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The music industry has remained male-dominated for a long time in history. However, the current society has seen a few women come out as hip-hop artists and gain fame that is equal to that accorded to men. Such women include famous rappers such as Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Shakira, and Rihanna, whose talents are visible through their ability to perform in different music genres. These women motivate other women in society when their albums and singles hit the market, and win prestigious awards. At the same time, these women have accepted the place of women in hip-hop through their skimpy styles of dressing. For instance, Rihanna has walked almost naked in various award ceremonies, and she seems very content with her body. Nicki Minaj has also posed nude in some of her videos, while the case is similar for all female artists, a strategy that is seen as one of the best ways of promoting their music. Nevertheless, the representation of women in hip-hop music is not all about dressing but also about how they are left out of prestigious awards while their male counterparts dominate these ceremonies.
The paper compares the depiction of women in hip-hop music and tries to answer the primary research question of what the representation of women in hip-hop music is. The paper utilizes a content analysis of various sources to get the answers to the research question. The primary hypothesis is that women are represented negatively in hip-hop, and this prevents them from fully participating in this kind of music.
Jamerson (2019) recognizes the fact that women are just as good as their male counterparts when it comes to pop music. He adds that women have proven adequate skills behind the scenes and that their hip-hop game is on top through their dancing, rapping, and writing chops. These skills have seen rappers such as Nicki Minaj, Rapsody, Tierra Whack, and Queen Latifah sitting at the top of the game. However, a problem exists in that women are still left out of the conversation concerning the ranking of the best in the hip-hop genre. Earlier this year, the Pew Podcast listed the fifty best rappers of all time, a move that sparked controversy all over social media for its lack of inclusion of any female rapper. A similar trend is also seen in BBC’s list of top hip hop artists which includes only two female artists, one of them Queen Latifah, and none of them featured among the top fifteen.
Grönevik (2013) is concerned with the cultural aspects of the involvement of women in hip-hop and rap music. According to him. Men mostly perform this form of music because the language is vulgar and straightforward, and most of the time, they are usually singing to their female counterparts. However, this form of music portrays women as sexual objects whose role is to please men. Grönevik uses the lyrics of a hip-hop song addressed to a woman with the words Baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair makes me overwhelmed. Here, the artist uses the word baby to refer to the woman implicating that even a single act of flipping her hair has a sexual meaning for him. He refers to previous research on the depiction of women in hip-hop in Sweden and America conducted by Valsinger (2008) to reveal that the lyrics within hip-hop music focus on the female body and eventually portray women as sexual objects. The research also revealed that American hip-hop culture is more discriminatory compared to Swedish culture, and this limits the number of women in the industry.
Kistler and Lee (2009), state that the depiction of women in hip-hop music can influence people’s decisions about gender. The author analyzes the videos in Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy’ and Shakira’s ‘Give it to me.’ In both cases, women are seen dancing erotically alongside men. The women are in skimpy clothing, and they wear makeup which suggests that they are seducing the men in the video. Women in both cases are depicted as sexual objects who seem like an easy targets for men’s sexual desires. Chung (2007) acknowledges that dressing is not the only attribute used to depict women in hip hop but also the fact that they have curvy bodies with hourglass figure that seems to be what the men. Such behavior can further influence the attitudes of other ladies in society so that they grow up knowing that that is acceptable behavior in society.
Ross and Colman (2011), acknowledge that hip-hop has a negative influence on young listeners’ ideas about sexuality and sex. Most of the scholars have focused on the impact of hip hop on the sexual self-concept and behavior of African American girls. The authors refer to a model developed by Stephens and Philips (2003) on a sexual scripting model that has the specific experiences of African American women. Their model involved eight sexual scripts, including the Gold Digger. Ross and Colman (2011) add another sexual script called the Video Girl, which includes 18 college African American women between the ages of 18 and 30. The existence of the Video Girl script was analyzed using the q methodology. The results of the research revealed that although the ninth script is distinct from the previous eight models, it is closely related to the Gold Digger model. The implication of the study is that a majority of hip-hop sexual scripts hold real meaning.
Peterson, Wingood, DiClemente, Harrington, and Davies (2007) reveal that women are not only depicted negatively in the hip-hop and rap music industry, but this is also likely to affect the behavior of other young women in society. The prevalent themes in rap music include violence, guns, alcohol, cigarettes, eroticism, violence, social deprivation, and dysfunctional families, among others. However, these videos often misrepresent African American women as greedy, amoral, and hypersexual. The researchers sought to determine the various ways in which this misrepresentation of African American women affects the behavior of other young women in society. The research used a sample of 522 adolescents from different community venues. The primary data collection method included a survey that contained information concerning socio-demographics, rap music viewing habits, and the portrayal of sexual stereotypes in rap music videos. The results revealed that the adolescents who perceived rap music as containing sexual stereotypes were more likely to engage in binge drinking, have a negative body image, and test negative for marijuana.
White (2013), acknowledges that the representation of women in hip-hop music can either help to objectify or empower women in the industry. The researcher mentions that there is a correlation between the sexuality of African Americans and their search for self-identity and self-control. The article considers two African American women who are influential in the field of hip hop: Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliot to determine whether their participation in rap music has helped to define their sexuality. The results revealed that the two powerful women empower women because they have dominated a field that was initially meant for the male gender.
The Perspective (2018) presents two sides of Nicki Minaj, the queen of hip-hop music and a renowned business mogul. In the first place, she is described as a woman who empowers other females by opening doors for them in a male-dominated industry. She has achieved this by winning multiple awards and nominations that have proven that her rap skills are on point. Most of her albums and singles have hit the top of the billboards, and she also became the first woman to appear on the Forbes list of hip-hop cash kings. Nicki Minaj uses her body to exemplify female sexuality. She enjoys her sexuality and uses it to earn income. Already, her net worth is estimated at $75 million, and this encourages other women to use their talent to make a living. On the other side, the female rapper is depicted as a woman who enforces sexist stereotypes. She unashamedly displays her body, and most of her performances portray an overly sexualized image of women. Nicki Minaj is also depicted as a woman who uses her body for sexual profit. Take the example of her album, the Anaconda, in which she uses her body and the idea of sex to sell her music.
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