Hip Hop Masculinity

Men and women play a significant role in the production of lyricism and visual content in the vibrant and vocal genre that is Hip Hop. Due to this, sexuality plays a major part in creating the role of men and women within the hip hop industry. Sexuality has become a focal point for many male artist that use the image of women and their bodies, through lyricism and music videos. Men in the commercial hip hop industry have yet to stop this social issue, fame and wealth has been produced from the exploiting image of women since the early years of hip hop.

Since the explosion of music videos in 1981, a large portion of their popularity has been due to the objectification of women and their sexuality. “Early content analyses showed that anywhere from 40% to 75% of music videos contained sexual imagery”(Arnett, 2002). Hip-hop music videos especially have a reputation of degrading women. In these videos “women are often depicted in positions

Despite choosing to be part of this world, many of the women featured in Love & Hip Hop don't appear to be happy with their choice to be a part of this culture. While some of the women are defining themselves by the men they're with, others seem to have found their own voice and are attempting to empower themselves within this community. But the amount of arguing, swearing, and other inappropriate behavior featured here makes it hard to hear them. Another example is Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta a reality spin-off that follows women connected to the Atlanta hip-hop music scene through their work or their relationships. The hip-hop culture is presented as sexist, and themes pertaining to infidelity and womanizing are central to the show. There is strong language and drinking; frequent arguments between cast members sometimes lead to brawls. One of the main substances for Love & Hip Hop is about black women, with surgically enhanced body parts who are uneducated, and their only on the show because of how they

Geoffrey Bennett’s article Hip Hop: A Roadblock or Pathway to Black Empowerment illustrates the influence hip hop and rap music has had on not only the music industry but mainstream culture, African Americans to be specific. Geoffrey Bennett, a senior English Major from Voorhees, New Jersey goes over many aspects of how hip hop came to be “the forefront of American attention.” He starts from its early history in the 1980s as an African American exclusive music genre to what is now a worldwide phenomenon. He reviews the affect it has had on the lifestyle of many people and the ways it’s changed the way people

Masculinity in the Hip-Hop culture has been redefined repetitively as the genre grows in popularity. Created in the late 70’s, Hip-Hop was started as an outlet for residents of urban communities to express them and have fun through the music. As Hip-Hop grew into the 80’s and 90’ the genre also evolved as the artist began to voice what was going on in their day to day lives and in their communities; Hip -hop became a form of storytelling. Being that a lot of Hip-Hop artist had street, and gang related backgrounds, their music would reflect their past lives that were violent and controversial. Despite their brave and unapologetic storytelling, the era of ‘gangster rap’ set the standard of what it meant to be masculine in the

There are many political messages in every part of our live, but Hip-Hop has transcended ethnic boundaries. Because of its eclectic audience, it has the greatest opportunity to build ethnic bridges and mend ethnic relations. Hip hop has taken hold and permeated significant regions of the world. The clothing, music, mannerisms, and lexicon, are unmistakably the same in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Zurich, Milan, and Tokyo. Indeed, this culture has the potential to make it cool not to commit hate crimes, not to discriminate or be homophobic or misogynistic, and to have political influence in American

One of the biggest ways hip hop is demeaning towards women is the objectivity of women. Women in the hip hop industry and basically seen as disposable sex toys. Rose says that hip hop divides women into groups, one that is worth respect and protection and the other that just isn’t. “In this hip hop does not break from the fundamental logic of mainstream masculinity so much as convey it with excess, bravado, and extra insult” (Rose 119). Many ask the question why many other topics have standards such as “rap[ping] against police…[or] against gay…” (Rose 120) but it’s all fair game against women. However it is not only the men in the hip hop game that are objectifying women. Rappers like Lil’ Kim, Trina, and Foxy Brown use the same “sex sells” method to grow on the hip hop ladder, but they feel like they have to. That’s the only way to be noticed and get attention (Rose 123). “Kim herself admitted that she uses her identity as Lil’ Kim to get money, ‘a character I use to sell my records’” (Rose 124). If even girls in hip hop feel the need to have to go by this method, what are the chances that younger females will do any differently?

They are taught to be tough and have a “manly front cover” in everything that they do. If you ask most fathers they would not appreciate their son wearing pink and playing with dolls because it’s “gay” and not masculine. Any sort of display of stereotypical effeminate behavior, dressing nicely, sensitivity, and being emotionally expressive, is perceived as being gay. If a guy walks, talks, and acts in a manner that is different from someone who is gay he will be a man. In Hip-Hop, the worst thing one can do is take away someone’s manhood or associate him with anything to do with being feminine or gay by referring to them as a “faggot” or “bitch nigga”, not only disrespecting the homosexual community but women also. Eminem often use the word “faggot” in his when he is battling someone. It doesn’t necessarily mean gay, it’s just taking away his opponent’s manhood (612) Hip-Hop artists often portray images that are “hyper masculine” and over exaggerated to be far from the effeminate behaviors that contribute to being mistaken for being gay. Instead, they attempt to be thugs and gangsters.

Misogyny in Hip Hop culture refers to lyrics, videos, or other aspects of hip hop culture that support, glorify, justify or normalize the objectification, exploitation or victimization of women. Misogyny in hip hop music instills and perpetuates negative stereotypes about women. It can range from innuendos to stereotypical characterizations and defamations. Overt misogyny in rap and hip hop music emerged in the late 1980’s, and has since then been a feature of the music of numerous hip hop artists.

As Tricia Rose explains in A Style Nobody Can Deal With, hip-hop culture originated in the mid to late-1970s in urban New York as a way for minorities to express themselves. In the beginning, hip-hop culture consisted of four ‘elements’, or ways of expression: rapping, DJing, break-dancing, and graffiti (Rose 73). The rapper, or MC (master of ceremonies), expresses themselves through the most basic form of communication, words. He or she performs their lyrics over instrumentation provided by the DJ. These DJs brought unique sounds by

In the world of Hip-hop, artists have the ability to shape the image and status of women in our society. Over time, these music videos have misrepresented women and portray them as sex symbols or material objects. In these music videos, women wear provocative clothing to pacify the desires of males further

Today in Hip Hop every rapper has to portray themselves as being hard, having a lot of girls in their circle and having money. Since the beginning of the American society being considered a real man was to be able to protect their families. When television came around western films portrayed men as either strong or weak and defined their masculinity as being the stronger man because of their guns. For example in a western movie during a draw two men would be about twenty feet away from each other and whichever man shot the other man first won the draw and was then considered the dominant male and very masculine. Therefore what goes on in rap

In this chapter, black masculinity is examined alongside topics of conservative alignments and social construction homophobia in the hip-hop and black community. Atlanta is one of few series on network television that represents and/or creates a dialogue about the black community and the LBGTIQ community in relation to each other. The black community largely makes up the hip-hop industry. The hip-hop industry is believed to generally aligns with hegemonic conservative beliefs as it continues to uphold patriarchal conceptions of masculinity. Scholars, Tricia Rose and Mark Anthony Neal, argue that preconceived notions of rap culture and the hip-hop industry as homophobic are mostly socially constructed stereotypes perpetuated through hip-hop

Hip Hop culture has come from a inner city expression of life to a multi-billion dollar business. At the beginning of the new millennium it was the top selling genre in the pop charts. It had influences not only on music, but on fashion, film, television, and print. In 2004 Hip Hop celebrated its 30th year anniversary. It wasn’t big for the fact that it was still kicking. It was big because the once Black/Brown inner city culture had grown into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon (Reeves). Hip Hop culture has provided a platform for all walks of life to speak their mind. Over the past 36 years it has provided us with both entertainment and controversy alike and had a huge impact on our nation’s history. `

From the beats to the lyrics, the current generation of youth is engrossed in hip-hop culture, tending to idolize the artist behind the songs. Since the 1970s, hip-hop has influenced American culture tremendously. In the past, hip-hop held a central focus around inequality, empowerment and overcoming hardships. Today, hip-hop talks more about sex, money, a male dominant social standing, and drugs. Hip-hop, from then to now, has drifted to the darker side of the social spectrum. The majority of today’s youth were subconsciously thrust into a time when the darkness of hip-hop was nearing its climax. Young African American males