How Women are Represented in Hip Hop Videos
Destiny Stewart
Mrs. Sarah
Composition I - English 1301.06
November 14, 2014 How Women Are Portrayed In Hip Hop Videos For Years, video girls have been a major part of hip hop music and videos, but what is the cost? Are girls losing themselves in the glitz and glam of being a video girl? This video covers just that: what image women are giving out by being in these Hip Hop videos. These viewpoints come from a few different people who all have different roles in the Hip Hop world. The video also talks about the negative roles such as “walking bling”, that girls choose to take on as they begin to be in Hip Hop videos. The video opens by introducing who will be sharing their opinions throughout the video. It introduces us to Melyssa Ford, who is a model, Irv Gotti, who is a record executive, Kendra G, who is a radio show host, and Kevin Powell, who is a writer and activist. The first topic they cover is “walking bling”. The host opens by showing examples of how women are shown in hip hop music videos. She looks into clips from both a 50 cent video and a Jay Z video. Both videos show females in small clothes, out numbering the males in the videos. This strengthens the host’s point that the girls might be looked at as “walking bling”. As she states, they may be looked at as nothing more than “adornments; much like jewelry.” Females in music videos are sometimes used just as an object. They represent a prize or something that can be obtained once you reach a certain level of stardom. According to http://onlinethics.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/the-representation-of-women-in-hip-hop-and-rap-videos/ , “ Women are ever so often there as mere sexual objects, dancing provocatively in revealing clothing, demonstrating sexual innuendos with their bodies’ movements, present in the clips entirely for the heterosexual male artists and viewers’ satisfaction. With that being their primary, and pretty much only purpose of being in the video, they are not so much full blown human
Mrs. Sarah
Composition I - English 1301.06
November 14, 2014 How Women Are Portrayed In Hip Hop Videos For Years, video girls have been a major part of hip hop music and videos, but what is the cost? Are girls losing themselves in the glitz and glam of being a video girl? This video covers just that: what image women are giving out by being in these Hip Hop videos. These viewpoints come from a few different people who all have different roles in the Hip Hop world. The video also talks about the negative roles such as “walking bling”, that girls choose to take on as they begin to be in Hip Hop videos. The video opens by introducing who will be sharing their opinions throughout the video. It introduces us to Melyssa Ford, who is a model, Irv Gotti, who is a record executive, Kendra G, who is a radio show host, and Kevin Powell, who is a writer and activist. The first topic they cover is “walking bling”. The host opens by showing examples of how women are shown in hip hop music videos. She looks into clips from both a 50 cent video and a Jay Z video. Both videos show females in small clothes, out numbering the males in the videos. This strengthens the host’s point that the girls might be looked at as “walking bling”. As she states, they may be looked at as nothing more than “adornments; much like jewelry.” Females in music videos are sometimes used just as an object. They represent a prize or something that can be obtained once you reach a certain level of stardom. According to http://onlinethics.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/the-representation-of-women-in-hip-hop-and-rap-videos/ , “ Women are ever so often there as mere sexual objects, dancing provocatively in revealing clothing, demonstrating sexual innuendos with their bodies’ movements, present in the clips entirely for the heterosexual male artists and viewers’ satisfaction. With that being their primary, and pretty much only purpose of being in the video, they are not so much full blown human