Rap: Sexual Objectification Of Women

In the late 1970s the state of hip-hop emerged as an elevating expression of the inner-city youth. Marginalized voices became vocalized and a new kind of poetry became infectious. Since its arrival Rap has gone through many phases, it has given MC’s the opportunity to speak on various issues like; change, peace, violence, poverty, drugs, money, and women. This essay interrogates female representations in music videos and questions why rappers degrade women.
Historically music has been used as a tool for human self-expression. Today music is used as a medium to express emotions like fear, anger, anticipation, and love. Regardless of who is behind the mic, music tries to stimulate our senses by evoking our emotions. Rap is recognized as a reflection

Today it would seem un-natural to watch a rap video without seeing women dressed in scantly clad clothing. Some may say that sexual objectification is looking at a women too long or checking them out, but its more than that. When a person is objectified they have little to no control when acted upon by others. When one is sexually objectified their body becomes their identity, the person is valued solely for its use to others. According to Fredrickson & Roberts, “sexual objectification occurs whenever body parts are on display. We are focused on those body parts that are associated with sexual activity and/or the demarcation of biological sex for e.g. cleavage/chest, buttocks, and pelvis.” (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) This example is best attributed with the movement of cameras in music videos, instead of focusing on the subject’s face the camera tends to linger on body parts, and accentuate female bodily attributes by using slow motion effects or placing women in submissive positions. Highlighting the body denies the subject human agency, it reduces him or her to the status of an

N.W.A, Ice T, and 2 Live Crew changed the fabric of hip-hop by commercializing suggestive themes and portraying women as objects. Joan Smith defines misogyny as a hatred or disdain towards women. It is the belief that diminishes women to objects for men’s ownership, use, or abuse. (Smith, 1991) According to Joan, misogyny assumes many characteristics, it reveals itself in forms that are dictated by race, education, social class, religion and wealth. The primal characteristic of misogyny is its pervasiveness. In the article Women, Pop Music, and Pornography Meredith Levande, identifies how misogyny became pervasive, she tells us that “paper-view-television and the internet removed the final barriers between consumer and product” (Levande, 296) As soon as these obstacles were removed, images of women in popular media became increasingly suggestive and mirrored pornographic behaviors, attitudes and body language. Another issue was cross-ownership. There was a time when the government didn’t allow one company to own several TV stations, local newspapers, or radio stations, but after 2003 the law was revised, the power was put back in the hands of large corporations. This allowed cross-ownership of new & old media to become limitless. Fast forward to 2015 and we can see the affects of cross-ownership, large