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Chris Hayden
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 12, 2003 - 04:06 pm: | 
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Read this article by bell hooks on mysogyny and gangsta rap
http://eserver.org/race/misogyny.html |
ABM
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 12, 2003 - 05:35 pm: |
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I can buy some of the evil, white, patriarchal mumbo jumbo that bell is dealing (though she could have trimmed it in 1/2). But I wonder if we over-analyze this phenomenon called "gangsta-rap".
The misogyny that Ms. hooks so eloquently refers to has existed throughout time in a myriad manifestations. From everything to prostitution, pimping, cathouses, chastity belts, female circumcision, the "scarlet letter", pre-arranged marriages, concubines, denial of property and suffrage rights, dowries, virgin sacrifices, discarded & abandoned wives, legalized killings (stonings) of alleged unfaithful wives, domestic violence, slave/statutory/date rape, etc; men of all races/cultures have consistently treated women with callous disregard.
So when I hear/read people banter on ad infinitum about the current idiotic anti-female rantings of some confused, ignorant (though rich, perhaps) "artist"; I think only: "Yeah. Ok. Now tell me something new."
I too decry and fear the caustic claptrap many rappers seem to spew. We should, however, acknowledge that, in spite of all the chatter about b's and ho's, the truth is all females, black/white/brown/yellow, enjoy great freedoms, rights, successes and protections that their female ancestors might never have dreamt of.
BTW: It is ironic that there is RARELY any heated fervor over rap lyrics involving a black man killing another black man. But when the intended victim is a woman, well now, we'd better break out the National Guard. |
Cynique
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 12, 2003 - 06:41 pm: |
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What amazes me about any form of Rap is that kids are able to learn its convoluted lyrics so easily, which indicates to me that Rap's hypnotic candence enhances the memory process; it also plants post-hynotic suggestions in the mind, and can, indeed, influence behavior.(So, needless, to say, I agree with the brotha who is trying to make Rap a learning tool in the school system.) I also agree with ms. hooks that Rap is misogynistic - to a degree. Its performers don't hate women per se, but they do hate that they can't get over on women. LOL! And since women are the ones who protest Rap's misogyny because it affects them, men should be the ones who protest the Rap messages that espouse them killing one another. |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 12, 2003 - 10:55 pm: |
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Hooked-on-Rap
I agree the musical/lyrical delivery of rap is powerful, and it has the potential for being used as a potent pedagogical tool if it is wielded property.
But it is more than just the music/lyrics that make rap so compelling.
The reason why kids pick up rap so quickly is rappers are not only speaking what they want/need to hear, but they do so in a way that transcend mere language. Every generation communicates in a certain rhythm or tempo that is easy to be understood by members of that generation but can be confusing/frustrating to those out side of it. That is why kids much more easily grasp current computers, slang, the Web, rap, etc. better than do many of us ol' fogies.
Getting Over on Women
I agree much of the current anti-female crap represents young male frustration with not being able to control women (that is also the reason why rap is so popular among white boys as they are just as pissed off with not being able to handle white females as are the brothas) And to go further, I think because there are so few brothers being raised in 2-parent households, they are wholly unprepared for dealing fairly/respectfully of women. So you are right. The ignorant would conclude that she should either do what I say because "I am the man, dammit! Or "screw you, b'ch!"
However, I would also assert that many females who are themselves products of single parent households are equally ill prepared for dealing fairly with the opposite sex. Half the sisters out there under the age of 45 wouldn't know a good man even if he snatch her smokin' tail from a burning building. And what is worse than that, many sistahs are wholly unaware of how flawed they are because they have bought so much of the ubiquitous mighty black woman spiel that even when a brother finally does come along that can put 2 wits together, these "empowered" sistahs don't wanna hear what he has to say.
Gangsta Mentality
There are probably as many men, black/white, crying about misogynistic rap lyrics as are females. But it is not the mentality of many black men to b'ch and moan about some brotha bragging about killing him. Rather, many say, "Bring it on, playa!"
Have you have watched the Cedric the Entertainer on the Kings of Comedy movie/video? He amusingly noted that the difference between white men and black men when they are in public places white men "hope" that nothing bad happen while black men often "wish" that something would "pop off". It's like we have this inner "score to settle" or something. So if a brother says he is going to kill you, often the initial response by another a black man is to think/say, "Not if ah get to yo a$$ 1st, ni&&ah!"
Now, of course that is a fairly unproductive and ruthless way to think/live. But the poverty, ignorance, hopelessness that so many of us live with has bred a type of "take-no-prisoners" mentality. (And please don't feed me the trite "Sistahs got it as bad as brotha but we don't kill each other.". Men and women respond differently to things.).
And even though most brothers live better than what is perpetrated in rap, many of us feel that "but for the grace GOD go I." So even though we do not necessary live by the gangsta code, we on some level know, acknowledge and, sadly, accept it. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 03:42 pm: |
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I used to have the "Fall of Western Civilization" "Doom of the Black Race" view of gangsta rap--'til I remembered how we used to listen to Rudy Ray Moore Records and my first impression of these guys that they were getting paid "big bank"--as the hip-hoppers say, for saying stuff guys used to do on the corner for free.
I listen to the stuff from time to time and I ain't gone out there yet--though I do get the urge to do a little gangbanging from time to time--where did that come from?
Plus I know several fine young men who listen to it and never even curse in my presence.
It is the same as when Rock n Roll came out or when folks starting using "Funky" in songs--the youth seek to shock the old folks.
Wait 'til these rappers is all old and bald headed with mortgages. |
Snake Girl
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2003 - 05:56 pm: |
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Wait 'til these rappers is all old and bald headed with mortgages.
AND NO VIDEO CHICK BY THEIR SIDES...unless the bank accounts are still fat.
Triflin' ass negroes.
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