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.
Reid does not just stop at the objectifying of black women in rap music; she goes on to argue that black women experience the same kind of treatment by men in their day to day lives. Men often feel their actions of degrading women are justified because they feel the objects of their treatment are the “bad” black women, as opposed to the “good” ones. This idea of good vs. bad limits the black women to two unfair social castes in their own misogynistic societies. The good black women follow the typical “mammy” archetype popularized by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In modern context, the mammy figure is an African American woman responsible for cooking, cleaning, and caring for her children as well as her family. In contrast, the “bad” black women are the typical video hos; these are the women who live unchaste lifestyles, or at the very least act like they do. Their willingness to give up respect for themselves give their male counterparts justification in also abandoning all respect for the women.
The subjugation of the women to this black matriarchy leads them to develop diminutive social spheres the author likes to refer to as “safe spaces.”
Reid does not just stop at the objectifying of black women in rap music; she goes on to argue that black women experience the same kind of treatment by men in their day to day lives. Men often feel their actions of degrading women are justified because they feel the objects of their treatment are the “bad” black women, as opposed to the “good” ones. This idea of good vs. bad limits the black women to two unfair social castes in their own misogynistic societies. The good black women follow the typical “mammy” archetype popularized by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In modern context, the mammy figure is an African American woman responsible for cooking, cleaning, and caring for her children as well as her family. In contrast, the “bad” black women are the typical video hos; these are the women who live unchaste lifestyles, or at the very least act like they do. Their willingness to give up respect for themselves give their male counterparts justification in also abandoning all respect for the women.
The subjugation of the women to this black matriarchy leads them to develop diminutive social spheres the author likes to refer to as “safe spaces.”