Female Soldiers
As I’m laying in bed watching the documentary “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” I can’t help but ask myself, “are women their own perpetrators of sexual objectification in the music industry?” One scene that stood out to me the most was when Byron Hurt asked a couple of women how they feel about being called “bitches” and “hoes.” Although the response they gave is true, and I agree with it, it still doesn’t help the problem. The group of women responded that the offensive lyrics are not directed at them because they know who they are, and they are not “bitches” or “hoes.” I agree with this thought to an extend. First of all, women should feel free to dress how they want without caring about what society thinks of them. However, by women listening and dancing to these lyrics we are saying it’s okay for this patriarchal society to label women in terms of their choice of clothing, attitude, and level of sexuality. Byron Hurts quotes these women by saying that “when these rappers are calling women “bitches” and “hoes” they’re not talking about me,” Hurt explains that “they ARE talking about YOU”. These rappers are talking about all women, they are not singling anyone out.
Days after watching this documentary we had a class discussion with Dexter Thomas, a guest speaker from L.A. Times. In our class discussion he brought up what had stood out to me the most in the documentary. He shared an experience that made me realize that it’s going to be tough to remove the idea of women as “bitches” and “hoes” from not only the music industry, but also from society’s way of thinking. Dexter used to be a DJ and often he would play at college events and parties. He shared how he hates the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke because of the disturbing and violent message behind the lyrics. Dexter told us that he never played that song, it was not part of his music selection. However, when people would request this song it was always women, it was never men. When he told us this we all stayed quiet, he followed his last sentence with a question. He asked us “Why? Why do you listen to this music that offends women, that offends you?” The class remained quiet but you can tell everyone was searching for an answer. There really was no answer. Some students gave responses like “we’re drunk and having a good time that we don’t realize what we’re listening to,” while other students said “the beat is just so good that it makes us want to dance.” In the end I fall into this category as well. I listen to this misogynist music because I like the beat.
As for my own personal experience, I have noticed that my friends and I listen to this music and sing along to the lyrics, but we are not really listening to the lyrics. We’re like trained soldiers repeating the words and making these lyrics popular without knowing the negative effect it will have on us. We think it’s just fun and games, but in reality as demonstrated in the documentary, these lyrics affect female bodies abundantly, specifically women of color. The only time my friends and I come across a realization is when we don’t know the lyrics to a “good song,” thus leading us to search the words online and therefore actually reading what we’re popularizing. After we find out the offensive and rude words used to describe women in these lyrics we are truly shocked and in disbelief that we as women are subconsciously supporting this offense. Most of today’s hip hop music pertains to women, and they are disgusting lyrics that should lead all women to ban listening, dancing, singing, and participating in this act of offense. However, this is something that’s going to be hard to do, at least for me. This music is so engrained in today’s generation that any where you, go you will hear more than 2 hip hop songs playing. It is difficult because without knowing you’re listening to it, and next thing you know you’re singing the chorus, and bobbing your head. It’s like I said, women are like soldiers trained to believe that this is just music and it doesn’t hurt anybody. We are trained to put on our best outfit, have our make up on fleek, and grab a drink or two, and dance the night away to French Montana’s “Bad Bitch.”
I wish I had a concluding statement that involved a solution to this problem, but I don’t. All I do have is a realization, and that realization is that women are also part of the problem. We always blame the media, but we are in control of the media. The media gives the people what they want and we make it popular. So what are we suppose to do? What are we suppose to do next time we are at a social event and misogynist lyrics start to play? This music is severely engrained in today’s society that it is difficult to imagine a world without it.
