In a hip-hop dominated music world, rap lyrics often portray women as the weaker gender or as objects for man’s pleasure. The lyrics of those songs refer to women as “bitches” or “hoes”, which are words that can be very damaging to a woman’s view of herself. Queen Latifah, wanting to change the way that women, specifically black women, are depicted in popular music, released her song “U.N.I.T.Y.”, which provides a positive message for women in this age of hip-hop. On the twelfth track of Latifah’s album Black Reign, she discusses the issues that women face in today’s society. “U.N.I.T.Y.” by Queen Latifah empowers women to stand up for themselves when men are abusive, objectify them, or encourage them to change who they are. She sends a message to women through this song that tells them that they …show more content…
are worthy of love and respect.
Verse one of Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” brings up issues dealing with the catcalling and objectifying of women that females face every day out on the streets. She sings of her disapproval of men who call out degrading names to women passing by. “Everytime I hear a brother call a girl a bitch or a ho/ Trying to make a sister feel low/ You know all of that gots to go” (Latifah). She stresses that that type of behavior needs to come to an end; women often already struggle with self-image and random men degrading them does not build up their confidence but tears it down further. Latifah expresses her desire for women to ignore the whistling and “hey you’s” they receive; she wants women to understand that they can be strong and understand that they are more than an old train car graffitied with dirty names. Towards the end of verse one, Latifah also discusses the objectification of women. “One day
I was walking down the block/ I had my cutoff shorts on right cause it was crazy hot/ I walked past these dudes when they passed me/ One of 'em felt my booty, he was nasty” (Latifah). She brings the issue of women being used by men to light in a time where rap music praises and promotes that kind of behavior. In today’s society, women who are sexually assaulted are told they were “asking for it” because of their clothing. Women deserve to be comfortable and unbothered in whatever they choose to wear; again, females struggle with body image, and if a woman feels beautiful in her clothing, a man should not be able to take away that confidence by harassing her because of those clothes. Latifah stood up for herself in this situation, and by doing so encourages other women to do the same. “Huh, I punched him dead in his eye” (Latifah). Latifah’s goal is to inspire women to fight back for their dignity. Verse two of Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” encourages women to fight back against physical or emotional abusers. Painting a picture of an, unfortunately, common situation in American homes, Latifah raps, “Bad days at work, give you an attitude then you were rough/ And take it out on me but that's about enough” (Latifah). Latifah reveals the abuse that women face when boyfriends or husbands come home and begin to be abusive against women for no reason. In the next line, Latifah shows that she, like all women, can be strong, stand up for themselves, and refuse to be a punching bag for men looking for an anger outlet. “You put your hands on me again I'll put your ass in handcuffs” (Latifah). Latifah repeats the same message at the end of the second verse. “This is my notice to the door, I'm not taking it no more/ I'm not your personal whore, that's not what I'm here for” (Latifah). Latifah refuses to take abuse and become an object, something which she wants all of her listeners to do for themselves. If one does not take action against an abuser, he or she is not just remaining neutral, but taking the side of the abuser. Because of this, Latifah wants all women to get out of harmful situations and refuse to take the verbal and physical abuse that men inflict upon them. Queen Latifah, after discussing the issues with men that women directly come in contact with, goes on to explain the indirect consequences of male dominance and the need for women to stay true to themselves; Latifah wants her listeners to resist the urge to become another cookie cutter woman who has turned into someone she is not. In the third verse of “U.N.I.T.Y”, Latifah describes how man’s desire for a ‘bad’ woman influences how a woman conducts herself. “A minute ago, you was a nerd and nobody ever heard of ya/ Now you a wannabe... hard” (Latifah). Latifah explains in this line that even young girls who are brought up with a thirst for knowledge and a strong education change who they are as they mature in order to attract men. Latifah questions the decisions of the women who pretend to be someone they are not. There are plenty of people who are thugs and gangsters because they ended up in an unfortunate situation; girls who are fortunate enough to get an education and live somewhere other than the streets should not strive to be a gangster. “There's plenty of people out there with triggers ready to pull it/ Why you trying to jump in front of the bullet (Young lady)” (Latifah). Latifah explains her desire for women to take a step back and question if pretending to be gangster is a good decision. The hook of “U.N.I.T.Y” generalizes and ties the morals of Latifah’s verses together: women need to stand up for themselves and each other. Queen Latifah sings of the alliance against abuse and harassment that women need to begin to build with each other. “U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity” (Latifah). Latifah inspires women to take action because if one woman does, another may follow, and then many more, building a powerful unity of strong women. Her hook lets women know that they are not alone in their struggles; there is a unity of women waiting to take action. Latifah wants women to open their eyes after listening to her song and realize that they can overcome and get out of any toxic situations that they are involved in; she also wants them to feel confident and love who they are. Queen Latifah’s goal is for young women to realize that they are not defined by the men they are with. Latifah longs for her female listeners to stay true to themselves and love who they are, regardless of men’s influences. “U.N.I.T.Y.” inspires women to remain strong in their personal battles with men, and then unite together to fight the war against gender inequality.
She illuminates the hidden causes of the harsh sexism in rap music lyrics and argues that one needs to look deeper to understand why the misogyny exists and how women in her culture need to respond and also start taking responsibility for its existence in order for changes to begin to take place. In the article “ From Fly -Girls to Bitches and Hos “ the dysfunction of our black men is evident, but somehow it’s seen and admired manliness and success. For example the life of Notorious BIG was one of the rap kings that live a life of jail, sex , drugs and murder that “ the seeming impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask of American often wear both to hide “ . Joan Morgan was vivid as to show the pain men must be feeling so badly that they had to use disrespectful slurs and hateful comment says their music lyrics. I agree with the fact that in today’s society the "bitches and hos" have become the norm. From my perspective that many guys often believe that is how all women act and that they are all pimps and
Cultural Analysis Queen Latifah played a big role in the hip hop industry as a female MC, and still is relevant to this day. She influenced millions of people especially in the black community for equality between women and men. She’s an American song-writer, actress, fashion producer, model, female MC, feminist, television producer, record producer, and talk show hostess. The Hip-hop culture began around the 1970’s in Bronx, New York and it was mostly amongst the Black and Latino community at that time. Hip Hop emerged out of an atmosphere of disappointment, anger, hate, discrimination, and disillusionment which; made it easy for the audience to comprehend and enjoy the music not as a song, but as a public personal message for each person to understand.
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black women. As hip hop music continues to become more popular, the sexist messages presented in lyrics and music videos are becoming more common to the everyday public, including young black girls developing a self-image. Instead of these girls being exposed to healthy, positive role models who encourage individuality and that there is more to a woman than her body they are given hip hop video models whose only purpose is to look sensual on screen. The strong women that do exist in the hip hop genre are pushed to sexualize themselves or their lyrics to sell records or stay relatively unknown. Although Perry’s arguments are logical, I believe that she is creating a slippery slope of logic. A genre of music cannot destroy the self-image of black women that has existed for generations.
“The widespread perception of Black women is based on mainstream misogyny” and because it is main, a social norm, and a way for young Black people to be unified “[Black females] accept stereotypical views and unconscious behaviors that devalue women and esteem men”(Henry, West, & Jackson 245). As long as hip hop continues to thrive on misogyny and people continue to ignore that it is an issue Black females will continue to reap the internal and sometimes physical
When looking at the landscape of Hip-Hop among African Americans, from the spawn of gangsta rap in the mid 1980s to current day, masculinity and an idea of hardness is central to their image and performance. Stereotypical to Black masculinity, the idea of a strong Black male - one who keeps it real, and is defiant to the point of violence - is prevalent in the genre. This resistant, or even compensatory masculinity, encompasses: the hyper masculinity rife in the Western world, misogyny, and homophobia, all noticeable in their lyrics, which is in part a result of their containment within the Black community. The link of masculinity and rap music was established due to this containment, early innovators remaking public spaces in their segregated neighbourhoods. A notion of authentic masculinity arose from the resistant nature of the genre, but the move to the mainstream in the 90s created a contradiction to their very image - resistance. Ultimately, this in part led to the construction of the masculinity defined earlier, one that prides itself on its authenticity. I’ll be exploring how gender is constructed and performed in Hip Hop, beginning with a historical framework, with the caveat of showing that differing masculine identities in the genre, including artists
To be labeled as a feminist is such a broad classification therefore it is divided into various subsections, one such subsection is known as hip hop feminism in which Ruth Nicole closely associates herself with throughout this essay I will thoroughly discuss this form of feminism. Ruth Nicole is a black woman that categorizes herself as a girl, by her definition a girl is far from independent. Black girlhood discusses the shared experiences of the ever-changing body, which has been marked as vibrant, Black, and female, along with memories and representations of being female. As a result, Ruth Nicole wrote Black Girlhood Celebration in order to share her personal and political motivations of working with black girls within the community. A conversation that is not often articulated about due to a language barrier. In which this discussion accurately details a means to work with black girls in such a way that does not control their body or pilfer black female individuality. Under those circumstances, Brown believes that black girls are being exploited for their physique through the use of music and instructed to conform to white norms constructed by society.
She also faces racism towards African Americans. In the book, “Ladies First”: Queen Latifah’s Afrocentric Feminist Music Video by Robin Robert, “...explores issues raised by feminist rap, that is, rap that focuses on promoting women's importance, that demands equal treatment for women, and that demonstrates the need for women to support each other(245).” This book shows how rap is used by many women to express their concerns and issues. In other words, this means that women are trying to express themselves and their beliefs in how a women should be treated through the form of rap. Due to the characteristics of rap, women are able to promote their message regarding feminism. The song, “Ladies First” by Queen Latifah, is about the importance of women and how they are not inferior to men nor superior, but equal. For instance in “Ladies First”(Latifah), it states... “when I get there,that's when I tax the next man, or the next woman it doesn't make a difference, keep the competition coming.” This means that there is no difference in weather going against a man or a woman. They should be both treated equally instead of men thinking that they are superior to
Black consciousness has awoken the black community, and has forced us to revolt against the injustice that constantly live through. From the civil rights movement being expressed through Nina Simone’s songs to the black lives matter movement being lived and sung by Solange Knowles these artists are strong activist for the issues in their time period. The song “F.U.B.U” song by Solange has a deeper meaning than just revolting against isolation. While listening to the song thoroughly in the second verse of “F.U.B.U” by Solange she sings strongly about who she wrote the song for, she sings, “All my niggas let the whole world know
The healthy relationships portrayed in the media are few and far between, which leaves Black women to make choices based on the options they have and perceive. For that reason, it is not complicated to understand why Black women are the least likely to marry in the environment of the over-sexed woman and a pimp. The portrayal of Black women as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype. To understand more fully the media’s role in shaping the culture of African-American experience, one must first examine the stereotypes projected by TV stations like, BET, MTV, and VH1. The songs and music videos created by such hip-hop artists as 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg have built ...
Oswald, Janelle. “Is Rap Turning Girls into Ho’s?” The Black Book: A Custom Publication. 3rd ed. Ed. Sam Pierstorff. Modesto: Quercus Review Press, 2012. 171-175.
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
Misogyny and degradation of women is present in almost every genre of music, yet the one genre that completely revolves around demeaning women is rap. Over the years rap and rap music videos have continually become more sexual and degrading towards women. Rap has been criticized numerous times for this reason, and that is because rap is one of the most popular genres of music for the younger generations. It is more than a genre of music, it is a complete industry filled with clothing and other merchandise. The reason this constant demeaning of women exists is because rap as a genre that rewards the objectification of women. The excuses used to justify the misogyny in rap are incomplete and lack accurate support. The most effective way for this continuous cycle ends, is if the fight and protest comes from the women themselves. Men are the problem in the objectification of women but in order for it to stop, women need to step up and take control of the situation.
The most common theme in hip-hop music videos is the objectification of females. Women are portrayed as sexual objects throughout the videos. In some videos they are seen as a type of reward or trophy for the male. Other times they are seen holding money to gain the attention of men or are even portrayed as slaves willing to do anything to please the men in the videos. According to Catherine MacKinnon, “Objectification involves treating a person, someone with humanity, as an object of merely instrumental worth, and consequently reducing this person to the status of an object for use” (1989). Her point relates to the hip-hop music videos because the idea that they transmit is that women are only objects available at anytime for men’s use. When women are objectified men feel more “powerful” or “successful” by showing the have control over women.
It is no secret that gender inequality is still prevalent in modern society. With women earning about 79 percent of men’s wages in the United States due to a number of factors, it is obvious that our historically patriarchal society has yet to completely evolve (Hill, 2016). It is no wonder that so many people of the dominant class feel threatened by empowering women such as Oprah or Beyoncé, who have made substantial earnings for themselves. Not only does gender inequality persist as a social problem in America today, but it is also reflected in and influenced by hip-hop culture.
...l pleasure that matters over the woman’s. “So mi fuck her out hard when she position from back, worse de gul skin clean, yes and de pum pum fat.” Yet again this supports that idea that a woman is supposed to attract a man with her looks but also goes further to state that the power available to women is determined by her sexual nature in order to gain the achievement of being the women he wants. “Gi mi straight up pussy cause she know say gangsta no saps, it’s a fucking affair gal siddung pon mi cocky like chair,” this brings out the motion of objectification of women. In the last lines, “Wan mek a run but mi cab inna de air, Fling her pon de ground and put she foot inna de air” the action of taking control mentined clearly above eliminates the notion of respect of men towards women in this dyadic relation, which highlights women subordinate and inferior position.