Sexism in Rap Music

Sebastian Wolf

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Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1.3, LMU Munich (Amerika...

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Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1.3, LMU Munich (Amerika Institut), course: Proseminar: Popular Music and American Society, 1955 - Present: an Introduction, language: English, abstract: In this essay I want to take a close and broad look at sexism in rap music. There are many questions that have to be asked. One would be, in which ways rap music is sexist at all, how do rap lyrics degrade women. Therefore one has to take a look at the texts of rap music. One has to take a look at the lyrics. This is what I will do in the first part of the essay. I will present some lyrics and without difficulties show the misogynistic elements in them. But this is only one component of this first part of the essay. I will also focus on the other issues that are directly concerned with men. As a premise I understand sexism as primarily coming from men directed at women. Of course by this I don't mean that rappers are speaking directly to the women they degrade or that they speak exclusively to them. They speak primarily to fellow men, whereas they of course know that their music will also be heard by women. What I mean is that wherever sexism is it is primarily originated by men and it degrades women. That's why, as a kind of groundwork, I will talk about the issues concerning men at first. Here I will discuss what the reasons for sexism could be. In the second part of the essay I will focus on the other side, on the side sexism is directed at. Here I will take a look at the women. I will do this especially in two respects. At first I will take a look at female rappers. One important question here is: how do female rappers answer their male counterparts misogynistic messages in their lyrics? Another topic of importance is the relationship between male and female rappers. Here a distinction has to be made between what female rappers think of sexist males and how they respond to the issue in public. We will see that they on the one hand condemn what male rappers do but one the other hand don't condemn them in public. We will have to see what the reasons for this contradictory behavior are. Another group of women should not be forgotten. These are the ones who are willingly supporting sexist stereotypes, women who more or less fit the descriptions of misogynistic accusations. I am talking about groupies and the young women who are dancing half-naked and sexually stimulating in music videos. Above I said consciously that sexism is primarily coming from men. [...]