I've participated in a number of listservs devoted to discussion about black popular culture for around 10 years or so. Recently on a list devoted to detroit techno, a number of heads started talking about Outkast and Hey Ya. I can't remember the last cd I bought, but I'm thinking hard about picking Outkast's cd up. They're refreshing in so many ways...not just in comparison to hip hop.
Anyway, the subject of misogyny in hiphop came up. I think the issue is a compelling one to wrestle with and it neatly ties into some of the questions we've been dealing with...particularly questions of class. Anyway, I jotted off a response that is fairly representative of my position on black pop culture as it relates to issues of politics.
To give you further context, the question is "to what degree is hip hop misogynistic?"
When I think about these issues this is what I try to keep in mind.
*As African Americans live in the American context, it is important that we keep in mind the impact that larger processes that impact ALL Americans influence them.
So here we're talking about the commodification of women largely for the purpose of profit that has the added "benefit" of keeping women subjugated. This dynamic isn't unique to African Americans, but is part and parcel of the larger American culture. Take a look at a Victoria Secret ad that 25 years ago could've never made it to the screen.
*While popular music is considered to be the raw undiluted voice of the
young (and in hip-hop's case the black young), popular music is SOLD AND
MARKETED.
Chuck D. said that rap is black America's CNN. He's both right and wrong. Rap is not news. It is entertainment. Rap isn't an undiluted image of what is "really going on" in black communities whether they be working class, or blueblood. But in as much as CNN's news is itself highly packaged and marketed, rap too has been niched in order to sell product.
I'm working on a book about youth and politics in American cities, and I'm including a substantive section on pop culture (hiphop). Thinking about this in depth I'm realizing that it just isn't possible to refer to hiphop as an artform without taking the political economy of it into consideration.
There is a REASON why my students know that 50 Cent has been shot nine
times. And it has nothing to do with truth telling.
*While African Americans are indeed Americans, they also serve as
America's Other.
In the past, miners used canaries as an early warning system. The gases the miners had the most to fear were both odorless and invisible. The only way they would know whether the gas was present was by the behavior of the canary. When the canary keeled over...the miners broke camp.
Black people (and other "people of color") serve as America's canary. The fault lines in the American project usually become most visible in these communities. But rather than taking the troubles of black people and using them to predict, contain, and cure problems of the wider community, a very different route is taken. These troubles are used to sell "black" product for the culture mill, and at the same time are used to further justify black exclusion.
Just trying to keep these three ideas (blacks are american, blacks are the other, pop music is an economic product) in my head simultaneously is a difficult feat. but suffice it to say that because of these dynamics I'm willing to bet that the following assertions hold true about misogyny in hiphop:
1. Misogyny in hip-hop is a hyperextension rather than an accurate reflection of misogyny in black life.
2. Misogyny in hip-hop may be more pervasive than misogyny in rock... depending on how we are measuring it. Only looking at the use of the terms "bitch" or "ho" for example would be an overly conservative measure.
3. The social ills impacting black men in America are beginning to impact their white counterparts. So in as much as #2 holds true, I don't expect it to hold true for long.
Posted by at December 21, 2003 12:20 AM | TrackBack