One of the highlights of the module was discovering that Jack the Ripper is found in every genre of music. I found this so interesting that after that particular lecture I went home and did some more research, ending up listening to a bit of jazz with old blue eyes Frank Sinatra singing 'Mack the Knife'. I found it worrying that despite having heard the tune, before I had not paid any attention to the lyrics. This is the reason why I want answer the question that was challenged to us at the presentation in regards to where mysogyny can be found in today's culture. At the time my mind went blank. But hindsight is better than foresight. If our foresight were as good as our hindsight, we would never make mistakes. So before I do as Sue has done and put Jack back in the box I want to take this opportunity to rectify what was not said. In my opinion Mysogyny is prevelant in MUSIC- namely in GANGSTA RAP. Gangster rap can be defined as that wildly successful music in which all women are (to put it delicately) 'female dogs' and ‘whores' It is notorious for its misogynistic attitude towards women, especially black women. The word “ho” cuts deep into Black history, reflecting a time when female bodies were turned into commodities for their “owners. In songs and videos, black women become objects, props that are barely clothed and continually gyrating. The sad thing is that many people women as well as men, accept these negative images of black women as 'female dogs'or sex objects. To such audiences, this degredation of black women is a fair trade, as long as they can see black images on television or hear misogynistic rap songs on the radio. Typically, gangsta rappers use sexist and misogynistic lyrics for three reasons. First, they are selfish and seek to empower only themselves. Second, they put business before art: Songs with misogynistic lyrics sell millions of CDs and DVDs. Sales mean money. Money means power. They peddle half-truths and fantasies that formulate a stereotypical mythology in which all black women are 'female dogs' and/or all gangsta rappers live the life of driving sports cars, collecting thong-wearing, gyrating women, and smoking drugs. Children and teenagers are listening to this music, and I am concerned that the range of acceptable behavior is being broadened by the constant propagation of anti-women imagery. There will always be interest centered around Jack the Ripper, whether that interest is 'murder porn' or misogyny, we may never know. But right now I'll do as Sue has done and put jack back in the box.
Craddock-Willis, Andre. "Rap Music and The Black Musical Tradition: A Critical Assessment." Radical America 23.4 (1989): 31. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2000/jun/18/features
Carol - this is an excellent and thought provoking post. These gangster rappers who denigrate woman continue to get away with it because women let them. Many women are drawn to charismatic bad guys. What is it that women find so attractive about them? Is it their power, their confidence, their status, their sex appeal or their money – It is probably all of the above. These rappers do no respect women, and they must view women as degraded objects to use, and to mock in their lyrics.
ReplyDeleteBut what if women refused to have anything to do with them? – Would they change? I suspect not - there will always be women around who are prepared to put up with abuse, and pander to the gangster rappers’ colossal egos.
I was trying to image what society would be like if all women were like my grandmother – a formidable scary matriarch. If an aspiring young gangster rapper had called her a ‘ho’ she would have washed his mouth out with carbolic soap or Dettol and locked him in the coal shed until he changed his evil ways.
Jack’s victims were ‘Ho’s’ – sadly they had little choice, it was prostitution or starvation.