· The Black Feminism and Pop Culture
· The Black Feminism and Pop Culture
Now that I have explained the Feminist Perceptive I�ll go slightly deeper and discuss the Black female perspective. How is it different you might ask? We struggle together with black men against racism but struggle with black men about sexism. Consider this, black woman are a minority within a minority. We bare on our shoulders the bias of other races and that of our own males. We have been conditioned to believe that we have to protect our �brothers�. This conditioning has led to black women being the second least group of women to report rape or abuse. (Latinas being the least likely) Black females have been attacked for being to strong, accused of taking castrating black men. We have been the scapegoats for our race at times. When the stereotype of the weak black men are believed it us, black women, at fault. As a result there has been war waged on black female empowerment and self-definition, the black feminist voice has been hushed. We are told we are Black before we are women and to voice our concerns about our communities or art is to betray our black men. Despite rape myths when black men rape it is not a white woman that is most likely the victim it is we, black women. Not only are we less likely to report a rape by a black man but also as a group when we are assaulted by other groups we are the least likely to report the crime and when we do we are least likely to get a conviction and when there is a conviction the jail time the criminals get are three times less than our white counterparts. It seems that black women are losing their voices to the agendas of other causes. We are vilified, romanticized and over sexualized. Yet we stay in agonizing silence as everyone but ourselves defines us. The black feminist perspective is that that has concerns in our culture, communities and the unifying struggle of all women.
The current Popular culture trends I think are a concern for black feminist. Hip-hop has become the dominant musical genre. Hip hop is a wonderful art form and I personally wouldn�t pick anything above it to shake my booty to but many of the mainstream �gangsta� rap artists are not helping the progression of the black community and especially not the black female. No this article will not be a rant about how rap is brining down society as we know , It is not it is merely a reflection of it. This is not a self-contained problem of the black community. I feel that is has it roots in white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. As Bell Hooks puts it �The sexist, misogynist, patriarchal ways of thinking and behaving that are glorified in gangsta rap are a reflection of the prevailing values in our society, values created and sustained by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. As the crudest and most brutal expression of sexism, misogynistic attitudes tend to be portrayed by the dominant culture as an expression of male deviance. In reality they are part of a sexist continuum, necessary for the maintenance of patriarchal social order. While patriarchy and sexism continue to be the political and cultural norm in our society, feminist movement has created a climate where crude expressions of male domination are called into question, especially if they are made by men in power. It is useful to think of misogyny as a field that must be labored in and maintained both to sustain patriarchy but also to serve as an ideological anti-feminist backlash. And what better group to labor on this "plantation" than young black men.� (Used with permission.) I am in not way saying that black men cannot be held accountable for the music they produce they too are to blame as well as the females of all races that say nothing of the violent sexist overtones of the music. Yet, I want to make the case that the beliefs that are condoned in Gangsta rap are not just black male things. When most people critique gangsta rap the black male takes the heat for the same thinking that the overall patriarchy teaches all men. Most people that set out to vilify hip-hop as a whole never ask many important questions. Why are people in droves male and female of all races buying hip hop, especially the gangsta rap? What about the music is relative to the mostly white male consumers of it as well as the black female consumers? Where are the fantasies of violence and degradation coming from? They also do not think about the many people that green light albums, usually not black or even American. Many critics ignore those questions completely. I do not think that it is realistic to think that these artists are performing in a cultural vacuum where they stay alone; there is a market a large dominant market for their music. 50 Cent, a very popular rapper, says that he raps to put food on the table; he chooses lyrics that will put food on the table. He essentially is doing the things that sell, which would suggest that if non-violent, sexist content sold he would do that. But it does not.
Now that I have shown you the gangsta mentality should concern the black feminist and all feminist I offer this plea-
Now that I have explained the Feminist Perceptive I�ll go slightly deeper and discuss the Black female perspective. How is it different you might ask? We struggle together with black men against racism but struggle with black men about sexism. Consider this, black woman are a minority within a minority. We bare on our shoulders the bias of other races and that of our own males. We have been conditioned to believe that we have to protect our �brothers�. This conditioning has led to black women being the second least group of women to report rape or abuse. (Latinas being the least likely) Black females have been attacked for being to strong, accused of
castrating black men. We have been the scapegoats for our race at times. When the stereotypes of the weak black man are believed it us black women that are to blame . As a result of the backlash of black female empowerment and self-definition, the black feminist voice has been hushed. We are told we are Black before we are women and to voice our concerns about our communities or art is to betray our black men. No matter what rape myths say when black men rape it is not a white woman that is most likely the victim, it is us, black women. Not only are we less likely to report a rape by a black man but also as a group when we are assaulted by other groups we are the least likely to report the crime and when we do we are least likely to get a conviction and when there is a conviction the jail time the criminals get are three times less than our white counterparts. It seems that black women are losing their voices to the agendas of other causes. We are vilified, romanticized and over sexualized. Yet we stay in agonizing silence as everyone but ourselves defines us. The black feminist perspective is that that has concerns in our culture ,communities and the unifying struggle of all women.
The Black Feminist Perspective and Popular Culture
When I look at gangsta rap I do not look at it as a subdivision of the America culture but more of an outline of the norm. At the core of the problems with mainstream gangsta rap is the hedonistic materialism that perpetuate a very nihilist mentality that hurts our communities. The materialism that is praised in this music tears down communal and tribal traditions of the black communities. The village is no longer raising the child. The heartless acquisition of decorative trophies has over shadowed the need for public activism against racism and classism. It also has put a holt to the black bourgeoisie reaching into the more urban environments and helping those in need and trying to improve the image of blackness, instead they are focus on self promotion and acquiring more wealth. This market mentality turns culture into a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder. Along with the materialism is the animalistic misogyny; women are regulated to two categories �hoes� and housewives. Like the indefinable �slut� the distinction between a �hoe� and a good women is up to the male. I think, like Bell Hooks that Gangsta rap is a part of the anti-feminist backlash fueled by oppressive social structures. To quote her �When young black males labor in the plantations of misogyny and sexism to produce gangsta rap, their right to speak this violence and be materially rewarded is extended to them by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.� This fuels it, by having such things come from our communities seems to justify the eroticisation of black people, we are still toiling in the same stereotypes of super machismo and sexual prowess to us being �closer to nature�. The rappers in their lyrics unapologetically act out numerous black stereotypes. The black criminal, the craver of non-black flesh, the black harlot that is there for the pleasure of men. These are the lessons of black youth today; they are fed images of themselves that are corrosive. When Black feminist lay silent against this it teaches the next generation of all who consume these commercial lyrics that it is okay to enjoy brutality in all it forms and to make erotic sexual violence. 
A Plea to Female Consumers and females in general
STOP BUYING IT.
Something that has always baffled me is that no matter how many times a I hear a lot of young women complain about the disrespectfulness in these lyrics and videos the continue to buy the cds and clothes that the artist put out. How can you protest something then support in monetarily? Why do you think it�s okay to buy something that calls us gold diggers, sluts and vilifies us? Not only do you buy it, you buy into it. If you complain about it don�t go and buy it. Also don�t go around calling other people sluts. Don�t sit there and say you want liberation and then rob others of their right to sexuality. And don�t go the other way and try to prove your liberation by just your sexuality, Women that do that aren�t helping either (Trina, Lil` Kim, Foxy Brown). Also don�t think that a rapper makes up for disrespecting women by making a love song. It�s not a check and balance system! It�s an either or baby. So Fat Joe, Jay Z or Fobolous (that's how he spells it) either you want to respect us or you don�t making one song to placate us is liken unto a putting a bow on a dog They have just shat on. WE WILL NOT BE PLACATED.
Let�s take a page from James Baldwin�s THE FIRE NEXT TIME he basically was trying to warn America that a revolution (Civil Right Movement) was brewing basically he said, "If you keep calling me n*gger, n*gger is going to burn your house down", Well i say ladies you call me a B * T C H one more time B * T C H is going to burn down your house!!! (well we won�t actually burn down your house that really isn�t going to help , I mean this metaphorically)
RISE UP BE HEARD YOU DON"T HAVE TO TAKE THIS IGNORANT GARBAGE ONE MORE DAY!!!!
please do not i repeat do not kill people or burn down their houses if you feel like protesting that much send me a note and will help you learn how.[email protected]
I do not want to come off as a person that calls out things without any proof, I have selected a few artist that I feel personify my argument. Although this artist at times have violent misogynistic lyrics I think, it is also important to point out that they can have lyrics with some depth or that do not put down women. I also wanted an example of how female mainstream gangsta rappers fulfill the misogynistic woman whore archetype.Plese excuse the languge. It is crude and mysoginistic. Lyrics are from A-Z Lyrics Universe
Jay-Z
|
TRINA
|
I was writing a piece that would sum up the irreverence of main stream hip hop lyrics. I wanted to talk about the hypocricy of them, I wanted to express the dread i feel toward these lyric. My piece ended up a 6 page rant. Then I ran across this article it summed up my feelings in a more persise way and with a lot more humor than i ever could. This peice is part of an article on ANTI-THUG.com. It is reproduced with perission from the author.
