If you’re like me and listen to a plethora of genres, you enjoy the music and don’t take that much notice of the meaning of the words you’re fervently singing along to. Yet recently, I have been listening to these words and what they mean; the sexist, derogatory objectification of women in songs has become a common theme to chant at concerts and to sing in the car — yet has anyone questioned how harmful these lyrics can be?
It is also the representation of women in the music industry. Recently, Nicki Minaj tweeted a series of tweets that show how hard it is to be a successful female rapper in a genre predominately dominated by men. Fox News wrote, “Nicki Minaj went on an impassioned Twitter rant on Wednesday to call out the pervasive sexism problem she sees in hip-hop. The star claims that she has to work twice as hard to be taken seriously simply because she’s a woman.”
Minaj illustrated the adversity many female artists have to go through in order to obtain recognition by those who give it all too easily to men.
Moreover, if you look closely, women are dressed extensively more provocative than their male counter part. What are the reasons for this? Well, it is my guess that it is so they appeal to men, as well as women. Where men will be attracted to them and therefore listen to their sound, women could feel “empowered” by their sexuality. It must be acknowledged that these representations are also a form of empowerment to women, as they many feel as though they can due to the success of these females; furthermore, what’s wrong with being sexy?
The problem, however, is the way some male rappers/singers/artists perceive this female embodiment of sexuality in their music. Stylist writes, “And what do we have today? Kanye West has been vilified for his 2013 album Yeezus, which had some sparkling imagery (‘Eatin’ Asian p**sy, all I need was sweet and sour sauce’), Jay Z and Beyoncé had their hands slapped for seemingly glorifying domestic violence in Drunk In Love (Jay Z raps about Ike Turner forcing his then-wife Tina to eat cake) and then we have Robin Thicke telling us all how much we want it, while slime-ing around a studio set with three naked women, all at least a decade younger than Thicke.”
Something critically illustrated here is the popular representation of sexism in music, and how it’s somewhat “trendy” to chant these lyrics to create “hype.” I am guilty of shouting these lyrics at concerts and at parties, yet what I’ve noticed is that young women and women in general find no sort of oppression within these lyrics. In fact, some find it hilarious to sing along to these lyrics — its entertainment. Yet there’s the other side of music, such as the up-and-coming Cardi B, in Bodak Yellow, which preaches female domination and assertion. This is the music that I’ve found boys not to chant so fervently, therefore, I question whether the empowerment of women in music is intimidating to those who enjoy the degradation of women in music, making them their object — a piece of meat.
Overall, I feel as though it is okay to sing along to these lyrics from your favorite artist even if they contain sexist lyrics and imagery. But what’s not OK is for it to affect the female rappers in the industry who struggle against these boundaries in order to gain some sort of recognition.
