What Does The Negative Portrayal Of Black Women In The Hip-Hop Music Industry Imply?
HIP-HOP
Hip-Hop music was created during the 1970's and is one of the most popular expressions of art in the United States of America. It was widely listened to, viewed, and practiced by those within the African American and Hispanic communities when it was originally formed; however, in recent years it has started to attract a more diverse audience.
During the continual evolution of hip-hop music, artists have deviated away from the integrity of the original elements such as deejaying, break dancing, rapping, and graffiti that made the art form well respected. Today’s artist commonly use disrespectful portrayals of black women in their lyrics and videos. The degrading words and images continually shed a negative light on the beautiful black women of the world.
IMAGE PORTRAYAL (VIDEO)
WARNING!
The following images and content may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is strongly advised!
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS & SOCIETAL REPERCUSSIONS
Oftentimes black women in the music industry and black women in society start to embrace the disrespectful references attributed to them by hip-hop music and start applying them to themselves as terms of endearment. For example, female hip-hop artists, Lil Kim (Queen Bitch) and Trina (Baddest Bitch) created degrading aliases in which they personally chose to embrace during their professional music careers as a means of accepting the portrayals that hip-hop music had placed upon them.
With innovative methods of technology available to the world today, it is almost guaranteed that young girls will have access to the degrading lyrics, videos, and images of black women that are popular in today’s music industry, which may result in them developing a hyperreal view of black women. These misleading perceptions may cause young girls to buy into the phenomenon that being referred to as a “bad bitch” or modeling nude in music videos are societal norms. In fact, Essence Magazine launched the Take Back the Music Campaign in 2005 because the women at the magazine felt that rap music had crossed the line and that it was time for them to fight for positive female images.
Video model, Karrine Steffans, also embraced the disrespectful references of black women in the hip-hop music industry. She gained a negative reputation throughout the industry for her book Confessions Of A Video Vixen where she detailed the lifestyle she lived during her career as a music video model. She highlighted her many sexual relationships and encounters with men throughout the industry, drug abuse, and domestic violence. Ultimately her receptiveness to the negative on screen depictions and lyrics opened the door for those characterizations to become a reality in her life. After her career went south, Steffans eventually landed a career in the porn industry.
DEGRADING LYRICS (VIDEO)
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The following content may be disturbing and/or offensive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is strongly advised!
What potential psychological effects might the negative portrayals of black women in the hip-hop music industry have on them?
Will the next generation of black women follow this troubling trend or take a stand?
What does the negative portrayal of black women in the hip-hop music industry imply?
