Queen Latifah as a Hip-Hop Feminism Icon

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Queen Latifah became famous in the late 80s when she redefined the music industry by launching a wave of female rappers, which male rappers initially dominated. Latifah was a member of the Ladies Fresh rap group while in college and was signed in at Tommy Boy Records in 1988, where she released albums like All Hail the Queen that propelled different styles like reggae, dance, and soul, all of which had feminist themes. Other albums she released include Nature of a Sista in 1991 and Black Reign in 1993. Queen Latifa is also an actress and has made several television appearances in Jungle Fever, Living Single, and Living Out Loud, among others. Latifah has been doing so well in both acting and music careers and has always fought for feminism, as revealed in her work. In 1993, Latifah released Black Reign, and the track “U.N.I.T.Y” earned her a Grammy Award because she was decrying sexism and societal violence against women. Latifah’s popularity swept through the music industry because she changed the hip-hop industry as she rapped with passion about street-smart feminism. Her music is captivating and different because it seems to dismantle the patriarchy, and this complexity made her come out as a talented woman with star power. Latifah aimed to promote black female excellence, confidence, and overcoming adversity, and patriarchy (Piatkowski).

Main body

Feminism has existed for decades as it involves movements and ideologies that fight for the equality of all genders across political, economic, personal, and social platforms. Feminists believe society focuses on the male gender, resulting in women being discriminated against. Intersectionality comprises all concepts linked to societal oppression based on categorizing factors like race and gender. Intersectionality tries to marginalize people who have been discriminated against based on their unique characteristics like gender, race, and sexual orientation. Feminists acknowledge that intersectionality offers a framework for people to understand power systems regarding women facing discrimination. Therefore, fighting for women’s rights should be intersectional, and feminism should comprise women’s experiences concerning race, class, disability, and sexual orientation (Taylor).

The first wave of feminism resulted in women being granted the right to vote, go to school, and have careers in the 20^th century. The second wave of feminism was in the 1970s, and it aimed to liberate women, hence the emergence of women’s studies in institutions. The third wave was in the 1990s when women became aware of societal issues like gender, race, and sexual orientation, which is where Queen Latifah falls under. This wave used avenues like media and pop culture to sensitize the population about this movement. Publications like blogs and e-zines were majorly used to push campaigns about feminism. The issue of concern during the third wave of the feminist movement was the sexual harassment of women, domestic violence, body image, obesity, reproductive rights, genital mutilation, and crimes. Latifah’s “Ladies First” clearly demonstrates the third wave of feminism. The song was released in 1989 when the third wave was starting, and Latifah talks about the importance of women the society and the need for equal treatment and supporting each other. The song glorifies Black American women’s history and rebukes the exploitation of these women as it shows these images in the video. The video shows explicit images of sexism and racism, which are concerns raised in the third wave. “U.N.I.T.Y,” retorted men who are sexist and used terms like ‘bitch’ to refer to women. The song raises concern about sexual harassment and domestic violence, especially for black women, claiming that black women have been objectified in society and art. Latifah encourages women to warn these men from calling them such names and fight to end sexual stereotyping in society. About the concerns raised during the third wave, Latifah in “U.N.I.T.Y” warns men from devaluing women’s image and body, which is aimed at uplifting women and their confidence (Rudulph). The fourth wave of feminism was about cyberfeminism, the internet, cyber, and technologies (Nelson).

Queen Latifah became famous after she busted the hip-hop world as a rapper and has impacted the music industry. She is commonly addressed as the first female in hip-hop, and her music has significantly influenced culture, especially on the issue of feminism. Her music is a blend of genres ranging from progressive rap, jazz, hip-hop, and soul. Latifah broke the culture of the male-dominant hip-hop industry and became the first solo female rapper with a successful album launch, which paved the way for other female artists. She used her music to celebrate black feminism and taught women to stand up for themselves. Latifah was also the first woman in hip-hop to win a Grammy Award for her single “U.N.I.T.Y,” which paved the way for other artists like Cardi B and Missy Elliott. She also used her crew, Flavor Unit, to make an imprint on the rap game throughout the 90s till to date. She was also the first female rapper to cross over to the acting and TV industry, creating a path for other artists in music (Brown). She made a positive contribution to the hip-hop industry which the male initially dominated.

Conclusion

Latifah used her music to sensitive people about the importance of unity regarding race and gender. Her music reflected an older soul concerned with the world’s precarious happenings. Her songs used stormy rhymes statements, and images to promote feminism. Starting as the first female hip-hop artist in itself is an act of feminism, and she used her voice in the music to encourage women to fight for their rights and not accept be intimidated by men over issues raised in the third wave of feminism like race, sexual harassment, sexual orientation, class, body image, domestic violence, and honor crimes (Nelson). Latifah was loud about sexism and urged women not to entertain the idea of men viewing them as objects and being called names like ‘bitches’, a form of modern sexism, which is men’s bad attitude towards women. (Brown). Queen Latifah’s music quickly became popular because it encouraged women, especially black women, never to get tired of fighting for their rights to privacy, safety, discrimination, and freedom. Her feminist trait encouraged women to speak their minds when they feel violated and always be truthful (Gebreyes). Queen Latifah’s contribution to the music and entertainment industry infused feminism and paved the way for other female artists to speak about societal discrimination and come out as feminists.

Works Cited

Brown, Preezy. “Queen Latifah’s 10 Most Impactful Career Moments.” VIBE.com, Web.

Gebreyes, Rahel. “Queen Latifah Won’t Take Misogyny In Rap Lying Down.” HuffPost, Web.

Nelson, Todd. “Feminism and Women’s Rights Movements.” Gender Matters, Web.

Piatkowski, Peter. “Queen Latifah Declared Her Feminism on ‘Nature of a Sista’.” PopMatters, Web.

Rudulph, Heather W. “All Hail The Queen! R29 Looks Back At Latifah’s Feminist Anthem, “U.N.I.T.Y.”.” Refinery29, Web.

Taylor, Bridie. “Intersectionality 101: What is It and Why is It Important?” Womankind Worldwide, Web.

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Queen Latifah as a Hip-Hop Feminism Icon

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