Hip Hop and Stereotypes
This is an article that was written by Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, for Ebony magazine, and describes how she views that hip-hop culture has reflected negatively on the image of African American women.
Dr. Cole describes how powerful words can be, especially on younger generations who have yet to solidify their opinions and perceptions of people and their place in the world. In hip-hop, the lyrics relate closely to life experiences and personal views, and provide an outlet for those feelings and views to be expressed. Dr. Cole argues that it is this expression of certain images and ‘roles’ that women should conform to, are demeaning and only perpetuate negative stereotypes of African American women. The article explains that by encouraging the subjects that make up most of the hip-hop lyrics, the stereotypes and images they present are also encouraged.
When searching for articles, this one struck a chord with me, as I remember hearing this subject debated a lot in various different contexts. I don’t have a real strong personal connection to the subject, as I don’t listen to much hip-hop music and I’m not African American, but as a female I think that negative images of women is not something that should be taken lightly. I think this article presents an interesting perspective, as the cultural context of the music needs to be taken into consideration in order to understand why hip-hop is the way it is. I don’t believe that these feelings originated out of the blue, but have a significant amount of history behind them. I do think that the perpetuation of these stereotypes is not healthy, as no one really benefits from them, but causes a deeper rift between men and women. I think change is something that will be very difficult, as it is hard to change behavior and perceptions that have been ingrained so deeply, but hopefully some change will come in time. (320)
Link to article:
www.proquest.umi.com?pdqweb?did+1227415901&sid=8&Fmt=3&clientid=23824&RQT=309&VName=PQD
4 comments:
I have a daughter who listens to hip hop, so hearing the degrading remarks is not new to me. The music videos are not any better. Though, I do disagree with Dr. Cole that the lyrics are accelerating a bad image of African American women. In the videos, there are different ethnic groups shown, so I wouldn't single out African American women. In my opinion, it sounds as though women are a man's toy puppet. The younger generations listening to this doesn't give them much of a positive direction to go. Maybe this is a plot by men to bring women back down so they don't feel intimidated by a women's power. (wc 112)
After reading your post this week, I think it was very well written but as for the author of the article you chose…Why does she think it is a negative image that the women of hip-hop are placing on African-American women? From what I have seen, most of the women in the Hip-Hip industry are about woman empowerment and, I guess, “freedom” from having to be like every other female on television. I don’t agree with the violence aspect of Hip-Hop at all. Nor do I agree with the language towards women used in Hip-Hop music (I don’t agree with much of it at all, that’s why I don’t listen to it.) However, there are some female Hip-Hop artists that are very talented and don’t have much of a negative image. I must lso point out that this is no different than the “blonde bubble-gum” white pop artists that flaunt their bodies (and skip out on the underwear), but at least these Hip-Hop women write most of their own music. But I do appreciate your article and think it was really well written. (183)
Hip Hop is not a genre of music that I listen to, mainly because I just find it to be extremely irritating. Maybe that's just my generation talking. I was listening to Democracy Now on July 18, and they were interviewing Professor and Preacher Michael Eric Dyson about Hip Hop and Politics, and he was speaking about the importance of the message that a lot of artists are trying to convey with their music, 'conscious rap'. He spoke about how powerful the spoken word is and how the music is a reflection of everyday life for black people, calling them ethnographers.
On a lighter note, the other morning KMTT played a cover of Alanis Morrisette singing a cover of The Black-Eyed Peas' 'My Humps', which is a hilarious takeoff http://1037themountain.com/pages/352794.php of the original http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj9swNR5-lY (134)
I think hip hop has definitely veered off course from its original intentions. I thought it was originally a mode of self expression for African Americans in a white dominated society, but it seems to have been very commercialized. Due to the commercialization I think it has picked up the stereotyping of women much as other types of music have. If anyone has any doubt as to Hip Hop’s role then they only need to attend a frat party on Greek Row in the UDistrict. There they have parties on Thursday nights and play mostly Hip Hop music and essentially use it as a way to objectify drunken women. I’ve seen when a woman decides she doesn’t like being objectified by the frat boys, but then they simply blame the music because they were just ‘dancing’. I wouldn’t necessarily call groping women dancing, but I guess the word dancing is open to their interpretation. It just seems as though what was once a mode of repressed African American expression has turned into an excuse to objectify women. Due to this negative connotation that I’m not alone in, I do think the music causes stereotypes to either be perpetuated or created. (200)
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