Hetero and homonormative are two tenets we interrogated during this unit. We also examined queerness in HH. Several of you learned about black masculine's "unwritten" urinal rule as well as the dap or butt slapping as "queer." We shared, debated, laughed, and disagreed. This unit usually challenges you the most in thinking "differently." As we finish, we discussed the ladies. From Jean Grae and Lil Kim to Nicki Minaj as well as "pimps" like Snoop, Iceberg Slim, and Ice-T who appear somewhat "feminized" in their queer performativity as metrosexuals, yet whose undeniable patriarchal manipulation and domination of women remain problematic. So, I ask - will Hip-Hop have a future without the continued hypersexualization of women? Why or why not? (Please remember to follow the blog rubric found on the syllabus)
Due: Thurs., 6/15/17 by 11:59pm
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ReplyDeleteHip Hop in my opinion would have a future without women being hyper sexualized. I think it goes back to what we discussed in class that it is all about what women accept , if women didn't allow people to approach them as a sex object or feel that have to dress a certain way than it wouldn't be the Hip Hop norm. Lil Kim states in a interview that she "paved the way for women to be sexy ". In my opinion that kind of made it harder on women in the industry because then that became something that was expected. I feel many women have made it without being a sex object , for example Beyoncé. Yes , she shows some skin but sex is not how she make hits and she has one of the biggest fan support system who goes by the name beehive. I think for the future generation we need to make a change , yes we say that women can make it without sex but who actually supports them. Yes , Hip Hop is a male dominate industry but if we would support women who are underground because they HAVEN'T made it out because of sex , then we would be making progress. It will take more than just a couple of fans it would have to be a movement. That's how I feel Hip Hop will succeed without hyper sexualization , yes women like Nicki Minaj have a huge fan that goes by the name "barbz" but it is plenty who paved the way without it. Couple names being , Queen Latifah , Lauren Hill , Mc Lyte and the list could go on.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hip-Hop definitely could make it without all the sex and hypersexualizing women.I think it may take awhile to have the society conform to it. However there are many people that made it before like Lauren Hill and Queen Latifah. I think that Lil Kim made it okay for women to accept being sexualized and seen in negative ways. After our class discussion I think that if Lil Kim didn't go for the sex and "sexy" image then Hip Hop would be way different. Nicki Minaj honestly probably wouldn't be so out there or "queer" like she is going from 1 to 100. My personal belief if it Lil Kim didn't make it being sexy, then Hip Hop wouldn't be how it is today, and society would not be okay with how women are portrayed. So yes, I think Hip Hop would make it, it would just have to take some time to get use to.
ReplyDelete- Neikya Slade
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ReplyDeleteI truly believe hip-hop could survive without the hypersexualization of women. I know this because it has been done before. Before Lil' Kim or Trina you had artist like MC Lyte and Queen Latifah who tried to show young girls it was okay to not focus on your otter appearance. Also, it is okay for you to be smart and know your worth. With me saying that I am in no way saying because some women choose to dress differently they do not know their worth, I'm not. Everyone is different, and every artist chooses to leave their mark differently. I respect them all. The women in hip-hip are so powerful and have the potential to do so much more without the use of our bodies to obtain that goal. I'll admit it might take a while to adjust because every women likes a little sexy, but that is not all we have to offer.
ReplyDeleteTodays generation is focused on turning up,sex,drugs and that's pretty much it. So when new Hip Hop artist or even known Hip Hop artist are trying to release new they try to create music that they know are going to sale. Examples of this can be Lil Kim. When se started she was a hard rapper then when she wanted to make it big she got real nasty. She started rapping real sexual. The same thing can be said for Trina her songs that is about love is no where as big as her songs about sex. Look back at it will always be her biggest hit. Even though that is the market today I believe that it wont always be like that. It will get to a point to where people aren't going to want to hear that. They are going to want to turn on the music videos and see black women falling in love instead of getting tricked out or shaking they ass. Ad at that point the Kendricks and the coles will make they way onto the scene and Hip hop will be able to make it without the sexualization of women
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvTRZJ-4EyI
I believe Hip-Hop will have a future without the hypersexualization of women in a way because there are conscious rappers now in music but the problem is there are more artists that hypersexualize women, praise violence, and money. If the question is directed towards female Hip-Hop artist, I would have to say sadly no. The only mainstream rapper there is now that is a female is Nicki Minaj is she is definitely the definition of hypersexualized. Like Dr. Jackson mentioned there artists like Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah back in the 90s that have had very successful careers during the era of Foxy Brown and Lil Kim and I feel if there was room for them then there is definitely room now but those conscious female rappers are usually undergound. Sex sells and that is obvious when it comes to the entertainment industry but without the hypersexualization of women I think it would make Hip-Hop no longer become as mainstream. So now, I guess it would not have a mainstream future without sex but it will still be prevalent for underground music.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there could be a perfect misogynistic free hip hop but then would it be hip hop? Hip was founded by the men and they are very protective over it, as you see, seldom letting women in their crews and only discussing women in negative lights but always praising the idea of "me and my boys". The male domination is found in countless songs, for example
ReplyDeleteP.I.M.P. by 50 cent where he discusses the explicitly how he feels about women and pimping
"Man, this ho you can have her, when I'm done I ain't gon' keep her
Man, bitches come and go, every nigga pimping know
You saying it's secret, but you ain't gotta keep it on the low
Bitch, choose with me, I'll have you stripping in the street
Put my other hoes down, you get your ass beat
Now Niki my bottom bitch, she always come up with my bread
The last nigga she was with put stitches in her head
Get your ho out of pocket, I'll put a charge on a bitch
Cause I need 4 TVs and AMGs for the six
Ho make a pimp rich, I ain't paying bitch
Catch a date, suck a dick, shit, trick"
Right now Nicki Minaj is the mainstream "queen" and she is extremely hypersexualized, she also does a thing where she embodies characteristics of the "Boss" male which makes males more comfortable with her. I am not sure if Nicki Minaj would be as famous if she did not embody the hypersexualized female.
I truly do believe that HipHop can survive without the hypersexualization of women. Currently we are at a time where we as Americans seem to be going back in time with "our" present-day president donald and his policies. Although this is true post-President Obama we began to see an appreciation of African American culture. More and more Black people are becoming more "woke."With that being said I do believe that a less hypersexualized HipHop can be done and can grow. We as listeners are becoming progressively critical of men who simply objectify us women as "bitches" and "hoes." Granted there are still numerous songs degrading women I still have hope in change. With artist like Kendrick Lamar and more becoming more known and accepted by HipHop I believe that eventually Hip Hop will go back to its original paradigms: an outlet for those who can't speak out for themselves and respecting US as a people. Also, I believe that if the women of HipHop used their platform to advocate for more than "sex sells" then there would also be more respect for women in HipHop. I am a strong believer in you can wear what you want and still should get respect, however as we all know women are held to a higher standard than me in this industry as well as outside of it. We need more Lauryn Hills and less Nicki Minaj's for change to be more progressive. Hip Hop has the power to change things its just a matter of using its power.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2q5zlgkKas
attached is a video with Michael Eric Dyson, Irv Gotti, and others representing how women are portrayed in HipHop and just how conflicting these things are.
I believe that HH can survive without the hypersexualizing of women because there are artist like lauryn hill that do not have to sell sex to keep their fan base . In our generation currently listeners (it is sad to say) follow a lot of what artist put in their music. So if more rappers took paths like j.cole, Wale, and Kendrick Lamar and rapped about less sexual topics and respecting women's this is what would be followed . On top of rappers like lil Kim and Trina who have very sexual styles of rapping their male counterparts are equally sexual in how they refer to women . That's why I believe eliminating these kind of MC's in the future could begin to repair the damage of hyper sexualization. It would teach women to love their selves more and respect themselves without having to offer theirselves in a sexual way.
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T6QKqFPRZSA
I too believe HH can live on and one day evolve from hypersexualizing women. As mentioned in class, female Hip Hop artist of the 90's weren't nearly as hypersexualized as they are today and if HH could be successful back then without it, I believe it still can. If it happened before it can happen again. There are even some artist of today who maintain their fan base without selling sex or hypersexualizing women in their music, and if these artists can keep an audience without those traits many others can too. On the contrary I do believe it would be hard to do so. Because many rappers have already used hypersexualization as the core of their music and have already gotten their fans used to it, it could potentially be hard for them to sway from that. Lastly, many African Americans are becoming more and more "woke" and cognitive of how we are portrayed, these views will one day start to be enforced in HH causing many artists to be ridiculed and forced to change how they speak on women.
ReplyDeleteBelow is a link to a picture of one of the most hypersexualized women in HH.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cf/17/96/cf17961708db85bb6a99345ee613fcee.jpg
I believe that Hip-Hop wouldn't survive without hypersexualizing women because because without those women who are senxuales haven that has more view in the video. It is as if these women put the taste with the senxuality, every man who sees a video clip of a woman dressed senxual or dancing senxual is going to like and that the rating of the song goes up giving more sight to the video. But it is also known that women are going to see a very negative form but that is a normal thing in hip hop. At the same time hip hop could survive without hypersexualization because most people talk about personal problems, money and material things. But if you see those videos there are women are very sexual looking that make the video more seen, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteA video where Nicki Minaj is using hyperseaxualization:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
The way how more females come into the hip-hop industry and get a wide verity of exposure is by how they present them selves by how they speak and look. The more sexy they look the more eyes and views they would get from the audience. As some female rappers have presented them selves as self respecting hardly got any looks as the publicity as artist such as lil Kim and Eve just to name a few took the spot light.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think HH will survive too much longer if women are no longer hyper sexualized. The reason I say that is because that’s what separates the men rappers and the women rappers and the in betweens. I feel as though our generation is so bought in to the fact that if women aren’t hyper sexualized and portrayed as sex will the song or video be popular or make the sales it should. For example if juvenile didn’t have the women he had in his video Back that azz up would it have been as popping as it is now?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/genius.com/amp/Juvenile-back-that-azz-up-lyrics