Misogyny is defined as prejudice against women and has become common in hip hop culture. Rappers and artists nowadays have become more descriptive, explicit in their representation of women. Not only an I speaking of just male artists, but female artists have also portrayed themselves in an overly sexual way on purpose. It is sad that the female gender has been reduced to "bitches and hoes", but what is even worse is that women are accepting this without any say.
In the link, you'll find an article from the Huffington Post by Joseph Raucher on how women are accepting misogyny in hip hop culture. He explains three ways how women are accepting this degrading image. The first way he explains is that women brush the offense off because the music isn't talking about them. For example, if a woman feels that she is not a "hoe" then the music doesn't apply to her and there is no offense. The second way is that women feel that it is not worth it to cause an uproar and they should let everyone enjoy the music. The third way that women dismiss the degradation is that they purposely ignore the lyrics because the music is tolerable and they enjoy it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-rauch/how-women-accept-offensiv_b_1429886.html
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI have actually read the article you shared before and I think it is great. I think it is so sad that women demand equality and respect from our male counterparts, but the next second they will listen to degrading hip hop music that refers to women as you stated, as "bitches and hoes". When women who claim to be feminists support or are even just indifferent to misogyny and objectification in music, they become hypocrites. Joseph Raucher does a great job of depicting three ways that women accept this degrading image. Hopefully his words will help to make an impact, educate, and spread awareness of what is happening in hip hop culture, and bring about eventual change that involves equality, respect and dignity for women. Thanks for sharing this!
-Bridget Thomas
After reading this article, I wonder what the author would make of female artists in rap music. For instance, the new Nicki Minaj song Anaconda has a music video where she dances around in ways they show off her butt. The song itself has lyrics where Nicki celebrates her own body but also celebrates the fact that others like her body.
ReplyDeleteI think looking at this versus what a man writes could potentially be a lot different. Is it more ok since it is a woman calling herself and other women bitches and hoes or is it just as misogynistic? Furthermore, are these videos sexually empowering because Nicki is showing off her own body as if she is proud and confident about it, or is it still sexual objectification because she is making her body into an object for people to admire?
I'm personally not sure what to think. What are your guys' opinions?
Here is the link for Nicki Minaj's new song (Anaconda) in case you haven't seen it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
I think that you pose a good question: Is Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" empowering or objectifying? I think that it's both. Firstly, I'm going to say that I don't think her video was about her sexuality more than it was about her gain of self-confidence in her body image. Nicki Minaj seems to be empowering herself by being very confident with her body, and portraying what she thinks society deems undesirable (her "fat ass") as very desirable. However, in the process of that, she completely strips her body of personality and portrays it merely as an object of sexual desire for males. Which is just degrading her of who she is, mind-wise.
DeleteThis is shown when she is giving a lap dance to the male in the video, Drake. She entices him with her body, making him want her sexually- for purely physical purposes. As soon as he goes to reach out to her, he confirms to her that she is sexually desirable. As soon as this happens, she walks away in a manner that leaves him wanting more. She makes herself a sexual object.
However, this could also be looked at as if she's getting what she wants. She's the one doing the objectification, not the viewer. She puts herself in control of her body and how it's viewed and becomes a sexual aggressor. It's important to note, that traditionally, males are the ones who are usually in control and are the sexual aggressors. Because she flipped this role, this could be empowering to her.
Personally, I think that just because she's purposely doing the objectification, doesn't make for a good cause to feel empowered. Most audiences are going to objectify you anyways without you meaning them to. So, it really doesn't take any work to objectify yourself. In my opinion, it would take much more talent and work to do the opposite.
Overall, is Nicki Minaj truly empowering herself? No. She's discovering confidence by exploiting her body at best. I think that true empowerment results from something that gives you strength from the inside out. And, gaining confidence by having others depreciating you mind-wise through objectification seems like a sure fail way to weaken your appreciation and true sense of self.
-- Josephine Hicks
I think that women's music does have the potential to be just as degrading if she is genuinely referring to other women as "bitches and hoes" and perpetuating misogynistic themes, however, I dont think that Nicki Minaj is an example of problematic music. Minaj is a very outspoken feminist who is constantly working towards empowering themes in her presentation. A lot of her work satirizes the typical male attitudes, and the Anaconda video in particular uses cinematic elements that put her in the position of power. All is really takes is the shot of her brutally slicing a banana to see that she is not sexualizing herself for the pleasure of the male gaze.
ReplyDelete~Alex Duncan
The lyrics in hip hop music nowadays is the main reason I do not listen to rap/hip hop. I have never been a huge fan of the music, but after understanding lyrics more over the past few years, I've disliked most of the genre even more. I agree with the article, but another problem I find is that just because women don't see themselves as, "hoes and bitches" doesn't mean they don't see other women as, "hoes and bitches," which I see as another problem. No one should see others that way at all, whether it's men or women. Prejudice of any kind is wrong. I think this style of hip hop pushes prejudice, and makes people see women as objects.
ReplyDelete- Anthony
I think that, in a lot of cases, women who listen to hip-hop music (or really any songs or artists who perpetuate misogyny) can become desensitized to the misogynistic lyrics and themes of the songs. Even when people say that music is "just for fun" or that it doesn't express how they actually feel towards women, it still sends messages to both males and females about how women are meant to treated and how women are meant to behave. I believe that it is important that the messages being sent to people about the treatment of women needs to be empowering towards women, rather than degrading, because I believe that even songs and lyrics that are meant to be seen as a joke have the power to be damaging towards women.
ReplyDelete--Melissa Condon
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ReplyDeleteI agree that it is so upsetting that women have come to accept their degrading image. Its even more upsetting that some women are actually promoting those degrading images. I can't believe that a woman would actually want to portray themselves in such a degrading way. I don't think that "Well I enjoy the music." is a plausible excuse to accept this image. There are plenty of songs that could be written without degrading women that would sound just as enjoyable, but that does not happen because we don't allow it to. Sex sells and that is why the media eats up these degrading images of women. In my opinion, if people stopped listening to the degrading songs, then there wouldn't be a problem anymore. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete- Ashley Compton
It is upsetting to see more and more women accept this kind of attack on their sex, and before reading the article, I had sincerely thought to myself 'Well, if that's what they want to listen to and they're okay with it, then why not?' Of course this is a huge issue we're dealing with and will continue dealing with until an artist can break the mould and be uplifting instead of degrading. I will admit that I have a bigger problem with male artists degrading women more that female artists, because I see male artists' degradation as a threat to women. Their explicit tracks on the many ways they'll dominate a woman is frightening. But when it comes to female artists, I see it more as a competition, that you're only a 'bitch' or 'ho' if you're not stepping up in your game, and that you need to step up or you'll never be on that artist's level. It's definitely interesting to think about as those genres are becoming more and more popular.
ReplyDelete- Tarryn Priestly
I think it's unfortunate that "bitches and hoes" is beginning to refer to specifically to women. Generally when I think of those, I just think of people. I tend to think of the queer community that will use bitch in an endearing way, particularly the stereotypical gay man or drag queen. To me, it's familiar and I don't feel it should have a negative context. Then when I get references to media outlets like music where it's male rapper subjecting women to their terms, it has a totally different connotation and it becomes something wrong and I no longer am okay with it. People get used to this representation and stop seeing anything wrong with it and then it can become "natural" and accepted. And that isn't okay.
ReplyDelete-Elijah Zagorski