It is very interesting though that the rappers that are most talking about as demeaning women and society's beliefs are men, such as Eminem and Snoop; however, women rappers, such as Lil Kim, who write songs about similar issues, are rarely scrutinized for their behavior. It is intersting that although both sexes are creating music that is demeaning to many women, only men get the blame, which is yet another gendered view in society.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Rap Music: A Center for Misogyny
Now, more then ever, people of all ages listen to music constantly, whether it is on their way to work through their car radios or via ipods and mp3 players. Rap music, one of the most popular music forms in today's society, is increasingly becoming more demeaning towards women of all colors. It seems as though materialism and misogyny are the most common themes in rap music videos, more-so than violence or even sex. Music videos consistently show women committing more misogyny than men. TI's "Whatever You Like," a very popular song, shows a woman receiving a limitless amount of materialistic things from a man just because she is beautiful. This video shows her going from a waitress at a rundown diner to living the "good life." The materialism and misogyny portrayed in this video correlate to the similar characteristics of many rap music videos. The content of the actual songs is very demeaning because it not degrades women, but makes extremely inappropriate sexual references, most of which should not be heard by children. Music is perhaps one of the easiest ways for people to be exposed to pop culture; today's rap music, now more than ever, scrutinizes society and distorts all of the beliefs that we have, whether it is the idea of feminism or the need to stop materialism in the world.
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4 comments:
Very true! I think that men are scrutinized more because their music is played more. The only way I knew Lil' Kim was famous was at the MTV Video Music Awards when her breast was hanging out of her dress.
I think there is no way anyone can disagree with the fact that rap music is generally degrading to women--not all songs--but most. Last year I was at a family party when that Soulja Boy song came on. All of the kids started doing the "superman" dance. It killed me because they obviously don't know what that means! And their parents must not either--because if they did, there is no way in hell they would let their children even listen to that song ever again! I think it's awful that kids don't even know how degrading the song they are dancing to is. If it's played on the radio, they'll listen to it. This really shows the diffusion of pop culture.
Rap music has been widely criticized for years on three main fronts: violence, drugs, and degradation of women. The use of women in sexual music videos and the song lyrics accompanying them consistently make rappers, record labels, and advertisers millions every year. Along with several other blog posts regarding the construction of gender, money seems to be the opposing force to breaking down these barriers. Although an overwhelming majority will acknowledge the damage that something like this does to the stereotyping of women, I doubt any major changes will be seen for years to come.
I've heard some misogynistic rap songs before, but I don't consider TI's song "Whatever you Like" to fall under that category. I'd classify it as a love song, that has some explicit sexual descriptions. I don't believe that being sexually explicit and being misogynistic go hand-in-hand.
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