The Name Game
Men dominate hip-hop; this is no surprise. I always find it interesting, however, how women are represented in some of today's hip-hop hits. The names says it all. It says a lot about how men in the hip-hop industry look at us in correlation to real life.Now it is also no surprise that artists have made it a habit to degrade women in their songs, with such lovely pet names as bitch and ho. ( My mind automatically goes to that Ludacris song, "Pimping All Over The World" where he says "sing it, Hoes" and they keep crooning) And they all have their own little meanings: My Bitch = she'll do whatever I want her to. My Ho = she'll do whatever I want her to do sexually. My Trick = she'll do whatever I want her to do sexually, and bring me the money when she is done.
But they have gone a step further from degradation, and are now downright condescending. For instance, if in the lyrics the artist is speaking of a woman representative of some type of love interest, he refers to her as shorty, baby girl, or something equally as bad. I will bet any amount of money that the first guy to refer to a girl as shorty was looking down at her at that very moment. Anything to reaffirm that he is physically (and perhaps mentally) bigger than her. Even the word pussy; a slang term for our genital area, but also a condescending slang name, (very prominent in hip-hop music, I might add) for a punk who can't handle business or step up to the plate.
Or they will go to the oppostite side of the spectrum and call us Ma or Mami. If he is not looking for his own Mama, I guess any "mami" will do, huh? Very few refer to us their girl or lady anymore. Too much like right I guess. What makes you think I want to be a grown man's Mama?!?! I mean, seriously, you don't hear women out there referring to their men as their "sons", now do you?
In the age of the Almighty Independent Black Woman, it is a little hard to believe that even in a neo-culture such as hip-hop, we are still being forced to be "kept in our place". Hip-hop is no longer just music; it's a way of life. So the leading by example that is being portrayed is kind of scary. Is this men are going to see us so long as hip-hop is at the fore-front of American culture.
I remember back when we actually had names in songs...Roxanne...Iesha...Kisha, Angela, Pamela, Renee...all a guy wanted was a girl...an around the way girl, a candy girl, a Liberian girl...just a girl.
Man, I remember that.
posted by DramaQueen @ 1:20 PM
3 Comments:
hip hop has changed a lot. I think that's why I'm still caught up in old-school or the clean version of a song now-a-days. The point when I realized that the music industry has lost it's mind was when they wanted to included Kanye West's album as part of the best gospel album award. Excuse me? The man makes one song "Jesus Walks," and the very next song and all the other songs on the album he's referring to women as bitches and ho's! and they want to nominate the ENTIRE album for a gospel award? I wanna know who was smoking that crack when they came up with that idea.
The sad part of it all is that these young men out here are looking at these rappers as role models. Not realizing that the life they rap/talk about living, is not the life they live at all. Those that actually live that lifestyle are very modest about it. I wish these men would get "scared straight."
I can't even embrace hip hop. And I remember what it was like when it started.
It was fun. It was all about moving the party and gettin the girlies on the floor to shake it.
Now it's more sinister. Women are dick depositories who can be slapped back into line when they get out of place.
What's worse is that women are complicit in their own denigration. No one is making chicks like SuperHead do what they do no matter who much of victim they label themselves as.
It's super depressing and R&B isn't much better. *Sigh*
Exactly why I had to stop listening to hip hop for quite awhile and still won't listen to some things. I threw away my B**ch shirt thank you very much and I don't need someone I dont' know calling me a b**ch or hoe every other breath.
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