Blog 7

Alessandra Bisconti

March 20, 2015

Women’s Platform

            Hip Hop has been a place for artists to express their raw emotions, which has consequently led to controversy. Men have embraced and lived through the persona that comes with rap music. Through the rough and womanizing identity male rappers possess, they express their feelings through the art of music. Women however, are held to completely different standards under the same genre of music. Both males and females share the same passion and devotion to the music style, yet each gender is expected to express themselves differently. Woman are constricted because often their words are overlooked by tier appearance or actions in music videos. It is always questionable whether the women in hip hop are intentionally objectifying themselves to their music, or are obliviously surrendering to the image that will sell.

           

Old time rap music performed by women had pure emotion within the songs they composed. It is enlightening to hear “real talk” opposed to the B.S. that comes out in today’s music. If women spoke out about the rigid truth, it would make it harder for society to mask and cover-up what women are trying to express. Songs like “Tramp” and  “U.N.I.T.Y.” finally give women a voice as they speak out and talk back to men. If society hears a women’s perspective, it will be more personal and relatable for a wider audience. Songs like these can awaken the knowledge of women who are stuck in the “middle ground”; the women who are mindlessly acting as they think fit in society. “Back To Reality” by TLC is a classic that is free expression rap music. The group dresses how they want, and feel free to have the “look” they desire. These women show that they are not going to change who they are based on who they spend time with. Art like this is what makes moves; moves in a positive direction for women’s pure expression. It is not right that women and men are held to different standards within the same genre of music. Music is an art form, which naturally exudes individualization and expression-fender should not be an effecting factor.

           

On the other end of the spectrum, when women are not being suppressed they are being altered in the view of the male gaze for the pleasure of society. In The Case of Feminism and Womenism in Rap and Hip Hop, they discuss 14-year old rapper by the name of Roxanne Shante. She is later described as a woman and her image is matured by many years. Again, this relates back to the dominant power of the male gaze. There is never a fair ground for women to express their individuality like men are allowed to. The work also states, “Street Knowledge” and “street smarts” are valued over formal education because of the history of African Americans” This is also a stereotypical generalization. Race prohibits women just as much as their gender does. A fairground is inevitably unattainable. Today, our music struggles to contain the passionate truth. More rap that occurred in previous generations from TLC and Queen Latifa should be recreated. This would insure mass education of the raw emotions and expression women possess.