Hip-Hop Betrayal
By Laureen Ricks, University of Florida and Role Models Ambassador
August 18, 2005

Today’s popular hip-hop artists join suggestive lyrics with racy visuals, usually carved up slices of women’s posteriors, blatant, ample and jiggling to the delight of fully-clothed MC’s and their posse.

Nothing in these lyrics or images convey respect, appreciation, honor and love for women. These artists and image-makers, mostly male, seem to despise and exploit, rather than to appreciate and honor women’s sexuality. At best, these songs praise strategic body parts, not whole women. At worst, they are barefaced assaults.

Hip hop is not alone in its sexist mentality. Other genres, like heavy metal and rock, have track records for transforming women into objects. Hip-hop’s sexism also reflects mainstream society’s sexism. Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Records, participated in an Essence forum discussing hip-hop’s attitude towards women. I agree with his assessment:

“There is no question that the sexism that’s in our hip-hop videos is a reflection of how sexist men are in the world today. It’s just that in the past things weren’t so obvious. Men were holding doors for women, but then they’d do thing privately that kept women from being equal citizens. Now when you watch videos, and you see the girls dancing, it’s a more raw expression of the same sexism.”

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