Preview

Gender Stereotypes In Rap Music

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
535 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gender Stereotypes In Rap Music
Women always face a strong challenge from hip-pop culture and male rappers. Men’s dominant position is very obvious in rap music in the early time of hip-hop music. In rap music, women always have a negative or derogatory image. Many rap music uses aggressive and abusive words to aim at women. In misogynistic songs, rappers often use “bitch” or “ho” to refer to a woman and describe her as a distrust figure (par. 12). Scholars have provides some reasons for the appearance of misogyny in rap music. For example, some experts have claimed that the surrounding environment has an influence on rap music, which will reflect rap artists’ attitudes towards women and that male rappers are often influenced by their personal prejudices against women. Other …show more content…
Otherwise, there are many prominent female rappers playing a role of independent woman, to protest against the misogyny in rap music. For example, Yo-Yo, whose original name is Yolanda Whitaker, is an American female rapper. Her famous singles includes “You Can’t Play with My Yo-Yo”, “Black Pearl”, “West Side story” and “One for the Cuties”. She contributes to maintaining female rights and criticizing the hip-hop music with sexism (par. 1). In 1990, Ice Cube invited Yo-Yo as a guest on their album called AmeriKKKa's Most Wantedalb. In 1992, she published her own album “Black Pearl”, which received good comments from critics as a result of positive information and exciting themes. At that time, her album “Black Pearl” is completely different from the popular rap style which called gangsta rap style. However, her album didn’t have a big effect on mainstream hip-hop audiences and didn’t attract too many purchasers (par. 3). After three years, because of her rap “I Wanna Be Down”, she gained a MTV Video Music Reward nomination for best rap video. In addition, Salt-N-Pepa, Eve, Missy Elliott and Beyonce are representatives of women who oppose gender discrimination in the rap
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes, B-Girls And Hip-Hop Culture
    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Stereotypes, B-Girls And Hip-Hop Culture

    Inside Joseph Schloss’s book, Foundation: B-Boys, B-Girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York shows and analyses the hip-hop cultures origins whilst remaining predominately specific to “B-Boys.” He does this by going through the history and origins of B-Boys and B-Girls from 2003 to 2008 in New York. Joseph G. Schloss shows the progression and evolution of cultural differences from different regions by showing the varying differences in experiences of dancers. Although Hip-Hop has been given negative connotations by pop culture, Schloss believes that Hip-Hop and B-Boys in particular displays cultural origins and traditions, such as “battle tactics, acrobatic power and Afro-diasporic competitive dance” that can be found in African-American and Latin-American…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Hip-Hop's Betrayal Of Black Women
    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Hip-Hop's Betrayal Of Black Women

    The article “Hip-Hop Betrayal of Black Women” was written by Jennifer McLune and appeared in Z magazine Online in the July 2006 issue. McLune argues that sexism in hip-hop’s culture is a big part and has helped make the industry what it is today. This article can be divided into 5 different sections. In the first section, she talks about Kevin Powell and how he writes how men talk about women in hip-hop. McLune goes on to say that even wealthy white boys talked about African American women in their songs, yet its okay with society. The second section she gives examples of entertainers that…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hip-Hop's Betrayal Of Black Women
    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hip-Hop's Betrayal Of Black Women

    In her essay “Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women” Jennifer McLunes states that “Hip-hop owes its success to the ideology of woman-hating”(222). She states that hip-hop condones an attitude of objectification, sexism, and homophobia. That rarely does an artist break the mold of rampant sexism. While she is right that some lyrics may be interpreted as chauvinistic and perhaps even sexist, this is not majority of the music. McLunes argument is not valid because hip-hop’s artists, the environment it is born from, and its culture is a celebration of materialism not misogyny.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jones and Mclune
    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jones and Mclune

    Mclune goes on to say that artists should embody respect between genders through their music. She argues that Black female rappers are just as much to blame as their male peers. She encourages women to speak in a collective voice, as to defend themselves, instead of being “hyper feminine and hyper sexual to please men.” (McLune 215)…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hops Betrayal of black women analytical summary
    • 704 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hip Hops Betrayal of black women analytical summary

    In Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women published in Z Communications online magazine July 1, 2006, Jennifer Mclune responds to Kevin Powell’s Notes of a Hip Hop Head by vividly expressing to feminist and African American women that “Hip Hop owes its success to the ideology of woman hating. It creates, perpetuates, and reaps the rewards of objectification.”…

    • 704 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Banning Words From Hip-Hop And Rap Music
    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page

    Banning Words From Hip-Hop And Rap Music

    Nowadays, many racist and corrupt words are being used in hip-hop and rap music. Unfortunately, this genre of music is always played on the radio which is the main reason to why kids, in our time, know and use a lot of these inconvenient words. The only sensational conclusion people came up with to stop the use of such lyrics is the banning of corrupt terms from hip-hop and rap music and the prohibition of these inappropriate words is what John H. McWhorter discusses in “Banning Words from Hip-Hop and Rap Music Would Be Beneficial” (2008). McWhorter’s an African American man and the author of many books on languages and on race relations. His previous works show us that he has the capability of writing about the use of language-related topic.…

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    essay #2
    • 1163 Words
    • 3 Pages

    essay #2

    Music now a day has sets a new bar for the way men act and how they treat women. Rappers have a reputation to writing music about how dominant a male should be and how women are to be verbally and at times physically abused by them, which may cause…

    • 1163 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Essence of Res(ex)pectability: Black Women’s Negotiation of Black Femininity in Rap Music and Music Videos
    • 629 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Essence of Res(ex)pectability: Black Women’s Negotiation of Black Femininity in Rap Music and Music Videos

    This article, written by Shanara R. Reid, discusses the over-sexualization of women in rap/hip hop songs and music videos, and the possible social causes of this. It has become apparent nowadays that women are heavily degraded in all kinds of media in order to appeal to the male viewing audience. Scantily clad women partaking in provocative dance routines and actions has become a norm of music videos. Machismo ideals that stress the extreme superiority of men over women and encourage the representation of women almost as an item prevail among lyrics. African-American women are especially susceptible to this kind of treatment, and many, including the author of this journal article, believe that more should be done by these women to protect the good name of their own class of people.…

    • 629 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hop Misogynist Analysis
    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Hip Hop Misogynist Analysis

    The name calling disrespects, dehumanizes, and dishonors women. If a man labels a woman with any of these names, he may feel justified in committing physical or psychological violence against her. The name-calling may also be representative of the way these men are thinking and feeling the anger, disdain, and ill feelings toward women. Joan Morgan, who refers to herself as a hip-hop feminist, reveals, "Yeah, sistas are hurt…But the real crime isn't the name-calling, it's their failure to love us---to be our brothers in the way that we commit ourselves to being their sistas."[1] Many black men within hip-hop culture who battle racism and oppression themselves everyday have been conditioned by society not to trust or love, and if they do not love themselves, it is difficult for them to love women or anyone else in a healthy…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Hip Hop Wars: Hip Hop Demeans Women Essay Example
    • 1195 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Hip Hop Wars: Hip Hop Demeans Women Essay Example

    ““I said ‘Bitch, why you such a stupid hoe?’ You lil’ bitch, you never could fuck with this. And every bitch that don’t like it, she can suck my dick.” These lyrics were taken from the song “Call her a bitch” by the rapper Too Short. With song lyrics like this one, it is very difficult for people both biased and unbiased to hip hop to even try to defend it. Although it is not the only music genre to have lines objectifying women, it is once again, as with other less than glorious topics, associated with the hip hop/rap genre the most. Throughout this chapter Rose makes very valid points with supported reasoning. As long as the public continues to support the objectivity of women, why would hip hop artists making good money stop?…

    • 1195 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Has Hip Hop Changed America
    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Has Hip Hop Changed America

    Hip Hop has had an inundating influence on the black community in America, as well as society holistically. Hip Hop is more than music, Hip Hop is a culture. Over the past three decades, Hip Hop has influenced and uplifted America, verbalizing up for generations and providing a voice to a group of people endeavoring to distribute a message. However Hip Hop does have some major imperfections. The relationship between rap music and women has always been a tricky one to digest. Although misogyny and homophobia has plagued rap culture throughout its existence, hip-hop has changed American’s way of life.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Stereotypes In Gangs
    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Gender Stereotypes In Gangs

    Over the course of history female gangs have been largely overlooked from the focus of gang studies and research, the main focus has been how males are influenced and influence the world through gang membership. Anne Campbell argued this in her piece The Girls in the Gang, stating that it started with Frederic Thrasher’s work that merely focused on delinquent boys, even noting that the research conducted on female gangs has been largely done by male researchers (Venkatesh, 1998). However, the reality is that, girls have become more and more active in gangs since the 1980’s (Molidor, 1996). Furthermore, female gang participation has been increasing in recent times with the rate of female gang membership at ten percent (Cyr and Decker, 2003). However, self-report surveys tell a different story with the rate of females in gangs at twenty-two…

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Hypersexualization Of Hip Hop
    • 1884 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Hypersexualization Of Hip Hop

    With the help of technology hip-hop has become a global movement. This newfound globalization has connected different people by one love of the hip-hop culture. Some ways in which people connect through hip-hop include international organizations and competitions. A prime example is Hip Hop International (HHI), the creators of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. HHI puts on a world competition each year for dance crews to compete for a world title in Las Vegas. While it is a competition, it is also an opportunity for dancers to meet other dancers from other countries. Other ways to people to connect are through the Internet with collaborations on music. An example is the collaboration of Will.i.am and Apl.de.ap (Black Eyed Peas, USA) with CL…

    • 1884 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In Hip Hop Culture
    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women In Hip Hop Culture

    Hip Hop has gotten too hard core, it’s only about misogynist and materialism. Back in the day rappers had more to talk about than guns, money, jewels, cars and women. In today’s Hip Hop, it glorifies the ghetto, gangs, guns, money and jewelry which reinforces the tradition of the black stereotypes. Gangster rap is described as the angriest type of rap music where it glamorizes sex and violence. N.W.A was one of the most controversial rap groups in the world of hip hop who are known as the creators of “gansta rap”. The group was an influential force in the Hip-Hop culture because of their harsh music which questioned the government and the police. In all Hip-Hop music video you will always see a female flaunting her assets. These women are often called…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Music Lyrics Do Not Promote Violence
    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Music Lyrics Do Not Promote Violence

    Music Lyrics being NON-VIOLENT Rap music can be considered a style of art, and a way for the artists to express feelings through their words on paper. However, there are quite a few rap artists that get criticized for their lyrics. In my essay, I want to discuss why rappers use certain lyrics in their music and why people shouldn’t believe that it causes violence among the younger generations. People shouldn’t censor the music just because of violent, vulgar and abusive messages it promotes to the world. I believe in my own mind, that there is a reason for these types of lyrics that rap artists use and I will simply explain those reasons in this essay. Rap has been called one of the most important music forces to emerge in two decades. It’s pounding beats and staccato rhymes exploded on the streets of the urban America in the early 1980s and since have become the theme music and lyrical heart of the vibrant youth culture called hip-hop ( SIRS 1993). There are many different types of rap artist. There are some that talk about money, some talk about righteousness, and the list goes on and on. Every rap artist had their own way of expressing themselves. There are those that talk about sex, drugs, and violence who receive the negative attention( SIRS 1993). People, think this so- called gangster rap is a bad influence on children in the world and that it promotes violence and that it also is abusive to women. Delores Tucker, head of national congress of black women has been among those pressuring different record companies to stop distributing gangster rap music. There were other significant names that participated in this action. Names like Senate Majority leader Bob dole, and former education Secretary William J. Bennett(Surveys, pg. 1). There are some rap artists that have been openly criticized for their lyrics. Rappers like Lil Kim, Too Short, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and a member from “Too Live Crew,” named Luke Skywalker. These rap artists in the past have been…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More