Misogyny is a common theme in many rap lyrics today, but the question still has yet to be raised. Why do rappers include these derogatory lyrics against women?
The answer may be that they are simply trying to earn more listeners, and, unfortunately, in today's pop-culture world, being misogynistic does sell more records. For example, I would say many rappers would have never even earned fame had it not been for their over-the-top misogynist remarks against women. Rappers like Ice Cube, 50 cent, Eazy-E, Ice-T, & Too $hort literally built their careers around sex-rapping and slandering women in their verses. For example, in Eazy-E's "Automobile," he objectifies women intensely:
Give up the p**** soon,All I want is a little,
or get your groopy ass out my hotel room
Another example is in Ice Cube's "I ain't the one":
And after the date, I'ma want to do the wild thingYou want lobster huh? I'm thinking Burger King
The reason rappers create personas may be to appeal to an immature generation of men that endorses these themes. Sex sells, and, unfortunately, even more so than sex, misogyny sells. I personally think it's sick that rappers get away with these sorts of lyrics against women, but some men enjoy these types of lyrics which is a huge problem. Rappers play a huge role in influencing today's youth, and it's their responsibility to not put this crap in their lyrics. When these songs become popular they create a culture of teenagers that think it's okay to disrespect women.
I think it's important that we, as listeners, do not endorse this kind of rap music as it is incredibly damaging to women. It also reflects poorly on American culture as whole, in that, it implies that listeners seemingly share the same morales about women as do the artists.
How do you guys feel about the role of sexism and misogyny in today's music? Does it fall under the guides of free speech, or should it be entirely discouraged from music?
I agree with you that misogyny is rap is rampant and that it needs to stop. For some reason, rappers think it is cool or that it helps sell records if they show that they are with a lot of women and treat them poorly. A direct effect of this would be if our generation followed that same path.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the power to tell these rappers to stop and to preach better morals, I would; however, until the day comes when sex doesn't sell, I think we're in for a lot more misogynistic rap.
I think that rappers have the right to say whatever they want when they are talking to other people; however, when they are rapping, they are preaching to millions of listeners, many of which are children/teenagers. I do not think rappers should be allowed to talk about such things through music because it influences the listeners one way or another. As much as rappers believe they can rap about whatever they want, I think that, as someone millions of people listen to, they should be responsible when they talk about women.
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