User:Tashamack99/sandbox

Stereotypes of black women in hip hop[edit source | edit]

African American women are the face of mainstream contemporary hip-hop culture. Hip Hop culture is also interchangeable with the term Black Culture. The representation of black women in rap videos is suggestive ,mainly featuring black women as video vixens and or models, regardless of whether or not they are the focus of the video. Rap and some of its lyrics showcase images and messages which reproduces a white supremacists ideology of black women's sexuality.^[3] There is a strong presence of misogyny within the industry which creates a division between many female artist. This is due to the strong demand of misogyny with in the industry that makes most music videos exacerbate the exploitation of the black woman's body feeding into the perpetuated stereotypes.^[3] While female artists like Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, and Erykah Badu perpetuate a self-reliant image of destiny and self-independence.^[3] Patricia Hill Collins, discuss the ideologies of hegemonic power that serve to continue marginalization of black women. The images that continue to circulate in the media are hyper-sexualized stereotypes such as "hot momma" or "Jezebel".^[3] While according to Goodall (1994), the lyrics of a group commenting on sexism and exploitation of black women still caters to the male audience.^[3] The black female artist within the industry are forced to perpetuate a social pattern that emphasize on their body. This creates a demand that all female rapper and R&B performers have to maintain a dominant level of physical attractiveness and high standards of beauty.^[3]