Heather MacArthur
Adv. Mass Comm Theory
Sexism and Women
in Rap Music
It’s Kanye’s world
and we are all just living in it. At least that’s what I believe Kanye thinks
to be true. Recently Kanye West has been far from censored when it comes to his
tweets, lyrics or just his public opinion on everything. Kanye has lost his
filter and thinks it is okay to say some of the things that he does today.
Recently Kanye has stated many things that caught the attention of the media and
everyone is talking about it. From his new album The Life of Pablo and some of the lyrics and back stories of those
songs, caused a stir in areas like feminism, and how people view rap culture
and the view that it has on women today.
Kanyes filter was
lost the night of the 2009 MTV music awards
when he unexpectedly jumped up on
stage and interrupted America’s sweetheart, Taylor Swift as she was accepting
her award for Best Female Video. Kanye had another opinion of whom he thought
should have won and he told the world just that when he said, “Taylor imma let
you finish but, Beyoncé had the best music video of all time!” For those who
had twitter or any social media platform saw how this broke the Internet with
angry fans standing up for Taylor Swift in her very uncomfortable situation.
After this incident Taylor Swift continued her success amidst all of the Kanye
drama and moved on in the best way she knows how, by writing a song. In this
song “Innocent” Taylor forgives Kanye for what he did to her on the stage that
night and in her song she sings, “It’s okay, life is a tough crowd, 32 and
still growin’ up now. Who you are is not what you did. You’re still and
innocent.”
Fast-forward 7 years and the world of
Taylor and Kanye are very different, but also the same. Taylor Swift still
extremely successful and Kanye still running his mouth and getting himself in
trouble in the media. This year Kanye released his new album The Life of Pablo, which created a lot
of buzz because of his song “Famous” where he has a reverse "I feel like
me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous. Goddamn, I
made that bitch famous.” (Harris) In this line West is initiating that due to
his action the night of the MTV music awards made Taylor Swift even more of a
household name and made Taylor Swift “famous” and that Taylor Swift owes Kanye
something in return. As many of you may know this caused quite the up roar, and
Taylor Swift was not shy to share her thoughts about Kanye West’s song. On
February 15th of this year Taylor Swift elegantly so, walked up on
stage to accept her Grammy for Album of the Year, and had a powerful speech
where she threw graceful shade at West by saying…
"As the first woman to win album of the year twice, I
want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people
along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your
accomplishments or your fame. But if you just focus on the work, and you don't
let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you are going, you
will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you
that put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world." (Blake)
Instead of calling West out Taylor
simply made the speech to tell women and girls around the world to not let
words effect your success and bring you down, ignore people who will bring you
down and surround yourself with people who care for you through your journeys
in life. Even though Taylor Swift never said her opinions on the lyrics about
her in Kanyes song, I can only imagine how it must feel to be talked about that
way to the public sphere of the world.
There
are people that may argue that this is just rap culture and it is what rap
music has been about for many years. Besides the classic rap music references
to alcohol, violence, degrading women and talking about them like they are just
an accessory is becoming more of a problem that our society this now taking
more seriously. In a study conducted by the council of Communications and Media
in 2010 stated “37% of popular songs
contained sexually explicit lyrics. Of these, 65% were references to degrading
sex.”(Treat 135) Other people in Hollywood are voicing their options actress
Ruby Rose tweeted in reference to the part two of the Taylor/Kanye battle "Can
I still support him and call myself a feminist? A friend? No." (Blake) Ruby
Rose was obviously hurt by Kanyes lyrics. How can the rap industry move away
from degrading women? A lyric by Eminem in a recent song said “I’ll punch Lana
Del Rey right in the face twice, like Ray Rice in broad daylight.”(Blake) This
is degrading two different women in very serious violent ways, even though
Eminem is only implied Lana Del Rey, the part about Ray Rice is a serious controversy
when referencing the time he brutally beat his girlfriend in an elevator. Not
all rap music today is referencing sexism and domestic assault, rappers like
Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar’s Album To
Pimp a Butterfly is about the struggles he went through as an African
American in the music industry. This Grammy winning album, was successful with
out degrading women.
So
what is the future for rap music? Will women no longer be referred to as
objects and treated with little respect? Or will people just come to grips with
the fact that women are being treated this way? I think Taylor Swift has
defiantly started a topic that will be argued more in the media and in our
culture.
Works Cited
Blake, Emily.
"Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift: Can hip-hop be edgy without hating on
women?" Mashable. N.p., 16 Feb.
2016. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
Harris, Keith.
"Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West: A Beef History." Rolling Stone. N.p., 16 Feb. 2016. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
Treat, Teresa A., et
al. "Influence of Sexually Degrading Music on Men’s Perceptions of Women’s
Dating-Relevant Cues." Applied
Cognitive Psychology. 2014. 135-41. Print.
Heather I loved this blog! I think it's interesting and informative. I agree with you on the fact that Kanye does not have a filter and Taylor Swift has started a topic that will be argued about in the media and in our culture. However picture this. Imagine a new very popular female rapper emerges on the scene. Her raps are clearly degrading men and doesn't seem to slow her role with it either. Do you think she would get praised because some individuals may say, "men did it all this time, it is a women turn to do so" or do you think she would become infamous? Anyway I loved this topic and also loved the gif you used!
ReplyDeleteHeather, this was a very nice blog! It is an important thing to talk about in the world today. Kanye West tweets some controversial things and he has really created his image that a lot of people have come to hate. However, people still listen to his music. It worries me that younger kids are listening to his music and learning the words to his songs without even really knowing what they mean. His music is influencing them since they are vulnerable and easily affected and influenced. People should wake up and realize that his music and music of similar rappers are a problem to society!
ReplyDeleteHeather this is a very interesting blog! I feel as though once an artist goes viral it is very easy to ignore the message that their music is trying to convey and get caught up in the hype. It is especially prevalent in Kanye West new album and even his social medias. He degrades women like Taylor that have done nothing to him. However, is it fair to judge the rap world on the stupidity of rappers such as Kanye that need to make fun of people in order to gain publicity. I think we should praise women singers and especially women rappers like Nicki Minaj or a veteran like Lil Kim. It is important for these women change a culture that has been dominated by men.
ReplyDelete