Consumeristic Exploitation of the Female Body in Hip Hop and Rap Culture

Representations of the female body in contemporary popular culture focuses it self around the sexual exploitation of women, particularly in the realm of hip hop and rap music. Various song lyrics and music videos within the past decade have not only objectified women, but have made them commodities to be bought with ‘dough’. Women in rap and hip-hop music become a product of consumption, upon the projection of images displaying open sexuality and the ability to be lured by large amounts of money and luxurious life styles. The image of the ‘pimp’ in popular culture is portrayed as the ideal consumer with the club being a ‘market’ of sorts and the ‘ho’ being the object of consumption. Female body parts are equated to foods and objects for sale, further immersing them in the consumer culture and making them a product of modern commodity.
Rap initially expressed views of survival, social critique and revelry to African American and Latino youth. However, over time a shift in both commercial culture and mass media led rap’s audience to grow beyond the bounds of neighborhoods and has not encompassed the national as well as international spheres. Today’s Hip Hop culture encompasses not only rap music and videos but new forms of dress, dance, language, and attitude have increasingly begun to characterize the new global culture (Phillips, et. al 253). Although both men and women continue to participate in Hip Hop culture and rap music, it is the degrading image of women that proposes an issue in modern day society.
Although female sexuality is exploited in present day hip-hip and rap culture, this is an ongoing trend that dates back to the era of slavery, when American society allowed whites to sexualize their world by projecting a narrative of sexualization onto black bodies (Campbell 501).
“Sexual hierarchies or preferences from the American slavery era are …replicated by representations for women in hip hop music and videos for male preadolescents to internalize as a ‘golden standard’ of beauty. The Hip Hop music industry and the cultural niche it reproduces is predominantly an extension of European American patriarchy within a racialized context of racial identity” (Stephens & Few, 258).
Campbell cites a crucial aspect in the process of having access to forms of sexual expression, depicting the ‘golden standard’ was the isolation of particular black body parts as fetish object. “As a visible sign of their Otherness, black women’s buttocks came to embody a range of white desires” (Campbell 501). By citing Sarah Baartman, an African woman with a large posterior who in 1801 was paraded around, naked, on display as “Hottentot Venus” for whites to view her, Campbell is making a clear reference to the “otherization” of black women through the use of body parts. Baartmann was paraded around Britain, forced to entertain White Europeans by overtly showing her nude buttocks and was eventually dissected after her death, with her genitals continuing to be displayed at museums after her death. “Since the nineteenth century, the ‘booty’ or ‘butt’ has also become a fetish object in black culture, but for very different reasons” (Campbell 501). Citing Tricia Roses, Black Noise, Campbell makes the argument that a celebration of the butt as marking a black woman presents an aesthetic hierarchy that renders black women’s bodies as objects of speculation.
To further delve into the topic of speculation of female body parts, a qualitative study identifying African American early adolescents’ subjective meanings of African American women’s sexuality reports that body size and shape emerged as important aspects of physical attractiveness for African American boys. According to the 2007 study, the boys who were interviews spent a long time discussing the shapes and sizes of African American women’s bodies, expressing a liking for buttocks that were “large and round”, “big breasts”, and “thick thighs”, sentiments that are commonly expressed in rap and hip hop music and videos.
The glorification of these female body parts in hip hop ad rap culture can be seen in such songs as Nelly’s Thicky Thick Girl. By including lyrics that say, “Want real thighs and thick thighs take pride in my stylin,” the implication is not only that “thick thighs” are “real thighs,” as in the only ones that are worth notice, but it also implies that these glorified parts of woman’s body are to be credited to Nelly’s ‘stylin’ or that of men in general, denying any ownership that women have on their own body parts. Also in Sir Mix-A-Lot’s song dedicated to “big butts”, Baby Got Back, the artist says, “I like big butts and I cannot lie..I’m hooked and I can’t stop staring…But that butt you got me so horny…I like’em round and big…My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun.” With a song dedicated solely to big butts, it is hard to imagine that the content of it would be any less demeaning to the female body. Not only must big butts reach the standards of being ‘round and big’ to be accepted by men but it also serves to satisfy male sexual needs. With ‘anaconda’ referring a male’s penis, the artists states that men do not want to have sex unless a women has ‘buns’ or a big butt. Not only to these lyrics prove the intense sexualization of female body parts, but they also serve as examples for the messages being streamed through the media and pop culture, which are highly influential to adolescents. In the Stephen and Few’s study, after stating their preferences for what assets they prefer in the female body, the boys further portioned the female body to the extent that it was discussed in individual parts, similar to the songs about ‘thick thighs’ and ‘big butts’. One boy explained, “’If her [buttocks] is nice and round, who cares about the rest- you don’t have to look at it”” (Stephens & Few, 258). This examination of body parts, not only echoes the sentiments expressed in Sir Mix-A-Lot’s music but it also engages in the practice of reducing the female to a mere object that was only worth looking at by dissection. Stephens and Few state that the objectification of specific female body parts has been normalized in the projections of female imagery in Hip Hop culture. They also add that the process of dissection and disregard for the woman as a whole makes it easier for men to sexualize and objectify women (Stephen & Few, 258).
One of the rap songs that caused the most controversy was Nelly’s 2003 song, Tip Drill. The controversy arose when students at Spelman College, a historically black women’s college in Atlanta, protested the rap artist’s appearance at their bone marrow drive sponsored Nelly’s foundation, 4 sho 4 kids. The drive was cancelled after the protest and a statement released to the press by the Vice President of Student Affairs stated that the school was concerned about the negative images of women in popular culture and images that portray women in a sexual manner. The school newspaper reported that the point of contention for many students was the Tip Drill music video that’s shows women “dressed in bikinis, run(ning) around topless, and are shown making out with one another (Cummings 2004). The article also points out one particular scene towards the end of the video where Nelly is shown looking into the camera and swiping a credit card down the middle of a woman’s backside. Sheng Kuan Chung states in the article Sexism in Hip-Hop Music Videos that in music videos, women perform erotic moves to attract men’s attention as the camera zooms into their hips, buttocks, and breasts. “The rapper glorifies himself as a well-off-pimp and uses provocative language to express his disrespect for these female dancers” (Chung, 35). There is no better example than Nelly’s Tip Drill music video which is a montage of pornographic clips showing women naked or scantily clad, gyrating their bodies in a sexual manner and trying to lure the men around her who are throwing money at her all the while. With the camera zooming in to every body part but her face and the lyrics, “It must be her ass because it ain’t her face. I need a (tip drill)…” being sang repeatedly, it is clear that the emphasis is being put on the physical attractiveness the females’ body parts. Chung states that in such a hip-hop scene, the female body is the target of the male gaze, which objectifies women’s bodies as sexual trophies.


The same study also found that African American women reported lower levels of body satisfaction after they viewed media images of other African American women. This directly links the effects of the hip-hop culture’s portrayal of the ideal woman as showcased in music videos.

“Black women’s bodies, historically, have been sites of sexualized commodification and spectacle…During slavery their bodies represented production and reproduction, allowing slave owners to increase their property while satisfying their lust.” (Chang 35)
Chang notes that this ideology, still present today, promotes women’s bodies as sexual commodities. Furthermore, hip-hop media programs exploit the ideology in order to authenticate hip-hop identity.

Paper 4 Draft

A story about a young man being drafted into the Vietnam War, Tim O'Brien's novel If I Die in a Combat Zone is one that is focused heavily on the theme of technology and weaponry during the war. O'Brien uses the imagery and description of weaponry to show the fatality of the American soldiers in Vietnam through the haphazard manner with which death was treated during the war. This casual and mechanic mentality of weapons such as grenades and bayonets leads to a sentiment of hopelessness, as conveyed by the tone of the protagonist who shows no room for optimism and searches for a way out of the war for fear of the death he thinks is inevitable as an infantryman. O’Brien uses the protagonist’s tone to shed light on the popular sentiment of opposition to the Vietnam War and enforces this opposition through the imagery of violence and weaponry as a means of showing the horrors of a war that many thought was unnecessary and not justified.

OR

O’Brien uses his depiction of the unhealthy attitude toward excessive weapon-use to comment on the mirroring attitude of the American government as lead by President Lyndon Johnson and his dependence on highly developed US military technology and massive production of war material.

OR

O'Brien uses the protagonist's inner struggle to leave the war or to not leave the war as a means to represent the struggle America was facing with its citizen's divided on whether the war was right or wrong. 

I can't decide between the three, what do you guys think?

Paper 3 Draft

With the shared American ideas of ‘culture’ and ‘commitment’ of the Thirties, came a loss of identity among the American people. The New Deal formed government-funded programs, allowing Americans to work together to further the economy and earn an income. However, this group culture resulted in a loss of individual identity and generalized American individuals to be part of a workforce. Workers, in many instances, carried out manual labor, reduced simply a cog in a machine. This aspect of the American workforce coincides with Herbert Hoover’s denouncement of being part of ‘classes’. Although Hoover promoted entrepreneurship and restricted government intervention, The New Deal perpetuated an ideal of community and collective identity amongst Americans, in effect causing a loss of individual identity. Through the works of Rosie and Riveter, Golddiggers of 1933, and CCC Photographs, we can see this generalization of the American person as a worker, part of a larger group instead of an individual working his way up.

- Rosie the Riveter: when men went to war, women started working in factories and taking the place of men. However, they were simply seen as substitutes for the job and although women had limited individuality at the time, they were seen as temporary substitutes for men in factories, performing menial tasks, nonspecific of their skills and abilities. Women were paid much less than they were supposed to be paid, and were treated unfairly. Although the commercials aired on television portrayed an image of nationalistic fervor and women stepping up to help the economy and fill in for men, they were always portrayed as wanted to go back to the domestic domain after the men returned. The image in the documentary, of women working in factories, dressed in identical uniforms shows a sense of uniformity and collective identity, in effect neglecting individuality. Women were shown as performing their duties to help out on the war-front as much as they could and were therefore generalized as those who were obligated to their country....Unions were a way in which individuality was voiced in terms of unfair treatment, but even that was institutionalized and controlled (more elaboration with specifics and quotes from movie). The role of women, as shown in Rosie the Riveter, proves Hoover's critique of the New Deal because...

- CCC Photographs: are an attempt to show individualism in the sense that all three of the CCC photos show a single man working. However despite this perpetuation of individualism, there is an underlying assumption that this man is simply performing a menial task that is the part of a larger project (building railroads, construction, etc). With the performance of manual labor, one is merely a worker expected to complete one aspect of the project, making it a means to an end. This is pointed out in the sense that the man's job seems seemingly insignificant in the grander scheme of constructing a railroad and in the end, the men make minimal wage and don't recieve any credit for the project. This supports Hoover's contention of the New Deal because it divides the people in classes, these men become 'working class' and therefore cannot progress, but are stuck in their positions as insignificant workers.

- Golddiggers of 1933- the play and the background dancers signify the working class American people, lost in a crowd of others, unable to distinguish one or the other....

Paper Two Rough Draft

With the rise in consumer culture in America came a Democracy of Consumption in which everyone was able to buy consumer products and had access to similar things. However, this process of expressing individuality, in turn generalized the individual to fit into class, racial and ethnic distinctions geared towards becoming the ideal New Woman. This motivation to represent the ideal woman and in effect, become what one is ‘supposed’ to look like is seen in various instances through out Anna Yeizerska’s Breadgivers through the transformation of a Jewish immigrant identity into that of an American. Through advertisement and commercialization, women were shown images of how they were supposed to look and therefore bought cosmetics and other consumer goods to become the ideal woman, in effect losing their own identities.
The process of Americanization in Breadgivers is symbolized greatly by the new consumption culture. This is shown most overtly in the character of Mashah
- “I looked in the glass at the new self I had made. Now I was exactly like the others! Red lips, red cheecks, even red roses under the brim of my hat” (182)
- “Like a lady from Fifth Avenue I look, and for only ten cents, from a pushcart on Hester Street” (2)- democracy of consumption, can buy same types of things at lower costs, but all to fit into a mold of the New Woman.
- “Mashah came home with stories that in rich people’s homes…She told us that by those Americans, everybody in the family had a toothbrush and a separate towel for himself”
- → Mashah is in a constant craze to become like the Fifth Avenue women, who she sees as living luxuriously and the epitome of Americans. She loses her Jewish immigrant identity which is seen through the rest of her family members. While Bessie and Faniah are out finding work and saving money, Mashah spends her money buying laced collars and new clothes.
- Sarah- (pg 182)- buys makeup and tries to be like other girls
- → attempt at being part of consumer culture and aspiring to be like the ‘ideal’ woman who is advertised and commercialized- process allows individuals to lose their identities (as Jewish immigrants, etc)

Peiss notes in her work that at one point in the shift to consumerism, the cosmetics industry projected contradictory cultural messages linking whiteness with social success and refinement. The consumption of bleach cream and light-colored face powders became an issue of controversy within in Black community as white and Black-owned companies manufactured products aimed at lightening skin tones. This projected the image that light-skinned African Americans were more successful and were more desirable as marriage partners. In this process of commercializing European aesthetic standards, advertisements in the late-nineteenth century advertisement for Hagan’s Magnolia Balm, used images of transformed women from the stereotyped rural Black woman to a genteel lady (Peiss, 388). Certain products such as hair straightening were also highly controversial and were seen as Black emulation of dominant white aesthetics. In this way, the identity of Blacks is threatened by the new consumer culture in America, complicating not only the issues of femininity, but also issues of race.

Gerneral Statement

Throughout Inauguration weekend, I noticed that in each elite media source I examined (New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, PBS, etc) there was at least one article, if not more, on the topic of Martin Luther King, Jr. and likening his message to the swearing in of President Obama. Although, MLK's day of remembrance was the day immediately preceding Inauguration day, there was an undeniable connection that media outlets were trying to make between the two significant African-American icons. It is because of this attempted assimilation that leads me to propose my general statement to be that the elite media outlets, in assimilating President Obama to Martin Luther King, Jr. are in effect depoliticizing the presidential inauguration. I say this with caution, however because in many ways a lot of what Martin Luther King, Jr. did and stood for, was political. However, I feel that he is more of a historic figure rather than a political one and aligning President Obama with MLK draws a parallel that is deeply un-political and emphasizes the historical aspect of the Inauguration instead.

Inauguration Coverage

In examining the coverage of the Inauguration by elite and local media, I found that each newspaper or news outlet varied in the amount of coverage they carried out as well as the topics they covered in their articles.
For The New York Times, I noticed online there was a “New York City Edition” and a “National Edition” however, the inaugural coverage seems to be more heavily focused on the National Edition and was released today, the day after the Inauguration. In the National Edition, articles in the paper focused more on the historical backdrop of the election and the significance of this inauguration. The front-page article talks about Obama’s speech at the inauguration and what future challenges he will have to face as the 44th president. The article titled “After a Day of Crowds and Celebrations, Obama turns to Sober List of Challenges”, talks about the economic crisis and seems to be de-romanticizing the event by mentioning such things as the hospitalization of Massachusetts Senator, Edward M. Kennedy. Another article focused on Obama’s family and his journey from Africa to the White House, tracing his family roots as well as that of the First Lady, back to slavery five generations ago. The New York City Edition of the paper on the day of the Inauguration did not seem to give too much importance to the Inaugural events themselves, but instead talked about President Obama’s transition to the White House and there is also an article on Michelle Obama, what she has done so far and what her role as the First Lady will entail.
In the Washington Post, there seemed to be a different feel to the articles. They were focused more heavily on the actual happenings of the Inauguration events. For example, there is an article in Tuesday’s “Inauguration Edition” of the Washington Post that talks about the large amounts of people who came from across the country to this historic election. Titled, “A Massive Crowd Embraces the Moment,” the article talks about the American people’s unifying devotion to their President and the sacrifices and feats they made to come see him being sworn in. Also, online there are articles about the parking issues, train problems, and other issues effecting the city itself.
When looking at the BBC website, it seems there is only one article, about President Obama’s inauguration, titled “Obama pledges ‘era of openness’”. The top news story talks about how Obama signed executive orders saying he will bring a ‘new era of openness’ from the government. Although this seems to be the only article concerning the Inauguration, it is not until we navigate to BBC World News America that we see the whole page covered with articles about President Obama’s swearing in, his future challenges, opinions of news correspondents, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s prediction of a black president, and many other articles and videos. It seems, in comparison to the other newspapers, BBC has made a large attempt to cover different aspects of the Inauguration- historically, futuristically and factually.
NPR also like BBC World News America, made an effort to cover different aspects of the Presidential Inauguration. Online, there are articles about Obama’s presidential priorities, Martin Luther Kin Jr., the coverage of being sworn in, and the large amount of people who traveled long and short distances to attend the event.
Something interesting to notice about the top 10 newspapers on the Newseum website, is the different emotions each of them evokes. For example, the first page of the Oakland Tribune has a full-page picture of President Obama amidst his speech, clenching both fists, with a quote saying “We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America.” The title of the paper reads ,”Our 44th- and our FIRST.” There is so much in the cover of the paper in itself about the historical importance of this inauguration as well as the critical time our country is in. The Oakland Tribune displays a good balance in trying to portray a sense of novelty of having our first black president as well as hope to overcome future challenges.
The Bismarck Tribune, evokes a sense of a historic milestone in their cover of a similar President Obama clenching his fists in mid-speech, cropped and set before a backdrop of a collage with pictures of different spectators of the momentous occasion. The title of the page reads, “Historic Change: Barack Obama Sworn in as the 44th US President.”
Another newspaper I looked into was the Boston Globe, and there it shocked me to see the least amount of articles on the presidential inauguration. The headlining article for the day of the Inauguration topics the inauguration and President Obama’s preparation for a transition to the White House. The only other article related to the Inauguration is of two groups from Cambridge, MA that traveled to Washington, DC for Inauguration day. There is little to no other indication of any story about the President or the inauguration at all.
Articles printed in these along with other elite and local newspapers evoke certain emotions about the Inauguration that are then relayed to the readers. It is also interesting to see which aspects of the event were covered, if any, in order to draw comparisons between different news outlets.