Feminine Endings By Mcclary: Book Review

The Hip Hop music industry is infamous for being controversial. In the article Hip Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women there’s a debate on whether the exploitation and constant verbal slander of women should be acceptable just because it sales records. It presents the question that why is it that male poverty breeds sexism? Even though women may have lived in the same environment males still see women as the enemy in their music in an effort to sell records.

In Joan Morgan’s “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos,” her feminist point of view addresses the problem of degradation and sexism in rap and hip-hop music. Through this passage, Morgan looks at the deeper meaning and connects rap and hip-hop music with the African American community. Between the beats, the lyrics of this specific genre of music show listeners various situations the African American community deals with, like crime, drugs, alcohol, relationships, and their day-to-day life in America. With Morgan’s feminist criticism, she states that the blame is not only on rap and hip-hop artists, but also other women because they should be speaking out against being called “bitches” and “hos”. Through the rhetorical strategies of description,

Director Sut Jhally, in his documentary film, “Dreamworlds 3: Desire, sex, and power in music videos”, analyzes the issue of how women are portrayed in the music world. Jhally, in his film argues how music and media has become a proud industry when it comes to advertising women, all for the benefit of popularity and record sales. Jhally believes these videos both inform and misinform our culture about our dominant attitudes regarding femininity masculinity, sexuality and race. He uses an empathetic tone in order to appeal to pathos, the feelings and experiences in women when he presents video clips that are somewhat offensive to watch as proof that women have become a common necessity shown in music videos. Often presented as being sexually aggressive and submissive, being objectified by men. He also intentionally wants to try to stir up emotions as he introduces song lyrics of women being called inappropriate names and images of women being fondled by men throughout the film. Sometimes, aggressively without consent.

Charlotte Church speaks out about this issue saying “The culture of demeaning women in pop music is so ingrained as to become routine, from the way we are dealt with by management and labels, to the way we are presented the public” (Chase par. 9). This leads to questions, for example, must women be sexualized to gain greater earnings? Does sex truly sell? When we examine artists such as Julia Hotter, HAIM, or Polica, we perceive them as strong artists who are unrestricted in their art by their gender or sexuality. However, when comparing their success, sexualized women have dominated the music industry. Chase explains that women are allowed to fill three main roles in modern pop music: One of the Girls’ Girls, the Victim/ Torch Singer, and Unattainable Sexbot. Artists such as Beyoncé would be considered “One of the Girls’ Girls” who are for women power and are considered empowering. Adele is considered a “Victim/Torch Singer” even though she does not use sexuality to sell records, lyrically, she perceives the wronged women and creates a state of despair. An “Unattainable Sexbot” would be, without a doubt, Miley Cyrus, whose main goal is to be the most successful in the music industry by being hyper-sexualized and unrealistic. If an artist does not fit into one of these categories, they generally have a much harder time being one of the most successful in the music

In her article “The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto: Negotiating Spaces for Women,” Imani Perry argues that the objectification of women in the music industry is normalized in our society. Her purpose is to persuade us that most feminists who fight against the objectification and exploitation of women are ultimately colonized by the sexual fantasies of men. As a law professor at Rutgers Law School, Perry structures her text in a very effective manner. Using a general-to-specific organization scheme, she begins by outlining the recurring image of sexualized women in music videos, then presenting various cases of prominent feminist figures in the music industry.

Music is one of the most influencing media within our time and generation, especially Rap and hip-hop. Demoralizing women has

Women’s music came from radical, grassroots origins in the 1970s thanks to contributions by brave women, mostly lesbians (Mosbacher, 2002). These women used non-violent, peaceful force to forge their own way into the music industry. It was a peaceful yet political revolution of togetherness and liberation. It brought together women of different backgrounds who produced easy-listening, mellow harmonies played with lyrics filled with tumultuous

There are so many talented female artists in music today that it's hard not to think of some right off the top of my head. Not only do they have great voices, but they're successful and confident, not to mention pretty darn rich! Some of these artists knew that they were going to become a star while they were still in diapers. The two females that I will be highlighting are two of the younger musical talents that are out in the industry at this time. They both worked hard to get to where they are today by starting off with many of the same dreams and aspirations many of us women share. These women have contributed so much at such a young age that it's almost hard to believe. Music is such a

Barbara’s identity as a musician was no longer about her musical abilities but focused the beauty and seductiveness that she embodied. To try and tame the flames of controversy, Barbara and Giulio published Il primo libro de’ madrigali (The First Book of Madrigals), which included no vocal works, proving that she was trying to label herself as a serious musician and composer. Unfortunately, her plan failed and she continued to be known as a ‘loose,’ woman. However, this didn’t stop Barbara from trying to pursue professionalism through publishing, despite her gender and the labels that

Imagine a world without music. Would that even be a world at all? Most people would agree that it wouldn’t because music can have almost as big an impact as the people who sing them can make in the world. In a world full of people that write these exciting, inspirational songs, there’s one that stands out the most, her name is Madonna. Some people might say Madonna doesn’t deserve the attention she has received due to her outrageous behavior in the past, but for the most part her impact overrides her shortcomings.

Among the many demonstrations of women's empowerment we have witnessed since the feminist movement boomed in the country and the world over the past two years, certainly the most visible are women artists, especially in music. Whether it's the size of world fame or reach, or the appeal and transgression of seeing pop artists assuming a political stance, or even knowing that these women are as affected as we are with sexism of every day.Our attention is always hooked to see that more and more artists are talking about feminism as a fundamental part of who they are and the work they do.

There is a perception and ideology among consumers who are exposed to the content in which certain artists choose to demonstrate through their music. It is a simple determinist view to place the notions that entertainment moguls like Nicki Minaj are using their overexposed sexuality to increase sales in all revenues they may be apart of, but there is also a deeper meaning entailed that incorporates an empowering margin of women that is not always shown in the media industry. Nicki Minaj actions may not be those of a traditional approach to feminism,

Abramovic’s performances can be read as feminist works, even though she has expressed that she “was not particularly concerning herself with ‘womens’ issues” (Richards, 2010:19). This could be due to her upbringing in Yugoslavia, where as a Communist country, there is less gender inequality than that which is experienced by many women in the Western world (Richards, 2010:19). Also, as a woman, Abramovic was given the freedom to perform pieces such as her Rhythm series, as she was seen as less of a threat than other artists in the 1970’s (Richards, 2010:2). This is problematic in itself, as it shows that as a female artist, Abramovic was not expected to create much of an impact on the political world, perhaps suggesting that even in a country where women have more gender equality with men, they are still subjected to the ideologies that women belong in the private sphere, whereas men are thought to belong in the public sphere, meaning that they are taken more seriously in political issues and are thought to have more influence in these.

When one hears the word “feminist”, many different things may come to mind. One may think of the “bra burning” feminists of the 1960s or the “riot grrrl” feminists of the 1990s. It can bring to mind issues such as abortion, birth control, and unfair wages. There are many different aspects of feminism, some of which are understood only by those involved in the movement. But like most things people are passionate about, feminism has held a strong place in music since its very beginning, and can be seen in its festivals, its politics, and in the average American’s everyday life.

Successful strategies are based on several common elements, such as: 1)Simple, consistent long-term goals 2)Profound understanding of the competitive environment, 3)Objective appraisal of resources, and 4)Effective implementation (Grant, 2010). As our case study shows, Madonna has had a firm grasp on these elements. Her long-term goal to be the greatest female performer is very simplistic and long term. Her understanding of the competitive environment is exceptional, throughout the years she understood exactly the direction that music was taking. In the 1980's she understood that dance clubs and DJ's were the future and if she wanted to break into the industry she needed to start there. In the late 1980's and into the 1990's she utilized sex and seduction to keep in public's eye. By the late 2000's she understood that music was going away from the recorded format and the money to made was in live performances. Madonna has understood throughout the years that as the industry was constantly changing that she would need to as well to stay relevant. She has been successful at promoting her strengths, while shadowing her weaknesses. Madonna has developed her image throughout the years to