Hip Hop and Feminism

The birth of feminism as a result of the lack of voice black females felt in the Womanist movements and Black Power and Civil Rights movements made it hip hops soulmate. Hip hop is a youth culture that is a byproduct of the end of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements, and as it was predominately male needless to say it had little to do with the Womanist movement. Both movements were born of a need for a voice in a world in which their respective participants felt ignored and overwhelmed. It seems only fitting that some black feminist should also find a voice in the emerging culture of hip hop.

I find that the relationship that feminism has with hip hop is under attack as are many relations with hip hop. Hip hop as a culture and a music did not emerge as a demeaning force to women in any way more substantive than that of teenagers not thinking a girl was cool enough to tag. In fact the braggadocio that is a hallmark of hip hop is due in part to every teenagers desire to impress the ladies. I think that is fair to say that hip hop in it’s youth, while not overwhelmingly welcoming to females, was not demeaning or negative towards them either. Hip hop, however, no longer has the luxury of youthful ignorance, and as it takes on a more predominate role in the life of many has a responsibility to embrace the females that participate, as well as those that don’t. One problem is that there is no central force that produces a hip hop cultural identity or can speak for the culture as a whole, and that is the point. Hip hop is anti establishment, anti-useless committee forums that yield only more committee meetings and panels. Hip hop is the emergence of a voice from many because of the support of many. It embodies perhaps the most democratic of art forms. So, one would assume that hip hop as a culture, must not respect it’s women as evident by the numerous examples in popular rap music, but I think that the panel discussion had it right when they noted that what is popular on the airwaves and in records sales is more akin to pop than hip hop. That essentially means that what is being bought and sold as hip hop is truly only hip hopish. This is further evidenced by the frustration of many hip hop heads by how they see the art form they love represented in the media.

The hip hop I know loves it’s women, and speaks about the Gods and the Earths. Speaks of loving, protecting and raising daughters to be queens. It speaks to building families, neighborhoods, and communities. It speaks on helping lost loved ones, building ones self up, and in the midst of it all trying to make a lil paper as well.

Hip hop also is challenged with expressing sexuality and beauty in a way that is consumable. This lends is to distortion when attempting to market these concepts to the larger numbers of the dominant class. The dominant class has made it clear how it wants ethnic women portrayed. The cooking cleaning submissive spouse, the lustful and insatiable lovers, and the sex toy teens are a few images that come to mind, and these images weren’t born from hip hop. These images may be observed in media well before hip hop. As one of the panelist reminded us in the forum, Thomas Jefferson wrote on the subject portraying the African female as a lustful beast who had an undeniable, and insatiable sexual appetite; these comments were no doubt a cover, an excuse, or rationalization for his own indiscretions with his female slaves. The mammy images from popular films of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s also demonstrate the popular cultures acceptance of images formed in that mold. The Josephine Baker story enlightened many to the struggles of African American women to gain acceptance in American pop culture. Her experiences showed how even the most accepted faces were regarded only as they conformed to the preconceived images and roles. Mrs. Baker was lusted after by many in white society, but dare not swim in the same pool as them. These ideas pre-date hip hop, hip hop struggles with these ideas just as American society does.

I once thought that all was lost with hip hop, as I strayed back into rock, jazz, and blues only to find that hip hop was not dead. Perhaps, Lupe explained it best in his “State Run Radio” song when he speaks on the heavy rotation of negative images and stereotypes. Other races are not the only ones that believe stereotypical messages. Many in hip hop have been convinced of the negative fictions promoted by the greedy and ignorant. I know this is true because, I was once convinced. But we are not what they say, or even what some of us say we are. We are so much more!!!!!-Donal Davis