On Sat, 20 Dec 2003, Kent williams wrote: > I didn't mean to dog anyone in the discussion for being white and daring to > discuss the issue, if that's the impression I gave. > > I just think there's a discussion to be had, placing misogyny in hip hop > lyrics in the context of the unique problems facing black americans -- too > many men in jail, too many women raising kids alone, negative images > reflected back from the dominant culture, etc, etc. But such a discussion > is probably better left to people who know those things first hand.
I understand what you're saying Kent....and to a certain extent I agree. BUT the extreme is "keeping it real" right? In order to talk about X you have to be able to experience X. I don't think I should have to take meth to say meth has bad consequences. 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. 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. peace lks p.s. I apologize for the length of this post. I'm trying to get into work mode. Got a lot of work to do on this late saturday evening. p.p.s. I blog about these and other related issues at Visioncircle.org and given the length of this post I'll probably put it there. > And one last thing to mention -- there was a radio station in Oregon who > was fined by the FCC for playing DJ Vadim & Sarah Jones' track "Your > Revolution" which was actually a critique of misogyny in hip hop! The fine > was eventually appealed and reversed, but it's ironic that they got in > trouble, > not for playing thuggish tracks, but for a song OPPOSED to thuggish tracks. > What message is that sending? > > On Sun, 21 Dec 2003, Cyclone Louise Wehner wrote: > > > > I think it's fair enough to discuss it, though, and the issue has arisen in > > specific media, as that essay by dream showed. Andrew's contribution was > > well intentioned. > > > > ---------- > > >From: Kent williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > And those of us who are among the white audience of a primarily black > > > art form, without the full context of the gender issues in > > > African-American > > > Culture, it's arrogant and possibly racist to make any sweeping statement. > > > > >
