Supporting Female Rappers Use Of Controversial Language

1066 Words3 Pages

Josh Hughes Kendra Gallos English III Honors 4.25.24 Supporting Female Rappers’ Use of Controversial Language When many people think of female rappers, artists such as Nicki Minaj or Missy Elliot come to mind. For many, they associate rap with explicit, sexual language and themes. Rap music, a male-dominated genre, is a key component of Hip-Hop culture, and over time female rappers have found their place within the industry. Sexualization of women has been a common theme in male rappers’ music and as female rappers emerged some began to use these themes as well (Phillips et al). Their use of controversial language has garnered criticism for embracing misogyny and setting a negative example for their listeners (Hunter and Soto). The controversial …show more content…

This term literally means ‘female dog’ and has historically been used to degrade women. However, many female rappers began using terms like these in their own music with a positive connotation. Female rappers use derogatory terms like these when “talking back to men, defending themselves, reclaiming their respect, and resisting sexist violence” (Phillips et al). For example, in Missy Elliot’s song, “She is a Bitch,” the term is used to describe a self-confident woman, and in Trina’s song, “Da Baddest Bitch,” the term is used by the artist to refer to herself as a master in her craft (Oware). Reclaiming misogynistic terms like these has allowed female rappers to flip the definitions of pre-existing, harmful terms and use them in empowering ways. The visual graph below contains numerous female rap songs and counts how many times a variety of themes are mentioned in them. The themes are braggadocio lyrics (where the speaker “engages in self-aggrandizement” (Oware)), lyrics involving drug use, disses, lyrics referencing sex, and sexually demeaning

Open Document