ipl-logo

Sexism In Rap Music Essay

1489 Words6 Pages

Rap music has transformed over time to represent different art forms and moments of history. The genre is often criticized in the media for its sometimes controversial themes. Hip hop has seen great transformations since the formation in the 1970s with different waves of styles and themes laced with both praise of progression and great negative criticisms. A recent controversy dealt with Beyoncé Knowles’ Super Bowl 50 Halftime show for her new song “Formation”. The single highlights the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Her all female dancers wore all black berets giving a homage to the Black Panthers Party. One point they held a fist in the air alluding to the movement against police brutality and shootings on black individuals. The media quickly …show more content…

Sexism and misogynistic themes are seen in pop, punk, rock, country, and heavy metal music. It is seen in the lyrics and more in the music videos objectifying women. Hip hop being more popular and mainstream makes it an easier target for people to criticize, which is also why it is often seen as a negative influence in the media. What people forget is that the sexism and misogynistic views seen in hip hop music is a reflection of the sexism we have in society. The sexism we have in society is what artists try to inform listeners about. Artists like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole rap about themes and issues prevalent in our current society and tend to stay away from misogynistic lyrics. Yet we still have lyrics like “Don’t save her, she don’t want to be saved” in J. Coles song No Role Modelz. He compares women to those in reality shows to those in 90’s tv shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to describe relationships today. Without having role models, young people would just prioritize sex in their relationship. It is also a reference to Project Pat’s single “Don’t Save Her” which means to imply that the man would be saving the woman from being used by other men. J. Cole’s influential music is still praised because what he raps about is what he wants others to realize what is happening in society, similar to what other artists try to do especially female artists trying to show their

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Ladies First By Latifah

    1047 Words  | 5 Pages

    Following its birth, hip-hop promoted important social and political causes. Hip-Hop artists utilize their lyrics and videos to convey messages to their audiences. It has become common today to dismiss the impacts women have made on the hip-hop culture. Nevertheless, men have not only used hip-hop to promote important causes but also females. Since it's beginning Queen Latifah has used hip hop to promote issues important to females to an audiences who do not traditionally view females as significant leaders.

    Read More

  • Hip Hop Planet James Mcbride Summary

    160 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hip hop has a message that reveals the social inequalities of our nations. In addition, McBride wants people to keep an open mind about hip hop and new thing that they may not be used to. In conclusion, he declares hip

    Read More

  • Forest Hills Drive Music Analysis

    585 Words  | 3 Pages

    J Cole’s music appeals to the mind of the listener, he raps about real life issues: more than heartbreak and love. He raps about real life experiences. He often raps about his experiences of being black and the discrimination that he has lived through. In his song, “No Role Modelz”, he says “I came fast like 911 in white neighborhoods, ain’t got no shame bout it”. He expresses that there’s a clear difference between how the justice department treats white people versus black people.

    Read More

  • Love Yourz Rhetorical Analysis

    927 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, critics are missing the point of the hip hop song’s message, because they are too focused on the violent and explicit lyrics of some rappers. Many people who believe that hip hop is too violent don’t see what the artist is trying to get across to his audience. In the song Love Yourz by J Cole, J Cole mentions materialistic items such as cars, money, homes, as well as women. He mentions these things, but he isn’t talking about those things in a negative way. He says there’s always going to be a bigger house or better car or newer clothes, but that doesn’t matter at all unless you can love yourself first, and be grateful of what you do have in the first place.

    Read More

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

    633 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her essay “hip hop’s betrayal of black women,” Jennifer McLune implies that “(h)ip-hop owes its success to the ideology of women-hating” (193). She does not agree with Kevin Powell’s article that hip-hop does not mean to “offend” black women, but instead artists are only letting out their temper throughout their music. McLune feels infuriated that many artists in hip hop (including black men) rap about their community and downgrade their own women. In the hip-hop genre, sexism is mainly used, not only by black men but also by many other race hip-hop artists. Artists assume that women-hating in their rap songs will be accepted by women, but do not realize that it is affecting all women.

    Read More

  • The Hip Hop Wars By Tricia Rose

    2518 Words  | 11 Pages

    a. Throughout Tricia Rose’s work of the Hip Hop Wars, she goes back and forth between a couple different topics relating to the genre, such as the debate about hip hop causing violence, or reflecting a violent ghetto culture, along with if hip hop is sexist, or if people against the music or just anti-sex. She talks about how hip hop has made a positive impact on society as a whole, by giving people who may feel left out a voice and allowed those in working-class and poor communities a way to express their social and political beliefs. But she also describes the genre as a topic which has created tension among numerous different people, for promoting violence and other anti-feminist ideals. “Members of the hip hop generation are now facing

    Read More

  • Hip Hop Planet Speech

    1186 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hip Hop is seen as something inspiring, but most people see it as a way to speak out the truth about a problem. As in “Hip Hop planet” being able say the truth can sometimes worsen any situation because sometimes what we say can promote violence and whatever happens after is not in our control. The essay is about how hip hop has changed into speaking out the issues that need to be taken care of in order to maintain a proper society. McBride talked about how rappers use violent lyrics to degrade women and gays and because of this it shows how the music has evolved into something entirely different that no one would have ever expected to have changed. In James McBride's essay “Hip Hop Planet,” he argues that hip hop has a negative influence on American Culture despite people thinking of it as inspirational and how people live through different experiences in life despite of your race.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Violence In Music Videos

    347 Words  | 2 Pages

    Along with the creation of music videos, hip-hop’s popularity has soared and changed in many ways. Men and women are depicted in distinct and vivid ways in the media – particularly music videos – that may subconsciously affect our views of the norms of today’s society. That is, catchy songs and glamorous music videos that society thinks are harmless entertainment actually shape our worldview and can cause people to accept false impressions of women (Shrum & Lee, 2012). For example, as Sarnavka (2003) posits, women are victims of violence in society, as well as victims of violence in media (as cited in Bretthauer, Zimmerman, and Banning, 2007).

    Read More

  • Hip Hop And Feminism Essay

    759 Words  | 4 Pages

    ¨If Hip Hop has the ability to corrupt minds, it also has the ability to uplift them.¨ Hip hop music, also called rap music, is a music genre developed in the United States by African Americans consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. Mainstream hip hop culture is also filled with misogyny and negative images of women. These artists are unaware that sexism has been forced onto them through the brainwashing from the media, which is controlled by a patriarchal society. Conversely, feminism is the belief that both genders should have equal power.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Violence In Rap

    946 Words  | 4 Pages

    What seems to us now as excessive violence and misogyny in hip hop stems from a culture that has been consumed in a continuous battle against social and economic oppression since its early days. In the beginnings of hip hop, there was an explosion of defiance against the subjugation these artists had to experience on a daily basis. For many artists, rapping about guns and gang life was a reflection of daily life in the ghettos and inner-city housing projects. Not only did rap provide an outlet to voice the struggles of black youth, it also gave them a sense of pride. Before major hip hop groups such as NWA arrived on the scene, people would refuse to admit they were even from Compton.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Hip Hop On Black Culture

    1006 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Impact of Hip-Hop Ever since its birth in the 1970s in West Bronx, Hip Hop has been known as “Gangsta” music and most commonly associated with black culture. Since its creation it has become a fast growing genre of music and has growing fame all over the world. The popularity of it has increased to all races, age and gender. However the growing popularity of hip hop has come with several controversies among scholars. Some scholars argue that the growing popularity of the genre is very helpful to low income families who can use this as their outlet into going to Universities, on the other side some believe associating the genre to black culture is bad for the culture as a whole and they should not be associated together.

    Read More

  • Hip Hop Culture Analysis

    1882 Words  | 8 Pages

    Hip-hop culture has been the topic of various academic, social, and political discourses. Rap music, in particular, has made its way to mainstream media which is evident in the numerous films and movies that centers on what was once a part of an underground culture. Scholars explain that the popularity of hip-hop in both music and films are partly due to its potential to disseminate information, address an issue, and promote social change. Tinson and McBride (2013), for example, note that hip-hop is a “…form of critical education at the intersection of, and inseparable from political engagement” (1). Scholars further note that hip-hop’s current state “…requires frequent accounting of its engagement with the social, political, and cultural climate

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Racism In Hip-Hop Music

    1249 Words  | 5 Pages

    The African American community has not gained full equality to this day. Even after fighting for many years this present day issue has come to light in Hip-Hop artists songs like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song, White Privilege II. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are respected in their line of work because they have become very popular in today 's Hip-Hop music. Hip-Hop has been the newest way of news being broadcasted. As many artists like Macklemore have become more of an activist in this day and age.

    Read More

  • Objectification In The Music Industry

    1567 Words  | 7 Pages

    Research says that the portrayal in country music of female gender roles has changed over time. Pruitt says, “between 1955 and 2005, women in country music were more likely to be portrayed as sexually and relationally empowered, and pursuing a non-traditional female gender role has become more acceptable” (Pruitt 2006). Now in today’s culture women are the subject to harsher stereotypes than they were in the past country

    Read More

  • Gender Issues In Rap Music

    942 Words  | 4 Pages

    The issue is especially present in male rappers. The lyrics in these songs contain messages about mistreating women, causing violence, and have an unnecessary amount of profane language. Rap music greatly affects society's values, arguably in a very poor manner. A very present issues in rap lyrics is how the rappers talk about women. These can range anywhere from talking about rape to simply saying they want to have intercourse

    Read More

More about Sexism In Rap Music Essay

Open Document