Monday, November 3, 2008
Music
Susan Douglas talks about the girl groups of the 60s, Joan Morgan talks about rap music in the 90s, but what about now? What is the defining music of your generation? For this response, I'd like for you to pick a musical genre (pop, rap, R&B, country, folk, punk, etc.) and discuss the role you think it's played in shaping you and others like you. Particularly, look at this music through the lens of gender: choose a particular artist or song within the genre you're describing, and read it for the gendered messages you find there. What do the lyrics, videos, or images of a particular artist tell us about femininity or masculinity?
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I am picking rap music as my genre. I am picking this because I feel like a lot of what male rappers talk about is very degrading to women in particular. For instance the group three six mafia which is from Memphis, Tennessee have a song called slob on my nob. This song goes into details about how they don’t want women to ask any questions, they just want them to please males orally. Most of their songs talk specifically about getting b****es to please them. They put women down constantly in their videos and in their songs. A lot of rap songs have music videos with the women dressed in bathing suits or even less being sprayed with champagne. This tells a lot about our generation because we just let these images of women be put out for everyone to see. It is very common to hear male rappers talk about women as if we are just dogs, but it is so accepted in our society that we don’t even think twice when we hear these songs on the radio.
Misogyny in Hip-hop
Disk jockeying, MCing, break dancing, graffiti, beat boxing and misogyny, what do all of these words have in common? Hip-hop. Hip-hop from its inception has historically personified all of these elements. The first five are characteristics generally attributed to hip-hop while the latter is shunned and refused to be recognized as “another element of hip-hop.” Chronicling hip-hop’s first taste of mainstream success to the present, I will point out the often overlooked misogynistic messages of mainstream hip-hop and briefly relate those messages to the perceptions of women in society.
The first hip-hop song to gain mainstream attention was “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979. The song contains a catchy hook, an enthusiastic beat, clever wordplay, material references and misogynistic language. “'Cos I'm a get a fly girl, Gonna get some spank n' drive off in a def OJ. Everybody go Ho-tel, Mo-tel, Holiday Inn, Say if your girl starts actin' up, then you take her friend,” sets the tone for women to be perceived as exclusively objects of sexual satisfaction in the mainstream hip-hop community. Ensuing hits followed the same guidelines, and its result is a genre of music almost solely based on the degradation of women.
In 1986 near the peak of their success Run DMC released their hit single “It’s Tricky.” The song was fun, catchy and full of seemingly light-hearted lyrics. “I met this little girlie, her hair was kinda curly. Went to her house and bust her out, I had to leave real early. These girls are really sleazy, all they just say is please me.” Again the lone references to women in the song are filled with sexual themes. This goes further and reaffirms the assumption that sexual pleasure from men is of importance to women. It seemed that the only method of garnering major success in hip-hop is by incorporating misogynistic lyrics into songs. As hip-hop entered the nineties and incidents such as Rodney King usher in a new “conscious” hip-hop focusing on uplifting the Black community. Of this era a popular group was A Tribe Called Quest. Their most popular song, “Bonita Applebum”, concentrates on winning the attention and affection of women in which they found attraction based solely on her physical appearance. “38-24-37 (uh, uh, uh!); You and me, hun, we're a match made in heaven”. Even in this “conscious” era of hip-hop, sexual attractions to women dominated the lyrics. These lyrics are considerably more respectful to women than most hip-hop songs have offered, but they do not in anyway uplift women by complimenting them on such attributes such as intelligence or compassion instead attention is focused solely upon their appearance, confirming the notion that women are to be seen not hear. We can not solely place the blame on male artists because the female hip-hop artists have followed their trend of sex drenched lyrics and self-exploitation. Salt-N-Pepa, Missy Elliot and Trina have all had the opportunity to speak against the myths about women depicted in hip-hop music, but they instead chose to follow suit in order to gain mainstream success. Salt-N-Pepa was the most mainstream female group during the early days of hip-hop. In one of their most popular songs, “Whatta Man,” the group takes out the time to praise men. A bit unnecessary since men were constantly commending themselves, but more disheartening because whom would be the one to proclaim the beauty of all that is woman? Trina believed it empowering to refer to herself as a bitch and appear overtly sexual. In her lead single “Da Baddest Bitch” she boasts, “I'm representin' for the bitches.
Hip-hop since its earliest beginnings has been a male-dominated and female-hating cultural phenomenon. The genre is saturated with lyrics demeaning and misrepresenting women, but they are widely accepted as appropriate to use in every day life, leaving women to be disrespected, humiliated and abused just as the fictional women in the lyrics are.
The music group that comes to mind when I think of my adolescence is, as if there was any doubt, N’Sync. I lived for the pop music genre and glamorized boy bands singing in perfect unison were my favorite. They were fun to watch, more fun to lip sync with, and most fun to daydream about. The best part about the carefully fabricated boy bands was that there was a member for everyone’s tastes. N’Sync, Backstreet Boys, Five, Youngstown, and so many more groups all had a pretty boy that every girl dreamed of dating, the more masculine member for girls who wanted to feel older, and the goofy or silly member that seemed like he was always having a blast. When I go back and analyze the lyrics and images of these songs, I can definitely see a pattern. Almost all of N’Sync’s songs were about winning a female. For example, “I Want You Back” was their first smash hit and my personal favorite. The boys are begging a girl to forgive them for something they did to make her angry. They praise her, declare their undying love for her, and repeatedly apologize. I know for me, this song made me want to find a boyfriend who did the same. The man of my dreams would have to shower me with compliments, dedicate himself to my protection, and chase me if I ever began to stray. Not to mention he would have to have a gorgeous face and body with smooth dance moves. I felt that if I could not find such a man then I should not enter into a relationship. It was almost as if they were telling me that in order to be a happy girl, I would need a boy to make me that way.
With all of the hard work and research it took to construct a supreme girl-wooing machine, it is no wonder that these boy bands were so successful at both stealing girls’ hearts and selling them truckloads of merchandise. After all, N’Sync was created to make money more than to make music.
Some of the music of our generation is foul and demeaning to women. The genre that seems to be the worst at women are depicted is rap music. In a lot of the music in this genre women are shown in a negative light as if women belong to men. Through their lyrics and music video, Sir Mix-a-lot’s song “Baby Got Back” shows women as property of men that should not be granted even the smallest amount of respect.
In the lyrics of a lot of rap music, very negative things are said about and towards women. Women are looked at as belongings, owned by men, and the men say whatever they want about the women. In “Baby Got Back,” one of the lyrics asks “the men” if “their lady” has a big butt, and they respond with “hell yeah.” This suggests the way women look is not only important to these women but that there are certain characteristics that these men find a necessity. The men say “hell yeah” as if it was an understood answer to the question. The songwriter also mentions that he “can’t stop starin’” because of the way women look when they have big butts. Women, to him, are more attractive when they have that quality. Less of their attractiveness comes from their personality or even the appearance of their face. Mix-a-lot even refers to some women as “bimbos.” This is another humiliating term used to depict women. These lyrics show how degrading songs can be to women, and because music is a big part of our society, people see this negativity every day. Women should not be treated like this in music because women feel being treated like that in everyday life is acceptable. Along with the song lyrics for “Baby Got Back,” the music video also has some scenes that do not show women in a positive manner.
In the video, women are merely the backup role to the men. The women are dancing in a sexual manner to showcase themselves to the men. They are dancing only in a way that appeals to men. Also, in the video, there are several objects that resemble butts – the thing the rapper is standing on throughout the video, on the turn table the DJ is using, and finally butts are just shown on the screen in several instances. There are several foods that appear throughout the video that resemble butts as well. Overall, these videos talk about the way the men want to treat women, which is that they only want them for sex and nothing more. Several rap songs, including “Baby Got Back” make references to sex and to the fact that they do not want anything more from a relationship with a woman. Again, when women hear these type of messages, they go on thinking it is normal for men to refer to them in this way.
There are several music genres that contain songs that are demeaning to women. Rap music is probably the most well known. In Mix-a-lot’s song, “Baby Got Back” women are shown as important to men because they are objects the men desire. These images suggest the men have little respect for women. Music is a huge entertainer for our society and this makes songs like “Baby Got Back” dangerous in terms of what they are teaching about relationships between men and women.
I believe one of the big defining music genres of my generation was “pop” music. It appeared in many forms such as individual singers (Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears) and as musical groups (for example, the “boy bands” such as NSYNC and Backstreet Boys). Whether you enjoyed their music or not it was constantly shoved down your throat wherever you looked, overwhelming every form of media available.
As far as gendered messages go, especially concerning girls in the mid-1990s “pop” genre I cannot think of anyone more perfect for examination than Britney Spears. Her first hit single “Hit Me Baby One More Time” came out when I was in 5th grade and caused uproar amongst my peers who came to idolize her. However, the gender messages in this song’s lyrics and its music video are anything but progressive.
The lyrics portray a girl who is hopelessly desperate for the man that got away, and it is suggested that it was all her fault to begin with. The lyrics are fairly straight forward, “Oh, baby, baby, the reason I breathe is you. Boy you got me blinded” and “I must confess that my loneliness is killing me now”. These lyrics don’t promote female independence; instead it suggests the traditional female gender role saying women were helpless without a man to take care of her.
The music video has mixed messages about female gender roles. While Britney Spears is shown singing in the halls of a high school dressed in a school girl uniform with pigtails, the uniform is very tiny and her dance moves are provocative. The combination of sexuality and innocence used here is obviously for advertisement purposes but relies on the use of female sexuality to gain popularity. Therefore it is not talent that is promoted in her video in order to gain fans which sends the message that girls just need to be physically attractive to be successful, no special skills necessary.
Every generation has defining characteristics that will cement their legacy and image in the memory of society. Of these defining characteristics, music may well be the most defining and lasting feature of a generation. The power and influence of music is evident when you still hear your parents “jamming” to the Beatles or your grandparents listening to swing music. For my generation, I believe that one of the most popular styles of music is rap. Regardless of the fact that many of these songs are popular and catchy, it is blatantly obvious that the lyrics of many of these hit songs contain words and phrases that belittle, objectify, and degrade women. Thus, although everybody is entitled to their own opinion, it worries me that the degrading lyrics of many of these songs may have a negative influence on the impressionable minds of the young people of our generation.
An example of a musician that uses these derogatory statements towards women is Christopher Brian Bridges, who is a prominent southern rapper that goes by the name Ludacris. He lives in Atlanta and began his career in the music industry as a radio personality and a disc jockey. He produced his first album in 1999 and is still producing music today. The majority of his songs contain lyrics that are very demeaning and embarrassing to women. Just recently, Ludacris wrote a song called “Politics” that attacks former Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Whether or not you agree with the ideas of Hillary Clinton, you cannot deny the barriers she has broken down for women and the power she has had in furthering the cause and possibilities of women in our country. Thus, it is completely inappropriate and debasing for Ludacris to attack someone that has done so much for the women in our country. Furthermore, it is very apparent that many of these rappers serve as role models for many of the kids around the country. Kids from all different backgrounds and walks of life view images of these rappers driving expensive cars, wearing expensive jewelry, and living a dream-like lifestyle that seems too good to be true. Kids aspire to have this wealthy lifestyle and thus try to mirror the actions and words of these rappers. This leads to the youth of our country not only believing but also reflecting the lyrics of these songs in their every day actions. This cascade leads to kids not only using derogatory language but also treating women with disrespect that is most definitely not deserved.
Ludacris’ music contains obscene material that is very offensive to the majority of people who are trying to raise their children with certain values and morals. Teenagers are very impressionable and many of them choose rappers and other celebrities for their role models. Sometimes the attitudes and values put forth by artists in the music industry send mixed messages to teenagers. The music and the music videos can influence the behavior of kids. Ludacris’s songs are usually about hatred, violence, drugs and sex. His videos usually depict women as sexual objects. Most of the videos are racy and they portray women in a negative light. The lyrics in one of his songs “Youza Ho” completely demeans women. The lyrics label all girls as “hoes”, which is a slang term for prostitute. He refers to them as only being good for sexual purposes. Like most of Ludacris’ songs, the beat of this song is catchy, and the song became an instant hit amongst youths. The obvious problem with these degrading lyrics is that teenagers start to repeat them and view them as socially-acceptable words. But these words are not socially acceptable, and it is disappointing to see the youth of today completely enveloped in this degrading language.
Unfortunately, executives at music companies and big corporations realize that rap songs that feature explicit and hateful lyrics sell better than cleaner and less degrading rap songs. The rap artists that compose clean rap songs usually find their music on the back burner. Regrettably, the lyrics and videos that make it to the top of the billboards today contain lyrics and scenes dealing with sex, hatred and violence. These degrading themes have become the mainstream of the rap industry today. It is embarrassing at the manner in which these songs are allowed to depict women, and it regrettably has a significant impact on the ideals of today’s youth.
For my discussion, I chose pop/rock music. I think that the women in this genre send a different message than that of the typical women stereotype. These girls are often portrayed as messy. They often don’t have the pretty clean cut woman look to them. They chop their hair all over the place at different lengths and dye it odd colors. These women also wear unusual clothing. You can see going to big Hollywood events looking as if they just rolled out of the bed. When many actresses or country music women show up to the same event, they will have on nice evening gowns. But if the rock women wear a dress, they may wear a mans tie just to make themselves stand out. They try to be as different as possible.
These women are very rebellious. I think this send a certain message to the generation looking up to them. I think they are trying to break away from these standards that are often put on women to act a certain way and dress or look a certain way. They are trying to show that you don’t have be clean cut all the time and all “dolled” up.
A good example of this is Gwen Stefani. She has had many crazy hairdos and outfits over the years. I used to look up to her and want all her clothes. She taught women that it was ok to wear crazy clothes combinations and look different.
She also has a song talking about this. The name of the song is I’m Just A Girl. In this song she says, “Don't you think I know, Exactly where I stand, This world is forcing me, To hold your hand”. This is talking about her being independent from a man. “The world is forcing me to hold your hand.” This means that the world is putting the stereotype that she needs to have a man by her side. She also uses the color pink to describe a ribbon that she was wearing in this verse. It is stereotypical of women to like pink, I think that is why she referred to the ribbon she talks about as being pink.
She goes on to say, “I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite, So don't let me have any rights, Oh ... I've had it up to here!” This is talking more about the typical look of women. She refers to herself and pretty and petite. This is how the media thinks women should be and how they are often portrayed in the media. She also says she doesn’t have any rights. This could be referring to an older time in our country when women were really not equal to the men in the country. Then at the end of the verse she starts the rebellion when she says that she is tired of how things are going.
I think this she did a good job of saying what she needed to say. If you know Gwen and you hear this song, you know that she is the opposite of what she is talking about in the song. I love how she talks about women’s issues and is very different. She addresses common women issues and shows that it is ok to act any way you want to.
The genre of music I chose is pop. Most people in my generation have listened to female pop artists like the Spice Girls, Brittney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. The themes of their songs ranged from love songs about the boys they want, to the boys they are sick of, and sometimes just music to dance to. Of the three previously mentioned, the Spice Girls had a more positive impact on females than Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. This all girl group made the “girl power” idea popular. One of their most popular songs, “Wannabe”, says that in order for a guy to date one of them, he has to make a good impression on her friends because if he can’t impress them or if they do not think that he will be good for her, then she’s moving on. This song not only spoke of friends, but also the value of her friend’s opinion in a relationship. The “girl power” concept became popular soon after this song and more and more girls were relying on their friends rather than a boy or man.
When the Spice Girls began losing popularity to Britney and Christina, The lyrics of pop music changed from empowering girls to doing whatever it takes to get the guy you want. The lyrics of their songs began as pure innocence with thoughts of the dream guy and have become dirtier over the years. Both Christina’s and Britney’s lyrics urged girls to push the envelope on what was acceptable behavior to get a guy and as a result, more females were acting slutty or giving off an “easy” image. These pop stars also lived up to what their music was preaching by selling sex through their wardrobes as well. Girls were not only hearing these ideas in the songs, but seeing them lived out in the singer’s daily lives. The songs also have catchy rhythms so that when girls are dancing they can show off their bodies through their dancing and hopefully fulfill the idea of the songs which is to get the guy’s attention.
As songs get progressively lower in standard, girls are being exposed to this concept at a younger age because there is nothing else on the radio for them. Currently, pop stars like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lavato are two of the few positive influences for young girls that can counter the image set forth by Britney and Christina-style singers. Hopefully, Miley will be the turn around for current standards and once again raise the bar on what appropriate actions are for young girls.
Rekesha G.
When the music genres of the twenty first century come to mind, it takes some pondering to focus on what has had a huge impact on me and peers. Some groups are very broad in context in theme where as others are very narrow and not easily expandable. If something is of average social norms we do not tend to dwell on the focus for reformation for it. Only when there is a huge gap between the averages normal and abnormal do the listeners and viewers try and stand up for the negative influences. There is the obvious rap genre that many could elaborate on all day about how degrading it is to women and the male psyche. How it does not aid in the progression of positive character or self respect. I want to focus on the genre of rhythm and blue, currently known as r & B. I choose this group because its negative themes and false implications often go unnoticed and are disregarded compared to the popular rap music. Many people think just because themes are put to nice slow melodies they are automatically harmless. After reading “Why the Shirelles Mattered” we can all vouch for the fact that even if you say a negative phrase softly, it is still a negative phrase. Many rhythm and blues artists of the current generation are not blamed for female promiscuity, pre marital sex, unwed mothers, and the low self esteem of our young women. My artist and song of choice for this topic is Chris Brown and one of his latest hits “Let Me Take You Down”. Our preadolescent and teenage girls are being brainwashed and led astray at earlier and earlier stages in life now that sex, physical relations, and the absence of commitment is so prevalent in the song lyrics of major pop stars such as Chris Brown. In the song “Take You Down”, his message for preteens and late teens is not to be afraid of premarital sex. Losing your virginity is celebrated and encouraged in the song despite any morals that discourage the behavior. The song brings the listener through the process and lets the young lady know that the man is already practicing sex and he knows what he is doing so not to worry. The male role is dominating the entire action. He decides when he wants to entice a particular female, tells here lies about being committed to only her, and then takes her innocence as if it were a game he is playing instead of a life he is affecting in greater ways than he will ever understand. If females took the same position it would be considered hoe behavior. This song shows how vulnerable women are to the direct manipulation of teenage boys who do not care that they are taking part in very dangerous acts that could lead to stds, unwanted pregnancies, hiv, and other mental distress brought on by the pressures of sex. Many parents think that young teens do not know about sex or they are not being tempted in these songs. Just because the music is not blatantly calling females derogatory names does not mean they are not treating them the same as the rappers. When young upcoming stars like Chris Brown are first discovered they are considered harmless to societies young women until their lyrics slowly but gradually start to encourage very risky and inappropriate behaviors for their fan base who are often much younger than they are to begin with. I believe this is a rapidly growing problem in teen pop culture and should be taken seriously. The future of our world lies in the foundation that young people receive today. If that foundation is broken in early ages they will have nothing positive to build morals on. Why is premarital sex becoming a trend instead of a taboo like it was many years ago?
When looking at music in 2000 in terms of gender, one pop band comes to mind, a group of attractive young females labeled Danity Kane. This group is not any ordinary pop girls group but a group of women specifically selected based on the media’s definition of the “perfect woman.”
The five members of the band first appeared on a MTV television series called Making the Band. In the television series, hundreds of hopefuls went through daily competitions with voice, fitness, and image coaches, to advance themselves to become potential band members. The ultimate decision of the members was based on the opinion of the creator, Bad Boy Records, CEO, Sean P. Diddy Colmes. At the end of a tough season, this ultimate play boy, Diddy selected five members to complete the group; two African American women, and three Caucasian women. Each woman having a good voice, a tight body, and most of all sex appeal.
On the next season of Making the Band, we see the transformation of the girls from being individual members to a group as a whole. Although the girls had plenty of sexiness before they were inducted as members, Diddy took the group the next level. The members were required to weigh a certain amount, have certain hair colors, which were enhanced by huge extensions, spray tans, and to have the overall wardrobe of a new pop singer.
Not only the image, but the lyrics of their songs started playing in to the sexual image of women that Diddy was reemphasizing. The lyrics to their new single “Bad Girl,” target young men saying that the members “or women in general” can be their fantasies. The song also targets young women saying that we need to portray women in the media and feed into males’ sexual desires. In the song, Danity Kane sings “Look at my eyes covered in Maybelline, Looking like something fresh out of a magazine, I can be part of your deepest fantasies.”
Through this pop group, Diddy further creates the media’s definition of what males dream of and what women think they should be. His creation of Danity Kane helps to genderize females into “the perfect woman”, and further allows men to believe that this is the only socially excepted female.
The defining music for my generation would be, for me anyway, rap music. It was about this hard life and doing what you had to in order to survive. But the down side to rap was that it treated women as an object just a decoration on the rapper’s arm. Like a life size, walking, talking, living Barbie doll. We are suppose to smile and take whatever they say about us. But rap wasn’t always like that for women. We would stand up to the men and if we didn’t like what they had to say we would say something just as “raw” back to them. But now the radio music is only about what will sell. It’s about women having big butts and having sex with any and everyone because the more “hoes” the more status. It is no longer about the struggle to get where you are or just to survive. It is not about the respect your mother taught you to have for the women you sing about. It is not even about the examples you want to set for future generations anymore. It is about money, because that is what is selling.
The music of my generation seems to be a mix of all different kinds of genres. For this paper, I will choose rap music to discuss in detail, and how it is influencing the adolescents of my generation. I believe that for people that are not media literate, music can send messages that are very negative to both genders in our society. Rap music makes males think they need to have sex with a lot of women, be violent, and abuse drugs and alcohol to be a masculine and accepted in society. Rappers such as Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, and Ludacris often express lyrics in their songs that exploit women and preach to the females of my generation that they should please men to the best of their abilities, sexually and in other ways. Females are often depicted as trophies; the more men can obtain, the more masculine they can be. Women are simply looked at as sex objects in rap music and this message is filtered out through song lyrics and music videos which can be easily accessed by anyone of any age.
I feel that the music of my generation is listened to by children as young as 10 years old. Children who hear these rap lyrics at a young age will be more influenced by them then the audience they are directed to. I feel that a person my age would be able to listen to a song such as “Lolipop” by Lil Wayne and not be influenced by the lyrics. If the song comes on the radio and a ten year old girl hears the lyrics, she may be confused by the sexual references and metaphors the song uses. For example, Lil Wayne uses the phrase, “She’s so sweet, so I let her lick the rapper.” The first time I heard this song, I found the lyric rather amusing and laughed. For a ten year old girl, she will become confused by the sexual reference that she does not understand. The generation I am most concerned with is not my own, but the one below me that is influenced by music and television that are not geared towards this age group. I feel like children are growing up faster due to the media’s negative messages and music with explicit lyrics. Being a future elementary school teacher, I fear children being exposed to foul and dirty language through the radio and television.
I feel the rap music is negatively effecting many generations and will continue to do so until some kind of censorship is established.
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