The Degrading Of Women In Rap Music And Its Effect On Society

What do songs like Akon’s “smack that”, Lil’ Wayne’s “every girl” and 50 Cent’s “candy shop” all have in common? The answer is they all contain misogyny throughout their lyrics in a common genre of music labeled rap or hip-hop. When this music first developed, it was used as a different type of self-expression that people could relate to. It’s fast, upbeat, rhythmic lyrics soon began to hit the top charts and progressively, the music began to change from lyrics about struggles and hardships to ones emphasizing sex and demeaning portrayals of women. This once relatable genre of music has, in the past couple of generations, transformed into a way to degrade women, corrupt youth with sex, alcohol and violence, and provide men with a sense of superiority in relationships.
Think about the most recent songs you’ve heard on the radio. I’d bet any amount of money, a vast majority of those songs degrade women in some way. Whether it’s using a term like “bitch” or “slut” or simply portraying women as a sex symbol; scarcely covered and lacking intelligence, but always willing to please their man in the bedroom, these lyrics are constantly being heard on the radio, at clubs, and even on television. Everywhere you look and listen, women are constantly being portrayed as everything but a woman: sex symbols, prostitutes, strippers, brainless sluts, all whose only role is to obey their man. We see it so often that it becomes part of everyday life. It becomes what we begin think and what we feel. Tarshia Stanley, a teacher of images of women in the media says, "it's what you see 1,000 times. It begins to make inroads into your thought processes. It becomes life for (consumers) because they try to live out these things that they see and that they hear." (Thrash) Children and teenagers see what goes on in music videos and hear what occurs in songs and they want to do exactly what is being done. Alcohol, violence and sex is easily accessible through these lyrics and therefore, children and teenagers want to participate in these activities. Women start acting like sluts, which results in transmission of STDs and teenage pregnancy and men start acting violent thinking it’s okay to mistreat women, all because of what is heard in these lyrics.
There is no denying the fact that music is an influential part of our society, but it is not necessarily always a good influence. In a study done over the course of three years from 1996 until 1999 by a group of professors from Emory University, “girls who watched hours of music videos were more likely to have had sex, drink and use drugs than those who did not” (Thrash). Another study done a couple years ago found that people who watched rap videos “were more likely to binge drink, smoke weed, have sex with multiple partners and have a negative body image” (Thrash). I can’t sit here and say that rap music is the reason for this, that it is the only thing that caused these unsettling statistics, but it is more than definitely a factor. These rap videos delineate sex as a nonchalant activity that is done by everyone with more than one partner. It is portrayed as something with no meaning, something that is not a big deal at all and that all men and women are sex-driven maniacs. That is why more and more teenagers are engaging in it, which often times results in negative consequences that they don’t show in these videos, such as teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. These songs with lyrics by men about sex and power also lead to the submissiveness of women in relationships. Women tend to become passive or submissive in terms of relationships because every day they see and hear songs about how men hold all the power. I’m not saying this type of music has to be eliminated and shunned from society and radio stations. The beat and the emotion can stay, but the hateful and demeaning lyrics about women must go, because it is significantly changing society, and not for the better.
Everyone knows the songs I’m talking about, with the music videos containing scantily clad women, usually on some type of stripper pole. Most of them are on the radio right now. And even though the explicit lyrics are usually censored out, most people still know what they are and are willing to sing along. Even women, the very subject that is being demeaned and violated through these lyrics, enjoy the songs, simply because of the fact that they don’t think that these songs don’t apply to them. They are not the specific subjects being sung about and therefore, many women feel as if they’re not being degraded at all, so they don’t take it personally. In reality, they should. By allowing this everyday occurrence of demeaning of women in popular songs, we, as a society, are condoning this to continue reoccurring. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to end. And the only way that is going to happen is if we stop listening to these songs, buying these albums and starring in these videos.
The main reason that this type of music is still in business is because people keep buying the records and downloading the songs. It is popular and therefore, it is going to continue being made. Another reason it is still on the market is because women are still more than willing to star in these videos, rolling around on the floor or grinding up against the male vocalist, portraying the exact stereotype that women have worked so hard to overcome. Music is an extremely influential part of our culture and society and it affects the way all types of people are viewed. By buying these albums, listening to these songs and starring in these videos, women are verifying that all of these portrayals about themselves are, in fact, true. As long as that continues, the music and degrading lyrics will as well. We need to stand up for ourselves and refuse to buy and listen to this type of music. Stephanie Alves, an eighteen-year-old girl who grew up immersed in the demeaning lyrics of rap music in a poor Boston neighborhood, is doing just that. She is taking a stand for all women and is taking measures to make sure this type of music is eliminated. Alves proposed an idea for a radio station, which is now up and running in Boston, whose goal is ““to promote an alternative, positive image of young American womanhood” (Guardian). This is done through playing a variety of different songs that are picked solely on lyrics that reflect women positively. After news of this radio station spread, women all around the world are fighting to get stations just like Alves’ in their own hometowns. Alves realizes that music has the potential to change society. It can make things “fashionable” and “the norm”, but not necessarily good things. Degrading women through rap lyrics has unfortunately become “the norm” and Alves is making an effort to ensure that the reoccurring cycle is broken.
This entire time I’ve spoken about men who sing about women negatively and whose videos delineate that same fact as well. But women rappers and hip-hop artists are not free of blame either. In Ciara’s new music video “ride”, she is scantily clad, singing about how she can “do it whenever or however you want” (you being the guy), while doing some pretty scandalous dance moves to verify her skills. It is appalling that women are voluntarily portraying themselves this way, because if women do it, then men think that it’s okay for them to do it. Women have to stop lowering their standards of themselves because then men will do it too.
The main message I’m trying to send here is that rap music, while some songs expressive and emotional, most are simply disgusting and degrading towards women. There is sexism, alcohol, violence, sex and drugs and children and teenagers are being exposed to this all at a very young age. While the main focus here is the demeaning of women, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that there are many other negative consequences that lead back to rap music. All of this needs to end before it’s too late to change. Essence Magazine’s “Take Back The Music Campaign” is trying to do just that. And if you ask me, we all need to start seriously thinking about how we want to be portrayed in this society and about how the music we listen to affects how we think and feel. These lyrics about women need to be eliminated and things need to start changing so that women can be portrayed in a positive light again and hopefully, with that, gain equality.


Check out this documentary on women and rap music for future information. Hope you like it!
All right folks, that’s a rap. ☺

Independent News Source:
For my independent news source, I chose Internews, an international news source that is based out of California. Created in 1982, Internews is an independent media source that is supported by contributions and grants from various companies and people. They had projected revenue of over $35 million for 2009 alone. They are currently working in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America and have worked in over seventy countries in total. They have trained over 80,000 people in media skills, train 8,000 to 10,000 people every year and have supported the development of around 4800 independent media outlets. “We believe that free flowing, locally produced and editorially independent news and information has the power to transform lives and enrich communities.” The overall goal of the source is empower local media around the world in order to get people the news and information that they need, give people an opportunity to connect and a way to make their voices heard. In comparison to a mainstream source, like CNN, whose tactics include anchormans and showy antics that actually inhibit the watcher’s ability to retain information, this independent source’s main concern is the people. CNN, which is owned by a huge corporation, has limits and rules to uphold when giving their information, which then results in a type of censorship of information. The people do not get the information they want and need, but with Internews, the people are receiving all the information necessary as well as the means to voice their own opinion and make a difference in the media world.


McLuhan: It’s All Going According to Marshall’s Plan
This reading is about Marshall McLuhan, whose reflections on the media have begun to come true. McLuhan suggested that the “depth experience” of the media would seriously transform human lives. He believed that a completely obsessed media environment would only result in a removal from first-hand experience while he wasn’t exactly right during the time that he made these predictions, they have begun to come true in our current society. If our society continues to go this way, we will completely be void of first hand experience and will solely rely on technology to do things for us and hinders our ability to do things ourselves. In order to fix these problems, we need to reflect on ourselves and the media industry and realize that what we see on television is not the world, but merely representations of what they think the world is. It is extremely vital that we come to realize this because then and only then will we be able to gain power over the media system.

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is a principle that says that all information that is on the Internet should be treated equally. It is essentially for the people, so that they can get any information they want without censoring from companies because that’s who it is against: large corporations. If this disappears, then Internet providers like Verizon and Comcast will be able to slow down websites or shut down access to things they don’t agree with. There are many questions surrounding the issue like: should sites that generate massive traffic (like Google or YouTube) pay extra fees? Should carriers be able to sell multi-tiered access to heavy users? How will people who violate the rules be punished? Who would regulate the Internet if net neutrality was eliminated? The problem is that currently, no one has the answers to these questions because no one is even sure if net neutrality will be abolished.

Net Neutrality
This video is all about net neutrality: what it is, who it affects, who is for it and what will happen if it goes away. It speaks about how Pearl Jam's lead singer's critical lyrics about George Bush during an AT&T sponsored event were cut out. If net neutrality is eliminated, things like this will be happening much more often and eventually the Internet will be just as censored as the media, and we will be receiving our information for very few sources. IF net neutrality is eliminated, and that's still an IF, the FCC will be the regulator of the information. They basically have no rules and will be able to do whatever they want and block whatever they want. I think that if net neutrality was eliminated, we, as human beings, would lose an extensive amount of freedom that the United States prides itself on. We would not be in control of any of the information we will intake and we will continue to be manipulated by those in charge.

Google is Competitively Manipulative
This article is about an issue in Europe where complaints filed a case against Google because they apparently punish their competitors by "demoting them in search results". The complaint is that Google favors only its own products and net neutrality is required to stop them from attempting to ruin their competitors by lessening their search results. I found this extremely interesting because I use Google daily and to find out that they have been playing a part in censoring information for their own well being really changes my outlook on the website.

FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules
This article is about how the FCC recently approved net neutrality rules and about how it is currently working to make sure they are enforced and followed. The rules consist of four principles including two new ones that basically say that broadband providers cannot prohibit information from being put on the Internet and sites being accessed. It shows all of the rules and what they state. After researching net neutrality and finding out about all the issues surrounding it, I became quite nervous because I thought that it was something that would be eliminated and that would result in corporations having complete control of the Internet. But finding out that the FCC is making rules and an effort to ensure that our rights as Americans are solidified, makes me feel a bit better.

"Guantánamo is Gulag of Our Time, Says Amnesty"

This article speaks about how the United States is supposed to be attempting to gain freedom for the Iraqi people, but instead they are mistreating and torturing them and we don't even know about it. The media is being controlled by the government so that instead of us seeing what is really going on over there, we see only the good things that are going on so that we will continue to support the war. The article then talks about other rights that are currently being abused in the world in places like Haiti and China and it makes you wonder what kind of people we are to support a media that purposely censors us from seeing this type of news.

"Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act"

This next article is from a site whose name alone perpetuates all the accusations about the media: Project Censored (the news that didn't make the news). This article is part of a series of the top 25 censored stories from 2007. It speaks about how the Pentagon was granted the ability to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Not only was the general public not informed about this, but we also had no say in the matter. With this new exemption, the Pentagon does not have any responsibility to divulge information to the general public. They are now immune from the FOIA and therefore, we will continue to be in the dark about the real issues in the world that they don't want us to know about regarding foreign operations or any other type of information.

"O'Reilly Says ACLU Aids Terrorism?"

This is a video that criticizes Bill O'Reilly's opinion regarding President Obama's statement that he plans to close the Guantanamo Bay facility. The voice over on the video is a member of the ACLU and is a fan of Obama and states that he was happy when Obama stated he plans to close the facility and end forms of torture. But Bill O'Reilly of Fox News, who verbally states that he is being objective, speaks about how he is essentially annoyed about this decision because he believes the terrorists will be a threat to national security. This is a prime example of how people who are relaying the news to us are adding in their own opinions and are biased in what they are reporting. People who watch this channel could easily be swayed into believing what Billy O'Reilly is saying if they had no previous knowledge of the subject. That is the issue with today's media. Many Americans are generally uninformed about topics and therefore, when they see something like this on the news, they tend to follow the bandwagon and believe it because they don't know any better and that is not okay.

"Obama Signs Order to Close Guantánamo Bay Facility"

This article is about how President Barack Obama signed an executive order that requires the closing of the Guantánamo Bay Facility within a year from the signing. Not many people actually know about the torturing that occurs at the facility because the government has manipulated the reporters so that they don't report on those types of things. In the article "Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand", the author speaks about how military analysts are hired to hide the information of what is going on at this facility while also providing the information in a way that will convince the public to make decisions according to what the government wants. When the Bush administration wanted to go into Iraq, military analysts were hired to verify that they had weapons of mass destruction that could be viewed as a threat in the future and to convince the public to believe what they were saying and support the war. Many of the analysts actually verbally stated that they knew what they were doing is wrong yet they hid their own personal feelings on the matter and still reported what they were told. I think it's awful not only that the media is so easily persuaded and corrupted by the government, but also that many of the analysts knew they were wrong yet still did it. It's a disgusting industry that is controlling our lives and I'm thoroughly appalled at the progression of the media in society and how it's come to this point. It needs to be stopped before it goes any further.