets of the dominant culture” (Adams, Fuller, 2006). In a society that is male dominant, or at least perceived to be, it can be easy to see how these forms of entertainment created by men shoot down women. As well, because of the history of segregation and racism in American history, one can see how this leads to more of the putting down of African American women amongst all other races of women.

#THis needs to stop

The Six Themes

To better understand the idea of misogyny in rap, one must look at the six themes of misogyny proposed in the journal, The Words Have Changed but the Ideology Remains the Same: Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music.

1. Derogatory statements about women in relation to sex

2. Statements involving violent actions toward women, particularly in relation to sex;

3. References of women causing “trouble” for men;

4. Characterization of women as “users” of men

5. References of women being beneath men

6. References of women as usable and discardable beings

(Adams, Fuller, 2006)

#themes

Misogynistic stereotypes expressed in hip hop:

The Mammy figure has a long history in the American mind, as she is perhaps the most notable stereotype. “She is generally depicted as an overweight, dark-skinned woman who appears to be asexual. Her major mission in life is to please the White family she works for, and she enjoys tending to White children more so than she does her own.” (Adams, Fuller, 2006)

#The Mammy

Misogynistic stereotypes expressed in hip hop:

“The Sapphire (in rap, referred to as “the bitch”) is an African American woman who dominates her entire household including her man. The Sapphire can be described as a socially aggressive woman who tries through manipulation to control her man. She is filled with attitude, has a fiery tongue, and she squashes the aspirations of her man or men in general.” (Adams, Fuller, 2006)

#The Sapphire

Misogynistic stereotypes expressed in hip hop:

“The Jezebel (referred to as the “ho” [whore] in rap) represents a loose, sexually aggressive woman. The Jezebel wants and accepts sexual activity in any form from men, and she often uses sex as a means to get what she wants from men. This image provides a rationale for the history of sexual assaults on African American women.” (Adams, Fuller, 2006)

#jezebel

Misogynistic stereotypes expressed in hip hop:

The Tragic Mulatto is typically “light-skinned, biracial and never truly happy because she wants to be Caucasian. To African American females this image means that light-skinned women are prettier and more desirable than their darker skinned counterparts (60)” (Shaw, 2004)

#Tragic Mulatto

“I got a bitch that suck my dick ‘till I nut Spit it on my gut and slurp that shit up Ain’t that a slut, (hell yeah) she even take it in the butt Fuck for about an hour, now she want a golden shower You don’t know that we be pissing on hos, bitch” I feel wrong about even posting this song to my blog due to its highly explicit misogynistic content. How would you feel as a parent if you knew your young daughter heard this song? Or even if your young son heard this song from a Rap legend such as The Notorious BIG. With such highly influential people in pop culture expressing these ideas, it can really have a negative impact on these kids when they are coming of age.

#Biggie #legend

I was scrolling through my twitter before bed and one of my friends tweet’s popped up. He and my other friend were looking for girls to be a part of their music video… “Sit there and look pretty”

#twitter #real life

Hip Hop gendered as feminine has no agency. She is something men rappers love, something they do. She, Black Women and Black Men in Hip Hop Music does not act; she is acted upon

(94) (Robollo - GIll, Moras 2012).

ITS NOT JUST MEN

Pough writes, “both in the beginning and now, female hip hop heads are part of the crowds at shows and support rap by buying the music even when most of it is sexist and degrading to black womanhood” (9). It thus becomes important to consider the character of black women’s involvement in the music. (Robollo - GIll, Moras 2012). One may wonder, why women would support music that portray such messages. Yes, these songs have good beats and catchy lyrics, but are these supporting women of hip hop detrimental to putting an end to the misogyny in Hip Hop? How will these messages stop if the women, being bashed in these songs, are the very ones listening to the music?

#Women's involvement

“Fine line between fun and demeaning” - Drake, one of, if not the most influential hip hop artist in the world.

Perceptions of Misogyny in Hip Hop and Rap: What Do the Youths Think? (Gourdine, Lemmons 2011)

in 2011, Gourdine and Lemmons wrote of an article about an exploratory study conducted at a community forum sponsored by a prominent African American church and a historically Black university. The data presented describe the population of female (68.6%) and male (31.4%) participants ages 18 to 24 and inform us about their perceptions about hip hop and rap music, especially as they relate to misogyny. By observing music videos in this study, the beautiful dancers in these videos were mostly light - skinned African American women. As a result, the dark - skinned African American Woman is seen as less desirable

As well, there were many alarming responses from the members of the test. Males and females each felt that the exploitation of women was ultimately the women’s fault. Most alarmingly, males said that females could put a stop to the nasty images and because they don’t, their exploitation is their fault not the fault of males. Female participants of the study also had a problem with the sexual images of the videos and struggled with the idea of the ideal powerful black women.

A big double standard is also found within the study. The overall theme was that women were at fault of these negative sexual images and men were “simply a product of their environment”

Self Image

Munoz-Laboy et al. (2007) asserted that hip hop culture was, “a social medium through which many young men and women from communities of color in the United States construct their gender.” (Gourdine, Lemmons, 2011). If women in our society are constructing their self image from hip hop culture, then all these negative portrayals of women in media will carry over into the real world. Ultimately, main stream media dictates the ideals in society, so these negative images of women in hip hop are truly detrimental to those growing up in societies that are heavily influenced by hip hop.

#self image

Misogyny in Rap Music: A Content Analysis of Prevalence and Meanings. (Weitzer, Kubrin 2009)

In 2009, Weitzer and Kubrin wrote of a study of the depiction of women in 403 random rap songs. It was noted that 22% (90 songs) contained misogyny. 22% may not be that high of a number, but the fact that almost a quarter of these random songs from the rap genre contained misogyny just proves how prevalent it is in the genre.

Of the five misogynistic themes that appeared in those 90 songs:

Naming and shaming, found in 49%

(Derogatory names, such as bitch, hoe etc)

Sexual objectification, found in 67%

(“Women are only good for sex”)

Distrust of women, found in 47%

(“Women just want to exploit men”)

Legitimating violence, found in 18%

Prostitution and pimping, found in 20%

Depicted here are two ideal female body types in the opinions of males and females. While reading the names of the women who make up these “ideal” figures, notice how not one of the women are African American. In American society, whether you want to believe it or not, the theme/ idea that white is beautiful is very prevalent. As a result, instead of embodying their own beautiful self images, black women are constantly doing things to appear more “white” which really hinders their self image. For example, some may say they use weaves and hair extensions to make hair look longer and more white, European, The worst part about this picture is that it was found on a very popular cosmetic and medicine blog.

#is there one form of beauty?

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Misoginy And The Depiction Of Women In Hip Hop