Rap Culture: The Culture Of Rape Culture

1285 Words3 Pages

What is rape culture? When society normalizes sexual violence a culture of rape is created. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm. In a rape culture both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life. Do we live in a rape culture? Of course we do. No it’s not every day that you hear of a new rape case, but there are examples all around us that clearly identify that we are without a doubt living in a rape culture. Some of those examples include victim blaming, rape jokes, pop music, and the factual statics that leave you with no room to deny that we …show more content…

Hip Hop Music promotes Rape and Sexual Assault through the graphic lyrics that depict rape and violence against Women in particular. Rick Ross, a famous artist in the hip hop world includes the following lyrics in one of his top hits: “Put Molly all in the champagne. She ain 't even know it. I took her home and I enjoy that. She ain 't even know it.” Since when was, putting a drug in a woman’s drink and then having sex with her acceptable? Last time I checked that was considered rape. Another rapper, Lil Wayne, says to, “Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till.” Guess who Emmett Hill was? He was a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago who was violently beaten and killed in Mississippi. Tell me how that’s not promoting rape culture? These lyrics are extremely offensive to women for they are comparing a sexual act to the level of violence that Till experienced. There are many songs that I sing along to because they have such a catchy beat but when you dissect the lyrics you will realize that you totally misunderstood the meaning of a song. Take for example, Robin Thicke’s popular song “Blurred Lines”, he is actually talking about date rape in this song. These pop songs are just a few examples of how song lyrics promote rape

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Old School Rap

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    The lyrics in today’s hip hop music are completely pointless. An example of this is 2Chainz “Birthday Song,” in which the rapper says, “She got a big booty so I call her Big Booty,” the song continues with “I’m in the kitchen, yams everywhere.” The majority of hip hop songs on the radio involve three main themes: money, drugs, and women. Rappers brag about the massive amount of money they have, along with their intake of drugs. Hip hop also sexually degrades women by labeling them with offensive words, and overall all being very misogynistic towards women. The message that the new hip hop today is sending is incredibly negative for the audience as well. The negative message that the music is sending poses a large effect on the young listeners. Young listeners are influenced by the antagonistic lyrics in these hip hop songs that they are listening to. Unlike today’s hip hop, old school rap music had meaningful lyrics and when hip hop went to the mainstream media the message was destroyed. Old school rap music has lyrical significance. Rappers wrote lyrics about important subjects such as racial inequality, politics, life struggles, and police brutality. An example of a lyric with actual meaning is N.W.A.’s “Express Yourself,” “I’m expressing with my full capabilities. And now I’m living in correctional facilities.” This lyric explains how the very act communicating their beliefs will cause trouble and could possibly lead to

    Read More

  • Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, Boswell and Spade describe how rape culture is a set of values and beliefs that provide an environment conductive to rape (217)..As they do a study, the list indicates a host of factors that distinguish higher risks of rape and some examples of setting were the highly distinct ratios at parties (Boswell, Spade 219). They observed 2 opposing fraternities at the same school and noted the distinctions of high and low risk parties in which they generated sexually assaultive behavior by observing interaction between men and women.

    Read More

  • Rap is Crap

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    “She ain’t nuttin but a hoochie mama…Smackin’ on your lips, put your hands on your hips…She ain’t nuttin but a hoochie mama…Oh I love those big brown eyes and the way you shake your thighs, acting like you’re so damn cute...” Rap music with lyrics like this play on the radio and in home stereos every day. Rap music pounds messages of sex and violence into the minds of young adults leaving behind their sexist and repetitive influential messages. Music has a very powerful influence on our emotions, moods, and behavior. Rap music influences teenagers negatively by increasing violent attitudes and promoting sexual aggression against women.

    Read More

  • How Is Rap Music Harmful To African American Communities

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article is titled “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” and is written by E. Faye Williams. Williams is a chairwoman of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW). The national congress of black women is a non-profit organization dedicated to the educational, political, economic, and cultural development of African American women and their families. Williams’s article “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” makes her qualified and a credible source to be writing on this question: If rap music and other media is harming the African American community? In her article, she states her side of the argument of how rap music and media are indeed harming the African American community, using the context, and reasoning,

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Hip Hop Culture

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the predominantly patriarchal history of the world masculinity and what it means to be a man have differed from culture to culture. When it comes to African American culture, particularly what it has meant to be a man has no clear set of universal rules or guidelines. There are a few different sources such as hip hop and television many young black men across America draw their sense of masculinity from. While hip hop music in particular has had and continues to have a very strong influence on both masculinity and femininity of the youth, young black youth in particular has been affected the most .

    Read More

  • The Exploitation and Objectification of Women in Rap

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay About Rap Music

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rap music from the 1990’s to the year 2000 is known in hip hop as “the golden era”. This era is all about individuality and innovation of creating music in one of the newest musical art forms. Rap music started out as the expression of young black youths in the inner city of New York. Rap music is rhymed storytelling accompanied by highly rhythmic, electronically based music. It began in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx in New York City as a part of hip hop, composed of graffiti, breakdancing, and rap music. From the outset, rap music has articulated the pleasures and problems of black urban life in contemporary America. Rappers speak with the voice of personal experience, taking on the identity of the observer or narrator. Rap music has lost a lot of it purity and essence due to the multimillion dollar business. Rap music is always critizied because of it’s violent and sexual nature but its just reporting what is views in this cold world.(Rose, 1994)

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Women in Rap and Music Videos

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Contemplating Gender Inequality and Rape Culture

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    3. Rape culture in the US does exist, and isn’t limited to “just women”, think of jokes about prison rape which make it seem comical when it isn’t. The term “rape culture” was coined to bring to light how society normalizes rape and aggressive sexual behavior. In the 70’s when it was first coined it focused on aggression towards women, who at the time (and currently) face higher rates for sexual assault than men, but currently has been expanding to describe society’s views on rape as a whole. Just because it highlights aggression towards women doesn’t mean it totally disregards men- keyword culture- but any way you slice it, women have a higher chance of getting assaulted, and acknowledging that shouldn’t make men uncomfortable if rape culture doesn’t exist right? That’s basically like saying paying more attention to your sick

    Read More

  • Conflict Theory: The Functionalist View Of Rape

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    Firstly, Rape culture can be defined as the normalization and excusing of sexual violent behavior towards women in everyday media and culture (marshall.edu). Rape culture can also be the over sexualization of women’s bodies and misogynistic attitudes. These images and attitudes may not seem like they are obvious or even present but they are subtly weaved into many of the symbols and daily interactions in society. This is what causes rape and rape culture to be normalized. For example, if a young woman is sexually assaulted in a club, instead of asking details about the person who committed the act, the questions are reversed onto the victim. There are questions that arise such as, “what was she wearing?”, “was she drunk?”, “was she flirting with him/her at first?”. These questions are problematic because they suggest that the victim is the one is at fault for being sexaually assaulted. This idea is pushed by the symbolic interaction that if someone is trying to get lucky the other individual has to follow through, especially in party settings. I often see this especially in music and movies where stalking and harassing a person to the point of being uncomfortable is chalked up as a heated “romantic” pursuit.. For another example, women’s bodies (and often men’s too) are oversexualized. The is especially in the advertising industry and again in the media.

    Read More

  • Rape Culture: How Society Reacts to Rape

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    What do you think and feel when you hear the word rape? Do you feel uncomfortable? Maybe even angry? Your certain feelings and emotions towards this word is a result of rape culture. Rape culture, essentially, is how a society as a whole sees and reacts towards rape or instances of rape. In 2013 rape was defined by the FBI as, “Penetration… of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” (Division’s Crime Statistics Management Unit 1). The definition was finally changed after the old definition deemed inappropriate by today’s standards, which beforehand, stated that physical force needed to be used for rape to be considered rape. This is good news for men and women who have been fighting for the definition to be changed, but unfortunately this does not mean that state laws are being changed the same way. Even though the FBI may acknowledge the older inappropriate definition, most states do not. Sexual assault is a commonly unreported crime, where only an average of 36% of sexual abuse is actually reported to the authorities (Planty 7). Some forms of rape can include physical harm, threats, and even death of the victim, and most victims do not want to tell others for fear of criticism, self-blame, or even the fear that their attackers will carry out on their threats. In many cases, victims do have a reason to be afraid. When someone is brave enough to come forward and say they were sexually assaulted, they are putting themselves in the position of being in not only a long legal process, but also having their motives questioned and misunderstood, which is the last thing they want after their experience. The legal system in the United States...

    Read More

  • Rape Culture

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rape Culture Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, leads us to better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world.

    Read More

  • Essay About Rap

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Five men changed the world of music as we know it in the early 1990s. A rap group that went by the name N.W.A. paved the way for the popularity of rap music that has lasted decades. Rap is “a type of popular music of United States Black origin, in which words are recited rapidly and rhythmically over a prerecorded, typically electronic instrumental backing” according to Google Dictionary. This paper will take you through the origin of rap, when rap became popular, and the effect rap has today. Rap has been around for many years and is both loved and hated by people all over the world.

    Read More

  • Rape Culture Rape

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Eat, Sleep, Rape, Repeat”, an image uploaded in 2015 went viral, after a man posted a photo of himself grinning from ear to ear holding a casual peace sign.This picture depicts a rape culture that exists today. Not only does it occur in our everyday lives, it is thought to be almost normal in this generation. Although he might hold up a peace sign, he is supporting a non-peaceful practice; rape. A women’s clothing does not provide consent

    Read More

  • The Concept Of Rape

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rape has become the most violent and common crime in America and even more so on college campuses (Acquaintance 1). But, what is rape and how does consent apply to it? Rape is not the issue however, it is the concept of consent. Most people who commit rape do not know they are committing the crime because they do not know what true consent is.

    Read More

More about Rap Culture: The Culture Of Rape Culture

Open Document