African American Female Rappers History.
African American Female Rappers American culture, being traditionally perceived as quite liberal and democratic, is in fact paralyzed by the overwhelming power of stereotypes which shape the current image of culture at large and its industries, including music, in particular. Even the most innovative and advanced movement’s turn to be submitted to the canons of the ideology that dominates in American culture. Unfortunately, such a situation does not contribute to the development of really free, liberal and focused on spiritual, moral and intellectual progress of the consumers of the culture.
Probably one of the most interesting, new and, unfortunately, typical example of the domination of stereotypes in American culture is the development of female black rap music, which has become particularly intensive in 1980s and is still quite dynamically developing. At first glance black female rap music should be free from traditional stereotypes, it should be innovative and contributing to black female emancipation and increasing the role of black females in the society at large but, in actuality, the situation is absolutely different.
Despite the fact that many female rappers pretend to be unique at developing the new image of a free and independent black female, it turns to be that practically all of them, or at least the most popular of them, are ideologically dependent on the male dominance in proper and figurative sense of this word. It means that as a rule black female rappers tend to create an image which can be well accepted by the wide audience and which is created on the basis of the dominating ideology in American culture, notably in American rap music that is characterized by the male dominance and the role of a black female is so to say secondary or subordinated to a male. As a result, instead of a new image of a black female that could be independent and free of male dominance, rap music industry and the audience have got a negative image of a black
Probably one of the most interesting, new and, unfortunately, typical example of the domination of stereotypes in American culture is the development of female black rap music, which has become particularly intensive in 1980s and is still quite dynamically developing. At first glance black female rap music should be free from traditional stereotypes, it should be innovative and contributing to black female emancipation and increasing the role of black females in the society at large but, in actuality, the situation is absolutely different.
Despite the fact that many female rappers pretend to be unique at developing the new image of a free and independent black female, it turns to be that practically all of them, or at least the most popular of them, are ideologically dependent on the male dominance in proper and figurative sense of this word. It means that as a rule black female rappers tend to create an image which can be well accepted by the wide audience and which is created on the basis of the dominating ideology in American culture, notably in American rap music that is characterized by the male dominance and the role of a black female is so to say secondary or subordinated to a male. As a result, instead of a new image of a black female that could be independent and free of male dominance, rap music industry and the audience have got a negative image of a black
Bibliography: 1. Barrett, S. E. 1990. “Paths toward diversity: An intrapsychic perspective”. In L. S. Brown & M. P. P. Root (Eds.), Diversity and complexity in feminist therapy (pp. 41–52). New York: Harrington Park Press. 2. Burford, M., & Farley, C. J. 1999, August. “Foxy 's Dilemma”. Essence Magazine, p.72. 3. Cheney, Charise L. 2005. Brothers Gonna Work It Out, New York and London: New York: University Press. 4. Collins, P. H. 2000. Black Feminist Thought. New York and London: Rutledge. 5. Cross, W. E., Parham, T, & Helms, J. 1991. “The stages of Black identity development: Nigrescence models”. In R. Jones (Ed.), Black psychology (pp. 319–338). Berkeley: Cobb & Henry. 6. D 'Emilio, J., & Freedman, E. B. 1988. Intimate matters: The history of sexuality in America. New York: Vintage Press. 7. Evans, C. B. 1994. Breaking Free of the Shame Trap. New York: Ballantine. 9. Garbarino, J. 1999. Lost Boys. New York: The Free Press. 10. George, N. 1998. Hip Hop America. New York: Viking Penguin. 11. Hip-Hop Divas. 2001. New York: Three Rivers Press. 12. Latifah, Queen. 1989. “Ladies First” All Hail the Queen. Tommy Boy Music. 13. Morgan, J. 2000. When Chicken heads Come Home To Roast. New York: Touchstone. 15. Rose, Tricia. 1994. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Hanover and London: Wesleyan University Press. 16. Souljah, Sister. 1992. 360 Degrees of Power. New York: Sony Music Entertainment. 17. Sexton, A. 1995. Rap on Rap. New York: Bantam. 18. Tatum, B. 1992. “Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom”. Harvard Educational Review, 62, 1–24. 19. Tatum, B. 1993. Racial identity development and relational theory: The case of Black women in White communities. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center for Research on Women. 20. Wallace, M. 1990, July 29. “When Black Feminism Faces the Music and the Music Is Rap”. The New York Times.