Women's Image in Hip Hop
Women, namely African American, have played a crucial role in Hip Hop culture: from the beginning with Cindy Campbell the sister of Kool Herc — who demonstrated her entrepreneurship of promoting his block parties; the idea of entrepreneurship is still deeply seeded in Hip Hop today—to Debra Lee, the president and CEO of BET. However, accounts of hip hop often downplay, or completely leave out, the contributions of women to hip hop as artist, entrepreneurs, producers, writers, etc. Women have influenced hip hop as much, if not more, than men; that is to say that all men can from one woman. In that case, why is it that currently in hip hop culture African American women’s image has been reduced to nothing more than the objects of their male counterparts?
The answer to this question is not clear cut, but extremely complex. For starters, it is no secret that hip hop is a male dominated art form. In addition, the patriarchal society in which hip hop was created has a hand in how men, not just in hip hop, have this sense of male supremacy over women. However it is not just the males fault for women’s status in hip hop; women are also responsible for the way in which they are treated and portrayed in hip hop because they readily partake in the mistreatment of themselves and other women. Academics such as Michael Eric Dyson, believe that women are in no way responsible for the comment, “they must like it and want to do it” (Dyson, 109), because he believes women partake in the degradation of their character in hip hop because of the deep entrench supremacy that has been imbedded into women’s minds, and that it is only a result of the limited roles men have delegated for them. Deep entrenched beliefs or not, I believe that women have more power than Dyson gives them credit for; furthermore he sounds extremely sexist making that statement as well—women are not strong enough to choose what they will participate in. As women, we need to take account for our actions and be
The answer to this question is not clear cut, but extremely complex. For starters, it is no secret that hip hop is a male dominated art form. In addition, the patriarchal society in which hip hop was created has a hand in how men, not just in hip hop, have this sense of male supremacy over women. However it is not just the males fault for women’s status in hip hop; women are also responsible for the way in which they are treated and portrayed in hip hop because they readily partake in the mistreatment of themselves and other women. Academics such as Michael Eric Dyson, believe that women are in no way responsible for the comment, “they must like it and want to do it” (Dyson, 109), because he believes women partake in the degradation of their character in hip hop because of the deep entrench supremacy that has been imbedded into women’s minds, and that it is only a result of the limited roles men have delegated for them. Deep entrenched beliefs or not, I believe that women have more power than Dyson gives them credit for; furthermore he sounds extremely sexist making that statement as well—women are not strong enough to choose what they will participate in. As women, we need to take account for our actions and be
Cited: Miller-Young, Mireille. "Hip-Hop Honeys and Da Hustlaz: Black Sexualities in the New Hip- Hop Pornography." Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 8.1 (2008): 261- 292. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. Morgan, Joan. When the Chickenheads Come Home to Roost. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1999 Wars. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2008. 113- 31; 149- 62; 187-200 . African American Music Reference Stephens, Dionne, and April Few. "Hip Hop Honey or Video Ho: African American Preadolescents’ Understanding of Female Sexual Scripts in Hip Hop Culture." Sexuality & Culture 11.4 (2007): 48-69.Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Dec. 2010.