Here are the questions we did not get to cover in class today:
What dominant structures are the women of Hip-Hip challenging? How does their subculture reflect the status of all women in society?
How are women in hip-hip different than men in the same subculture? Do they constitute a separate subculture entirely?
Also, here's a link to the video that I was talking about in class. I think this is a prime example of how women use the hip-hop subculture to challenge the concept of misogyny.
Any thoughts?
Perhaps the biggest fight that women in hip-hop are fighting is the one against the rampant objectification of women. Both the documentary we watched about hip-hop (Beyond Beats and Rhymes) and our class discussions mentioned the video for "Tip Drill" which blatantly objectified women sexually.
ReplyDeleteThere are countless other mainstream rap videos which do the exact same thing and it is certainly not a new phenomenon. In fact, some writers have argued that this sexual objectification of women has become generally common in our society, whether it is in the news, or on TV, or in any other media there is "sex" to be found everywhere; even selling things like skateboards.
In addition there are other stereotypes of women that are seen in hip-hop such as their being weak or powerless, which women also have to deal with, but I believe that the sexual objectification is the cause of most of the other types of misogyny as well as a reflection on American society at large.
I agree with Jonah. I also think that women in hip-hop feel the pressures that the poverty and violence in their environment inflict on them in a very different way than men and therefore respond differently. Men seem to take it in a very individual and almost selfish way, "they hit me imma hit them back." Women, on the other hand, seem more inclined to try to take care of their families and loved ones before themselves, "I can't hit them because I have to cook and clean and care for my kids."
ReplyDeleteAs we discussed in class, not just in hip-hop, but in most subcultures, women often seem to be left out of these groups. Competition is a crucial element for some of the subcultures, and women/ girls are brought up to be less aggressive and less likely to form apparent and strong conflicts with others. This may be one cause of the lack of presence of women. However, even in the subcultures that do not emphasize competition, such as graffiti, hip-hop music, skateboarding, it is still rare to have women in the scene. Using hip hop as an illustration, it emerged from the African American community that had been repressed and discriminated for years. Hip hop is a form of expression they use to demonstrate the dissatisfaction of the society and government, frustration of the status quo and appeal to respect and equality. Women in these communities suffer the same, if not worse, treatment and have even less voice about the horrible condition they are living with. If the subculture is all about expressing emotions and rebelling the injustice, then why are women almost excluded, consciously or unconsciously, from the scenes?
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