Music, hip hop culture and the male gaze: context and consequences, essay by Carolyn Delaney Akande

CCS CP3010 Essay Submission – Carolyn Delaney Akande 18005727 Music, hip hop culture and the male gaze: context and consequences.

Addicted to Love 1985 (Robert Palmer). While tame by todays standards in music videos. The clone-like women staged as props.

Blurred Lines 2013 (Pharrell and Robin Thicke). Widely criticised for lyric and video for its portrayal of alleged non-consensual sex.

In this video still for Kanye Wests 2016 ‘’Famous’’ while all subjects are semi-naked, it is the women who are posed and positions in a more sexualised way.

This essay sets out to broadly consider and explore popular music and in particular hip hop music in terms of semiotics and signs, the impact of signification in terms of lyrics and visual medium on the perception and depiction of women. This draws upon the theory of the male gaze123 as applied to music hip hop lyrics and videos and considers some of the wider social and cultural contexts.

Music and its genres reflect individual, group and generational experiences, ideologies and beliefs. Music as a medium has served to highlighted social, 1

Berger, John (1972): ‘’The Ways of Seeing’’. (Penguin Books 1972). (Accessed 29/04/2021)

2

Mulvey, Laura (1975): ‘’Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’’. (Accessed 15/052021) Mulvey, Laura (1981): ‘’Afterthoughts on Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’’. (Accessed 15/05 2021)

3

economic experiences, and cultural attitudes, prejudice and discrimination generally and specifically to age, gender, ethnicity, race and class. Music and fashion have become inextricably linked and reflect in particular youth culture, defining and identifying generations.4 In this sense music can be considered a sign as described by Pierce, ‘’A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. That sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the first sign.’’5 Therefore just as music may reflect social norms and attitudes of a generation, a cultural group or society it can also impact these through reinforcing such norms and attitudes or acting as a catalyst for change. Radocy and Boyle argued ‘’Culture clearly affects musical behaviour and that music may influence the culture in which it is produced.’’6 This theory can be supported when we consider music in relation to some historical events, attitudes and thinking: In1964 Sam Cook wrote ‘’A Change is Gonna Come’’, based on personal experiences and a protest in support of the American civil rights movement.

Penned by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and performed by Edwin Star, the 1970 anthem War was the first Motown song to make a political statement with its protest against American involvement in The Vietnam War (1955 - 1975).

In this context, the impact and the social, economic and cultural impact of hip hop music can be better interpreted when we consider the origins of what has become a global cultural movement. Borne out of the frustrations of the disenfranchised Black and Latino youth in the Bronx borough of New York, hip hop music became the warrior cry against the established attitudes towards what had become a marginalised community and in particular a revolt against police and reform institutions.78 This movement resonated with the youth of the time and with the development of visual and social media, fashion and dance quickly gained global prominence and commercial success. 9

4

Aungelina, Dahm: How music defines a generation – ProspectorNow (Accessed 09/05/2021)

5

Peirce, Charles Sanders (1931-58): Collected Writings (8 Vols.). (Ed. Charles Hartshorne, Paul Weiss & Arthur W Burks). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Accessed 12/04/20210)

6

Radocy, Rudolf. E, Doyle, Charles. C. Thomas (1988): PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MUSICAL BEHAVIOR: (5th Ed.) (Accessed 01/05/2021) 7 Hermes, Will (October 29, 2006). "All Rise for the National Anthem of Hip-Hop". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013. (Accessed 12/05/2021).

8

Sutton, Naima (2020) ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT IN HIP-HOP (ACCESSED 01/05/2021)

9

Does Hip Hop Culture Influence Youth Gangs? (ukessays.com) (Accessed 19/05/2021)

By the 1990’s with the commercial success and global spread of hip hop music came a change in emphasis in its message to one of gang culture1011, drug use and violence. While hip hop culture has long been associated with violence and in particular gang violence12 this shift included an increase in misogynistic overtones and violence against women. It is here that we consider the concept of the male gaze and the patriarchal objectification of women in music generally and more specifically in hip hop music.

In a series of BBC short films from 1972 the theory of the male gaze was first used by the art critic and write John Berger (1926 - 2017). In this series, Ways of Seeing, which was later adapted into a book, Berger raised important questions about hidden ideologies in visual images13. His work focused on the depiction of females in nude paintings and in advertising.

The male gaze theory was later adapted to consider cinematic work by film theorist Laura Mulvey who stated “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.”14 This sense of to-be-looked-at-ness is overtly obvious in music videos across music genres. More so in the videos for hip hop music with women displayed in sexualised poses, often laying languidly or kneeling in submission.

By the 1990’s with the successful and profitable commercialisation of the hip hop culture the music videos become more lavish and depicted power, wealth and money which reflected successes within the culture. It is ironic to me that despite the fight for this success and the messages within the music about empowering the disenfranchised that the depiction of women remained one that reflected a patriarchal culture as described by Mulvey “Woman, then, stands in patriarchal culture as a signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live out his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the silent image of a woman still tied to her place as the bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning.”15 In fact the content of lyrics and video had started to move from one where women were styles as commodities, a symbol of power and wealth rather

10

Gang culture definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary (collinsdictionary.com) (Accessed 19/05/2021) 11 Caves, R.W (20040 Encyclopaedia of the City, Routledge p 279 (Accessed 11/05/ 2021) 12 Jones, Ryan. M Self-Destruction: A Case Study of Violence and Hip Hop (civilrightsmuseum.org) (Accessed 22/05/2021) 13

14 15

McNay, Michael (2 January 2017). "John Berger obituary". The Guardian. (Accessed 22/04/2021)

Mulvey, Laura (1975) ‘’Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’’. (Accessed 15/052021) Mulvey, Laura (1975) ‘’Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’’. (Accessed 15/052021)

than sharing in this. More worrying was the blatant and nefarious violence including sexual violence against women and in particular women of colour. 161718 In conclusion, while Mulvey’s’ theories have been challenged both in the way in which psychoanalysis was applied to cinema and the development of the theory has led to the female and other gazes. The problem of misogyny within the hip hop culture may be argued but is undeniable1920. While woman hip hop artists have made inroads and are spreading messages of unity and equality, this is often received secondary to their image and style, which is also highly sexualised and suggestive. If we look at the theory of female gaze21 which is defined as the female perspective in visual works. This has inevitably led to the objectification of men and therefore only perpetuates the issues by legitimising the male gaze. This detracts from the issue which so far despite the changes in other media as a result of the #MeToo22 movement, the music industry despite numerous allegations of violence including sexual and partner abuse against a number of artists23, still remains pretty much unscathed and in need of reform given the impact the cultural movement has on our society and emerging attitudes.

16

Balaji, Murali. “Vixen Resistin': Redefining Black Womanhood in Hip-Hop Music Videos.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 41, no. 1, 2010, pp. 5–20. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25704091. (Accessed 02 May 2021).

17

Miller-Young, Mireille. “Hip-Hop Honeys and Da Hustlaz: Black Sexualities in the New Hip-Hop Pornography.” Meridians, vol. 8, no. 1, 2008, pp. 261–292. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40338920. (Accessed 22/05/2021).

18

Morgan, Joan. “Fly-Girls, Bitches, and Hoes: Notes of a Hip-Hop Feminist.” Social Text, no. 45, 1995, pp. 151– 157. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/466678. (Accessed 22/05/2021).

19

Cundiff, Gretchen, 2013:The Influence of Rap and Hip-Hop Music: An Analysis on Audience Perceptions of Misogynistic Lyrics (page 1-4) (Accessed 12/05/2021) 20

Weitzer, Ronald, Kubrin, Charis. E, 2009:Rap music's violent and misogynistic effects: Fact or fiction?

(Accessed 02/04/2021) 21

Female gaze - Oxford Reference (Accessed 01/05/2021) me too. Movement (metoomvmt.org) (Accessed 03/05/2021) 23 The Source |The Reality Of Rape And Sexual Assault In Hip-Hop (Accessed 12/05/2021) 22

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(Accessed 22/05/2021).

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Hip-Hop's Positive and Negative Influence on Culture - YouTube Why Hip Hop is World Culture | Ian Lawrence | TEDxMauerPark - YouTube This Is Why I Quit Listening To Rap Music - YouTube