The Role Of Sexism In Rap Music

When it comes to sexism in music, all genres are guilty. Some more so than others, but all are. Why, one might ask, is that a problem? Many studies have demonstrated that exposure to violence desensitizes the viewer to violence, and the same holds true with music. In spite of most studies focusing on sexism in hip hop or rap, pop and country contain sexism as well. Music indicates the state of culture, and beyond that, influences culture. It has been shown to contain the highest levels of sexual content of all media forms. Through studies largely done on hip hop and rap music, it has been shown that songs portraying sexual violence or harassment or other forms of sexism encourage and strengthen sexism, both hostile and benevolent. Americans

are constantly berated with sexist unaware music which perpetuates sexism and glorifies sexual violence, desensitizing them to those harmful ideas.
There are three forms of sexism. Hostile sexism includes the view that women are innately evil and seductive, and use their abilities to control men. This leads to the idea that men must control women or the women will take over and strip the men of their masculinity. Benevolent sexism is the traditional idea that women are the weaker sex, can be easily taken advantage of, are gullible, and need protecting. This mindset is only slightly less damaging than the other, and both of them are problematic. Hostile sexism leads to rape myths, such as “If she dressed provocatively, she was asking for it.” etc (Neff; Stermer and Burkley 49-50). Benevolent sexism leads to treating women as weaker. The third form is known as ambivalent sexism, which is a combination of the other forms. As ambivalent sexism includes aspects of both hostile and benevolent sexism, the results vary.
It is well-known that exposure to violent video games desensitizes players to violence, and the same thing occurs with sexist video games. When gamers are exposed to extreme stereotypes of women, they tend to show higher levels of hostile sexism as well as greater acceptance of rape myth. (Sturmer and Burkley 49). But, one might wonder, what is the link between video games and music? Desensitization due to video games occurs when the player is immersed in the game, being stimulated by the images and actions of the characters. They watch and hear what is occurring in the game. Similarly, watching music videos leads to a listener’s immersion in the media, with his or her senses being assaulted both auditorily and visually. Cultivation theory is the idea that repeated exposure to an idea leads to acceptance of that idea . When an idea is accepted, there is a higher likelihood that the one who accepts the idea will act in that manner (Stermer and Burkley 48).
Rife with sexism, hip hop and rap are the focal point of most studies of sexism in music. However, pop music is not innocent. Men portray women as objects to be lusted after, rather than fellow human beings to love. When not hypersexualizing women, artists portray them as unattainable, teases, or “prudes”. Sometimes, they portray all women as being terrible or promiscuous.
Strangely, women in music tend to portray women, themselves included, as hypersexualized, manipulative, and promiscuous; weak, delicate, and pure; or anywhere in between. Taylor Swift’s music at one time encouraged benevolent sexism by portraying women as young, innocent, and always wanting a guy, while her more recent music has different messages, such as Blank Space, which shows her, as a woman, using a man and throwing him away like a used tissue, feeding into the idea that women are manipulative and will control men unless they are controlled by them. Katy Perry and Iggy Azalea sexualize women, specifically nonwhite women, in almost every song they make. Beyonce panders to the male gaze by strutting around practically naked, but brands herself a feminist. Feminism says, among other things, that women have more value than simply their bodies, and by parading practically naked, these female performers imply that their main value is in their bodies. Nikki Minaj and Miley Cyrus do the same thing. Meghan Trainor, in an attempt to encourage body positivity, essentially said that curvy bodies are acceptable only because men find them attractive, reducing women to mere objects meant for the enjoyment of men. Perpetuating harmful stereotypes by both the lyrics and videos for their songs, women contribute to harmful sexism as well.
Maroon 5 released a song, “Animals,” in 2014 that is utterly horrifying in its music video. The lyrics are extremely sexually suggestive and imply sexual violence. “You can run and you can hide/I can smell your scents for miles/Hunt you down eat you alive...” (Animals) The words, however, are nothing compared to the video. It is of a creepy, psychopathic stalker-butcher, portrayed by Adam Levine, who becomes obsessed with a woman who comes into his workplace. He follows her and takes pictures of her without her knowledge. He sneaks into her house while she sleeps and takes pictures of her. Then, to make matters worse, he crawls into bed beside her without her knowledge of his presence. This is after he hit on her at a nightclub and she rejected him. He essentially calls women meat when he hangs out in a meat storage locker, singing to the meat, and hugging and caressing it (Valenti). It is very disturbing. Later in the video, Levine, the main singer for Maroon 5, is shown having sex with the woman, who is portrayed by Levine’s wife, implying that either she is unaware what a creep the man is, i. e. that women are gullible; or that she does not care what sort of person he is, i. e. that women find stalking romantic. Both of those ideas are dangerous.
Some might argue that Levine is simply trying to be romantic. Perhaps that was his goal, but when stalking is considered romantic, what does that say about society’s acceptance of sexual harassment? 3.4 million people in the United States alone are being stalked, and it is considered acceptable to portray that as romantic and normal (Valenti). Imagine how victims of stalking would feel watching a video by a popular band glorifying stalkers. Music is known to affect people’s views of the world. When an extremely popular band has lyrics that scream that it does not matter if someone runs and hides, the interested party will find him/her and “eat [him/her] alive,” (hopefully) not actually referring to cannibalism, it not only demonstrates the acceptance of sexual violence, but propagates that acceptance. The acceptance of sexual violence is one of the negative results of hostile sexism.
In a study cited by Sarah Neff, it was demonstrated that listening to music with sexist lyrics, not even necessarily violent lyrics, are more likely to be accepting of sexual violence against them.

Listening to sexually violent music often leads men to consider their interactions with women to be confrontational (Neff 3-4). A link exists between domestic violence and misogynistic lyrics (Cundiff). Those who listen to less sexist and sexually violent music tend to be less accepting of violence against them, as well as less likely to view interactions with the opposite gender negatively. Young men and women who grow up listening to this music will think that it is normal to experience and perpetuate

sexism.
Country music, too, is guilty of sexism. However, it tends to be less obvious than in other music genres. Often viewed as a romantic, quaint, family-friendly, conservative, and religious genre, it still contains sexism and sexualization of women. Luke Bryan’s song “Country Girl (Shake it for me)” is an excellent example. Some of the lyrics are “Country girl shake it for me... shake it for the rednecks sitting in the honky tonks.” The implication is that women are simply there to bring enjoyment to men. The sexist music is referred to as Bro-country, and many denounce it, even if they take guilty pleasure in listening to it.
As an example of hostile sexism is the infamous “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” It is so horrible, it is amusing. Trace Adkins sings about going to the bars and how he and his fellow male country stars do not perform for the fame or for the money, but for the “badonkadonk.” The term “badonkadonk” refers to voluptuous females’ rear-ends. In the video are women dancing and grinding suggestively, supposedly representing country girls, but what they look like are country-themed strippers, wearing tops that would barely qualify as bras, booty shorts, and other items claiming to be shorts out of which the women’s derrieres hang.
One of the problems in Bro-Country is that men constantly refer to women as “girl.” They say, hey girl, girl, etc. in reference to any women in which they may have sexual interest, which is disrespectful and suggests that women are objects, by relegating them to the extremely impersonal “girl.” Using belittling terminology is a common way to express dominance. Although it could be simply used so the songs works for any singer about any women, it does not change the fact that it asserts male dominance over women. Imagine if the song said “country boy shake it for me, boy” instead of “country girl shake it for me, girl.” Or if instead of having half-naked women in music videos, there were half-naked men. That would likely shock people for the plain and simple reason that men are rarely portrayed as weaker or hypersexualized. Country music depicts men in hyper-masculine roles and women in ultra-traditional feminine ones, encouraging stereotypes.
Many people listen to country music, oblivious to the underlying ideas in the songs.

Country music often objectifies women, implying that their value lies in their “badonkadonks.” The sexism is not usually as overt and obvious as it is in pop, rap, or hip hop, but it is there. As the quieter form of the sexism, the benevolent type, it often masquerades as simple chivalry. It claims that men and women are different, that women are weaker and need protecting. It says that women need to stick to their traditional roles in the home, barefoot, cooking, and being submissive to men, not because women are bad, but because that is where they belong, and where they are safest. In country music, women are often put on a pedestal, as if they are perfect or as if they are objects. Putting a person on a pedestal implies a sense of ownership and of fragility. If something is strong, why would it need a pedestal? If it could think, why would it stay

there?
Not only men, but women in country, perpetuate sexism. Raelynn’s song “God made Girls” talks about how God made girls to make sure boys go to church and to force them to do good things. Beyond that, she claims that all girls long to be romanced and to hold guys’ hands (God Made Girls). Perhaps that is her desire, and if so, then more power to her, but many women do not desire to take a role of being the hand holder and the one forcing the men to wash their trucks. Some girls want to be the ones driving the trucks. Benevolent sexism, i.e. the idea that women are weak, innocent, and need protecting, is the driving force behind this song.
Some people argue that, because women portray themselves as sexual objects, e.g. Rihanna, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, there is not a problem with portraying women that way. Perhaps women film music videos while wearing barely any clothing and moving sexually are under the impression that it is necessary to appear that way to be successful.
It is clear that sexism is a prominent problem in music, but why is it a problem? What does it do that is so bad? Studies demonstrate that a clear correlation between music and behavior exists. People tend to have a greater acceptance of rape myths and sexism if they listen to music with clear sexist messages (Neff 3-4). Watching music videos influences the viewer in two ways–visually and auditorily–leading to greater desensitization to sexual harassment and violence. It does not cause those problems, but it does encourage and strengthen those ideas.
Music often does one of two things: places women on a pedestal or throws them under men’s feet. Women are not so delicate that they need to be put on a pedestal and worshipped, nor are they so dangerous and evil that they need to be thrown under foot and trampled on. Women and men should be on equal footing. Women are intelligent and are of more value than simply their appearances. If the world is to be successful, it is necessary to present both genders as equally capable. When sexual harassment and violence are portrayed and glorified regularly in media, specifically in music, how can anyone expect to fight those issues? When people become accustomed to seeing an evil glorified as good and healthy and normal, how can change occur? Sexism cannot be stopped simply by stopping the media’s acceptance of it, although that may help, but rather requires a concerted effort to stop. Equality is an American value, but Americans seem to ignore inequality when it is in music.