Preview

Essay On Women In Hip Hop

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2514 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Women In Hip Hop
The Hip Hop industry has presented women in several ways, both derogatory and powerful. Women have been hyper sexualized through their roles in the counterparts’ music. The misogyny and oppression of woman was repeated throughout music but in the process giving woman the boost to come out as their own acts in the subculture. Female rappers such as Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Lil’ Kim, Salt N Pepa, and Missy Elliot were some very popular artists ranging from the 80s-90s empowering woman and freely expressing their sexuality. Within the last 10-15 years there has been the rise of female rappers such as Nicki Minaj, Remy Ma, Lauryn Hill, and Dej Loaf being more current in the industry with different styles and approaches to the rap game, but all of the artists listed have made their names known throughout the rise of Hip Hop.
Female artists in hip hop put forth the idea of self-worth, independence, and the rejection of women being more than objects to be depreciated. Rap music lacked the female perspective but never seemed to come up short in the objectifying of woman and their bodies. That’s what the artists looked to change, even though they all had different types and purposes of their music as the years began to progress to the present era of hip hop.
The analysis of female MCs in Hip Hop always was
…show more content…
The reasoning of how the women used their talents emerged from the oppression, discrimination, and sexism of women. The defiance of the male specimen role in female success is what ignited the fire within the woman of the time, their talents just made it easier to fight against the prejudice that was being forced upon them. Although their lyrical content has changed throughout the years, the background and subject matter has stayed the same amongst the female population with the main principles being, empowerment and equality amongst

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    Jones and Mclune

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Coates book Between the World and Me, he states the history of African American and violence of being an African American child in this country. Coates reminds us that racial distinction is nothing new and he described this is foundation of America and has never gone away. He especially mentioned the Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech. Coates states, “The question is not whether Lincoln truly meant ‘government of the people’ but what our country has, throughout its history, taken the political term ‘people’ to actually mean” (6). Coates expresses that the problem is who they consider actually be “people” (6). Lincoln’s “people” (Coates 6) and politician’s “people” (Coates 6) were not the same, then who is and who is not a person. Lincoln indicated…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    _ men have given black women a place where they can gain public acceptance in popular _…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip-hop is culturally and historically significant to African American society. Without hip-hop it is easy to conclude that there may not be as much violence in African American communities. Culturally hip-hop has shaped the perceptions of many things in African Americans. Historically hip-hop was originated in New York, and evolved into what young African Americans artist were experiencing in life. Collectively, the culture and history of hip-hop shaped African American…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women of Jazz Essay

    • 1527 Words
    • 7 Pages

    2. Kroger, J. (2004). Identity in adolescence, the balance between self and other. Psychology Press.…

    • 1527 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hip hop has changed drastically over the course of years. In the earlier ages, Hip hop artists valued plenty of originality by creatively expressing themselves in a positive way to their surroundings. Now it seems as if artists are preying on women as if they’re animals by lacking its true originality and being ran over by commercialism. Hip hop represents a tree gradually losing its leaves over time. Somehow, the hip hop culture has evolved from “From the heart it’s a start, a work of art, to revolutionize, make a change nothing 's strange people we are the same (Ridenhour, Carlton)” by Public Enemy to “Spit on a bitch, punch on a bitch after I eat some steak, have…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A part of the learned mainstream American culture is sexism and misogyny. Hip-hop culture is frequently condemned for its misogynistic exploitation of women, but this misogyny has its roots in the culture in which we live. Hip-hop but can be explored and used as a valuable tool in examining gender relations. It brings to surface the issues that face many young people, such as discrimination, peer relations, and self-worth, that can be considered in order to bring about change in the misogynistic aspects of hip-hop culture and American culture, in general. For young people that do not hold sexist ideals, mainstream hip-hop may influence them to do so…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hop Wars Analysis

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the essay ”Hip-Hop wars”, Tricia Rose focuses on the debate in hip-hop about sexism and discrimination. Sexism in hip-hop can be divided into two groups. People in the first group use hip-hop’s sexism as a way to strengthen the image that black people are strange and subordinate, and facilitate anti-feminist situations. People in the other group are liberals who like hip-hop, they concern about sexism because hip-hop heavily relies on it. The images that degradation of black women is strongly rooted in white conservatism and black religious. It encourages black women to counter the mainstream culture and find their own values in the society. The essay “R.E.S.P.E.C.T-But Not the Kind Aretha Franklin Had in Mind” implies that the mainstream…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    Women In Hip Hop Culture

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rap Music Controversy

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    D, Davey. "The Hip-Hop Community Works to Address Misogyny Issues." Rap and Hip-Hop. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Oakland 's Townhall on Misogyny, Teen Violence & the Influence of Rap Music w/ Too Short." www.daveyd.com. 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    hip hop race

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is a common belief that hip hop has served as the medium for healing racial tension in the 21st century. Although the hip hop industry has seen a subtle wave of successful white American rappers over the past couple of decades, this is not enough to suggest a racial merge in the predominately black American world of hip hop. White Americans are not typically welcomed into the hip hop community. The few white American rappers that have made it big in the hip hop industry must be viewed as exceptions to the idea that the rap community is solely interested in the creative narratives of African Americans.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics