Question

Essay 2: Gender, Race, and Ackright: How We Oppress Ourselves

Notes:

     As we continue to move forward in the course, we are starting to change the subject from strictly an issue of race, and have shifted to the subject of sex, and the system behind “gender roles.”

     Now, I want to move the class into the subject of current pop culture, specifically in regards to Hip Hop, and focus on ideas of sexuality (both physically and physiologically) and gender roles within the hip-hop community/aesthetic.

     The next essay that we are reading for this week is by the Journalist/Feminist Activist/Teacher/Satirist, Joan Morgan. I feel like this assignment is important because I love hip-hop (among a couple other genres), but I am constantly confronted with the issue of misogyny and the oppression of the female body. Because of that, I think we should write about it. So first, read this excerpt:

“From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos” Joan Morgan

     This essay is an excerpt from her book, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks Down (1999), where Morgan continues to discuss different themes regarding gender and race oppression, or the perpetuation of hatred and death with each chapter of the book.

     BUT one thing that we should keep in mind as we read this very stimulating article, is that it is somewhat outdated. Yes the themes of systematic racial oppression in America that she discusses, and the violence embedded in hip-hop culture is still very real, BUT there has been a lot of change in tastes and trends since this book was written in ’99; that’s almost 20 years of scene evolution! And, although a person could probably still argue that hip-hop contains themes consistent with those that Morgan discusses, in 2017 the climate has changed, and people of all genders, races, orientations and creeds are demanding equality.  

     For this week, I want you guys to use a combination of the essays that we’ve read so far, and also information and data that you collect from an outside source. You don’t have to use the Library Databases (yet!), but you will be using the internet to research some magazines, and draw conclusions about what you see/read.

Recommended Websites (if you read something that's not on this list, you can use that too):

Vibe

Urb

Complex

XXL

Source

Your Writing Assignment:

Survey the current issues of several magazines aimed at fans of rap music. Look through their front pages, make note of the ads, the images and themes of the websites, and the types of articles that they are hosting on their homepages.

What images do they present of women, men, and human relationships? How often do they reflect the themes that Morgan discusses? How often do they contradict the themes that Morgan is discussing? What other themes and patterns do you find? To what extend, if any, have the subjects and attitudes of hip-hop changed since the 1990s? Even still, with all the change, what still needs to change to make the scene even more “equal”?

After your Intro, begin your argument with a discussion of Gender Identity (reference the Devor article), and observe how these “gender roles” play a role in your life and community. Then begin to explore how these types of roles affect the lives of men and women in terms of power structures; in the story of America, who is always the “more powerful” or “head of the household?” This will create a nice springboard for your discussion of gender within hip-hop.

***

Guidelines:

3-4 Pages

MLA Format - Header, 12pt Font, Times New Roman, Double Spaced

Use a reference or direct quote from at least one (1) essay/article that we've read for class, and use two references or direct quotes from (2) different magazines in your research.

Work Cited Page

Answer 1

Gender, Race, and Ackright

In America during the past two decades Dozens polls have consistently show more than three-quarters of Americans don't believe the racial tension in America. Fewer and fewer Americans candidly admit that they are racist. However, according a study by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, they found that many Americans still harbor beliefs about racial and ethnic minorities. It suggests the beliefs are racist stereotypes. The race is not biologically, it is a perception. In the pop culture, especially in hip-hop racism also promotes. In their songs, they use ‘Savage’ slang that is mostly use for Native Americans. Navajo is other term widely use in the pop culture of America. It use for tribal style or print. Navajo is a tribe and the word is use for various products even like panties- Navajo panties. The other word more badly use is ‘off the reservation’ that is more use for native people who are tribal people. They even officially demand to send off the reservation for their tribe.

The hip-hop culture is strictly bound to sexism, class oppression, and racism according to Morgan. It majorly find with black people in America. The rap music (hip-hop) had initially promoted by young black males with their special uniform regarding their age, color, and gender. We can understand the racism through rap music that White rappers do not show in musical theme of a rap song and they prefer singing. That means the main hip-hop is base on Black people not for whites. It makes a difference between people through races.

Gender racism includes sexual inequality that is widely equal in America through various forms like professions, politics, salaries, and social life. However, hip-hop promotes gender racism because it is widely accepted that hip-hop culture is mainly for males.

References-

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariel-smilowitz/for-us-women-inequality-takes-many-forms_b_7064348.html
2. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/rap-and-racism/
3. http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/08/anti-native-pop-culture/
4. http://www.chatelaine.com/living/how-pop-culture-promotes-racism/