Popular rap lyrics often degrade women
By Bridget Shackelford
July 15, 2007 9:05 p.m.
On any typical night out at a club, the music blasting through the speakers has a message to say about women, and it’s not a very positive one. Yet everyone on the dance floor is enthusiastically singing and dancing away.
These dance songs are often hit singles on the radio, and because expletives are edited out for the most part, these songs are apparently appropriate for the impressionable masses.
As listeners, however, we have a responsibility to pay attention to the songs we play. The next time you hear a rap song about dancing in a club, pay close attention to the lyrics. Chances are, women are shed in a negative light.
Kyla Howe, a fourth-year Spanish linguistics student, has an issue with the message toward women.
“It’s surprising when you hear a misogynistic lyric in another type of music, but in rap music it’s just the norm,” she said.
One song in particular that offended Howe is the popular single “Smack That” by Eminem and Akon. The chorus of the song is “Smack that, all on the floor, smack that give me some more, smack that till you get sore.”
“It literally says you’re going to be sore because of how hard I’m hitting you,” she said.
Howe heard her friend’s pre-teen sister singing along to the lyrics and found it disturbing.
The lyrics of the songs do affect children, even if they may not know the exact meaning.
“It’s creeping into their consciousness,” Howe said.
Rappers often have a “hunter/prey mentality” and the general theme of the song is “I have a bunch of money ““ you will be having sex with me tonight.”
Take the song “Rock Her Hips” by Crime Mob. The song doesn’t say anything particularly violent about women, but only comments on her sexuality in a rather vulgar way: “God damn lil’ buddy take off your clothes and let me see that apple bottom and that brown booty.”
The rapper T-Pain has two singles including “Buy U a Drank” and “Bartender.” In the first, he tells a woman he has money in the bank, he buys her a “drank,” and later on they have sex. In “Bartender,” he sees a bartender, gets drunk, and says they’re going to “have fun at my spot tonight.”
With lyrics like this, why don’t women protest radio stations and refuse to support artists with offensive music? Is it just because they are extremely catchy and fun to dance to?
I know there are female rappers who turn the tables and sing about men in a similar manner, such as Lil’ Kim and the rapper Peaches, but they’re no match for the number of male rappers who sing about women.
The American Journal of Public Health conducted a study about the effects of rap music exposure on black women between the ages of 14 and 18 who had been sexually active in the past six months.
Those who have had more exposure to rap music videos are prone to higher rates of violence, to arrests, to acting out violence toward sexual partners, to contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and to higher consumption of alcohol.
Not all rap music is degrading to women or other groups. There are many artists out there who are doing a wonderful job making music that appeals to the masses, and I enjoy a lot of what’s out there. We, however, should not accept the portrayal of women as sexual objects.
Our intelligence and character are questioned in these popular songs, perpetuating archaic and false stereotypes. Women have fought too hard and too long to continue to be oppressed by popular music. We need to carefully listen to the music we play and ask ourselves what kind of a message we are supporting.
E-mail Shackelford at [email protected]. General comments can be sent to [email protected].
