When talking about hip-hop, everyone seems to focus on the hypersexualization of the performing artists and rightfully so. Most lyrics portray a male asserting himself as tough, preoccupied with violence, gunplay, and of course women. To date, much of the focus in this genre has been on the explicit lyrics of male artists. A large majority of hip-hop songs illustrate a man having a lot of women. This doesn’t seem bad right? The concept of having a lot of women is not really frowned upon in society, but rather it’s the way in which they portray these women as “bitches” and “hoes” in their lyrics. This has been greatly discussed in the past few years across all communities, but something that has been held very quiet are the explicit lyrics of several female artists, such as Rihanna and Pink. Some of their songs are just as vulgar if not more as male artists. But no one talks about this. Just because Rihanna has a higher voice and sings more pop songs, her lyrics get somewhat overlooked. What’s with the double standard?
First off, if you have listened to Rihanna’s new album, Talk that Talk, you know what I am talking about when I say her lyrics are vulgar. Nearly the entire CD is about her sexual encounters. Obviously, Rihanna’s main audience is going to be different than Lil Wayne’s, as I would assume more women listen to her than men. But, the lyrics of these two artists are very similar and demonstrate the same overall message: domination. Rihanna constantly sings about the control she has over her men, specifically in the bedroom. Likewise, Lil Wayne and other male rappers talk about this same power over women. The similarities are uncanny, but then why has there been so much talk about how men in hip-hop are demeaning women, yet nothing on women playing around with men? I think the fact that women have long been portrayed as the victims in these kinds of settings has a lot to do with it. We are now kind of happy that a woman, such as Rihanna, is showing that women can play the dominator role as well. Finally, the roles have been switched, at least in this one case. Additionally, Rihanna’s words do not seem to resonate as much within the community because of the audience she attracts. There doesn’t seem to be very much outcry on the vulgarity of her lyrics mainly because guys are not going to complain about this one woman showing how they can be inferior. But the important aspect I would like to later explore is the affect her words have on young women. Do young women want to emulate Rihanna by asserting themselves over men? The public is constantly focusing on the affect male rapper’s lyrics have on the community and how the hypersexualization of these people leads to poor role models. However, it is interesting that no one ever talks about Rihanna’s hypersexuality and its affect it has on young women.
Farrell, I agree with you that the double standard of hip-hop artists is something that needs to be discussed, however, I'm not so sure how I feel about your use of Rihanna as an example. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not Rihanna's biggest fan simply for the fact that I don't think she's that talented, but I disagree with your lyrical comparison of Lil Wayne and Rihanna. After reading your post, I decided to skim through the lyrics of all of her songs on her album "Talk that Talk", and though two or three of them were a little too sexual for my taste not once did I think her words were demeaning towards men. Unlike the lyrics of Lil Wayne that focus on the degradation of multiple "bitches" and "hoes", or his lyrics that focus on violence towards other men, Rihanna's songs are more focused on finding love or losing love. Though sometimes her version of finding love is solely focused on the physical aspects, I do not believe that her work as an artist will have as negative effect on young people as the work of someone like Lil Wayne does.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think that an expanded analysis of hip hop is needed and that female rappers may get left out of the master narrative of hip hop culture, I do not think that there is a great enough magnitude of female hip hop artists to suggest a double-standard yet. As pointed out by Byron Hurt in his documentary, females are consistently presented in an objectified manner, commodifying sexuality in hip hop images and lyrics. “According to Newsone.com, a recent study of Black girls across the U.S. has revealed 60 percent have been sexually assaulted by a Black male by the time they are 18 years old. The study by Black Women’s Blueprint, notes that this startling statistic is coupled with the fact that Black women are 35 percent more likely to become victims of domestic violence than their white counterparts are.” With the hypersexuality of both black and white men in American culture today and jarring statistics of violence against women, it becomes harder to put more criticism on artists like Rihanna, who herself has spoken out numerous times about sexual assault and the need for women, especially younger women, to be strong.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbJRVufEX00
ReplyDeleteI think this song might be the most lyrically abrasive on the album, with "Birthday Cake" taking a close second. I don't know if I agree necessarily with the idea that there is a double standard at play. If anything, I think artists like Rihanna are taking their femininity by the horns so to speak and running with it, creating songs that contextualize their power as desirable women. One thing that sucks with all the imagery we see day to day is the way in which we capsulate how a certain person, race, or religious group should act. A clip from this "In the Making" video, starting at 3:58, shows Rihanna talking vulgarly about having sex on a tractor and making out with the guy in the video whom she just met: http://www.rihannanow.com/news-article/the-making-of-we-found-love/. Many people commented on this by saying she “has no class” and has truly “changed since when she first came out.” May I add that Rihanna is a victim of domestic violence, as you are aware, having been physically abused by Chris Brown. If anything, I interpret all of Rihanna’s in-your-face sexism and lyricism to be her way of reclaiming her femininity. I don’t view this as a degradation of men.
I agree with both sides of this discussion. I believe that the lyrics of female hip hop artists should be scrutinized along with those of male hip hop artists. Young adults and other impressionable populations are listening to this music and at the very least we should be aware of the effects it is having. Speaking specifically about Rihanna’s lyrics, while she might not use language that is a vulgar as the Lil Wayne lyrics referenced above, I would argue that her music still presents potentially harmful images of and to women. For example, as Taylor stated above, Rihanna’s lyrics are mostly centered on finding or losing love. What message does this convey? That her life revolves around finding a significant other – in her case a man? That the only thing she is interested in and her sole purpose is to find this individual? Young women listening to this music might not be influenced by vulgar and demeaning language but that does not mean that they are being empowered or that there is a positive take away message from the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post and while the songs that they sing and the image these lyrics portray are over sexual at times there are a few that express the need and merit of respect from males. However the look and image that some of these female artist display is what I feel creates the double standard within the music industry. Do not get me wrong, I do love most of the music that female artists release, but the manner of dancing and dressing and acting within the videos is what gets under my skin. Many female artists will release a CD with songs about respect and demanding to be treated a certain way, but two tracks later you hear a song filled with hyper sexuality. They are portraying an image to girls of all ages, regardless of race they are identifying themselves with the female population. And as a figure within pop culture they have to know the responsibilities they are given, and how younger generations cannot make the distinction between music and reality. They think along similar pathways of these upcoming hip-hop artists, that if you want to be just like “insert your favorite artist”, that you have to dance, dress and act like them. We all know sex sells, but at what point does a female artist say enough is enough and I do not need to keep promoting this sex image.
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