The Effect of Hip-Hop on Female AAE Speakers

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Recommended: Objectification of women in rap

“He don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that” is a rather vulgar and demeaning statement, yet it is freely sung in Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, a song that was in the top ten on the Billboard list of the most popular R&B/Hip-Hop songs in 2013. Because hip-hop is a very large part of the African American culture, and many speakers of African American English (AAE) are portrayed through these songs, women are often highly influenced by the objectification of their bodies in hip-hop songs. Since the emergence of the hip-hop genre in popular culture in the 1960s and 70s, women’s bodies have been sexually objectified through this music. Although the impact of the sexualization of women’s bodies in hip-hop songs is still very prevalent, the effect of this in recent years has decreased because of a learned linguistic way to navigate the misogynistic words that diminish the humanity of women. Without a doubt, it is not difficult to hear the sexualization of women’s bodies in hip-hop music - and it is clear that the impact this has is not positive. Margaret Hunter linguistically analyzed the top fifteen “Hot Rap Tracks” on the Billboard charts in 2007 and 2008 and the top music videos in those years. Her analysis shows that gender relations often become object relations in these songs and that women’s body parts are very often depicted as objects rather than as parts of a human. In addition, she found that in the songs there were many references to a man’s desire to see women dance for him “as if they [were] strippers” (Hunter 28). Since the introduction of hip-hop music into popular culture, the sexualization of women has increased, especially because the common occurrence of words such as ‘letting it show’ seems to indicate ... ... middle of paper ... ...aching young women of all races of the objectification present and enforcing the idea that women are human and should not have to, although they can, adjust linguistically to stay humanized. Works Cited Hunter, Margaret. "Shake It, Baby, Shake It: Consumption and the New Gender Relation in Hip-Hop." Sociological Perspectives 54.1 (2011): 15-36. JSTOR. Web. 2 May 2014. Peoples, Whitney A. ""Under Construction": Identifying Foundations of Hip-Hop Feminism and Exploring Bridges between Black Second-Wave and Hip-Hop Feminisms."Meridians 8.1 (2008): 19-52. JSTOR. Web. 2 May 2014. "R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Annual Ranking 2013." Billboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014. Richardson, Elaine. "'She was Workin Like Foreal': Critical Literacy and Discourse Practices of African American Females in the Age of Hip Hop." Discourse & Society 18.6 (2007): 789-809. ProQuest. Web. 2 May 2014.

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