The objectifying of women, the portraying of black men in a negative light, the music displays a negative viewpoint on the black community as a whole. The biggest controversy of Hip-Hop will it ever end? Let’s take a look at black men in Hip-Hop and in general. Negative views and images of black men on TV or through Hip-Hop music are brainwashing young black men into being, hard, violent, insensitive, and to treat women as an object. Hip-Hop also portrays a sense of homoerotism and misogyny in music video and rap lyrics.
Looking at Hip-Hop from a women point of view is a much distorted view. We love Hip-Hop it is as much our culture as it is for black men, but the more and more I listen the more and more I become appalled. Sitting down listening to a regular rap album; for respectable black women; she becomes uncomfortable, disgusted and conflicted with her culture and the music that she loves. What she is hearing is a black man her “brother” referring to her as all kinds of “Bitches and Whores”, basically he is implying that a black women in less for sex isn’t worth anything. As a result 61% of rape victims are under 18. The rapper also implies that his “Boy’s” come first before any thing. Rappers today impose that women should be objectified as sex toys, but on the other hand signify brotherly love against women, homosexuals, punks; men that show sensitivity. Rappers idolize money, womanizing, and being hard. Listening to rap albums rappers implies homoerotism, and misogyny. Misogyny is the hatred of women moreover homoerotism is the portraying of homosexual desire, Rappers portray both in music lyrics.
Television portrays black men as being a one trick pony. Young black men have no one to look up to on TV except rappers and professional athletes. These are professions that do not require academic degrees. Young black men grow up watching BET and are brainwashed into thinking they don’t need a higher education and idolize making money the easy way, as rappers imply hustling. Hustling means getting money any way a person can include stealing, sealing drugs, or through violence. BET is known to be the cancer of black men. This network airs music video that does involve rappers throwing money at the camera, a dozen half-naked women shaking the backsides against the rapper, and violence. Rap music implies hyper masculinity, men being manly and hard. Meaning they show men with their shirts off implying that they are dangerous. Jail, crime, gangs and other negative images are reflected in Hip-Hop music. Do to this young black men are 14 times more likely to become a victim of gun violence. BET hardly ever shows high educated professional black men; instead show black men as being non professional, uneducated, violent, hard, and disrespectful to women.
Will the controversy ever end? My feelings for this subject hunt me everyday. I feel very conflicted with my culture, and overwhelmingly uncomfortable with the view of black men, and how the see black women. Sometimes it is hard to believe that black men see us that way, when I hear the filthy lyrics I ask myself “Who are they talking about are these horrible women really out there?” Women who allow men to call them out of their names, and treat them like objects. Rappers make it seem as if they never meet a respectable woman in their entire lives. Of course it can be stopped but it will take the entire black community to do so with it be in the next 10 years? No, but we will have to fight because we are talking about the health of our culture, it has to change.
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