Friday, November 14, 2008

Music to my ears



Music is an escape mechanism for some individuals. It's a place where true self-expression can be expressed and loved by others. It's a place to tell stories about heartache and pain to rape. Music is a universal language that everyone speaks. The focus on this post is hip-hop.

In the hip-hop culture, there are bothersome aspects. I am not trying to place blame on any of the musicians or any contributor to hip-hop. I am just trying to be awareness to the problems that intertwined with hip-hop. The "normal" hip-hop video consists of a rapper, bling-bling, cars, money, and the biggest aspect women.

All over the video are women, women, and more women. There isn't just one type of woman in these video; there is a variety; however, what they are wearing is usual the same. Rappers present the women in outfits that barely cover their bodies.

Hip-hop contributors (directors, musicians, producers) use the women's body in pornographic ways. (The lyrics aren't any better but the focus of this blog is gender and clothing). When I look at hip-hop videos, the notion "sex sales" constantly pops into my mind. When these videos have open calls for "models" to put into their videos girls come with their thongs in hand.

Women who go in to the music industry  have to sale sex. They have to be sexy or attractive. This highlights the differences between a men and a women. Men are rarely told that they have to be sexy in the music industry. 

Hip-hop is a culture that is bigger than its supporters. In this culture lays misogyny, and black male testosterone. There are many factors in this culture that set men and women a part. The first clue is at the fashion being worn. It’s the way the women are fashioned to sell the video.

What can we say about the women, the supporters? 

What can we say about this culture? 

How does this apply to gender polarization and the construction of gender?

What is sexy?


Feel free to explore the aspects of other musical cultures...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The entertainment industry has greatly changed from what it used to be. Today sex sales, it has been highlighted and almost praised. If you look at pop culture, female artists continue to wear less clothing. Pop princesses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera went from being judged on talent to now being judged on how much or how litle they are wearing.
Within the hip hop the culture is there seems to be a need to emphasize hypermasculinity. By degrading women in videos and having them wear pretty much nothing provides some sense of power to the man.
The cultural image of the African American woman has gone through about three phases that have remained consistent.
First the African American woman was depicted as the mammy, the doemstic worker is aggressive and submissive. Her exaggerated breasts and buttocks act as symbols of maternal femininity and thereby lessen sexual threat. The second image is that of the Sapphire. She's loud-mouthed, outspoken and very opinionated. She's usually darked in skin tone and is not necessarily respected by members of her own race as well whites. The third and still prevalent image is the jezebel. She's usually fair complected with long straight hair, tiny waist and large hips. She depicts how whites view black women as hypersexual. She defines America's standard of what it means to be a beautiful or "sexy" African American.
Sexy has rarely been self-defined. The media has always defined what sexy has been and is. From Scarlet O'Hara and Carmen Jones to Pamela Anderson or Beyonce. If sexy were taking out of the hands of the media, i'm sure it would be different