Hip Hop Oppression
Black female objectification in contemporary examples
Objectification of women in popular hip-hop culture
With the basic concept of how society and identity interact through the social scriptorium, and with the concept of how those scripts are used as control. It is now possible to look at contemporary examples of how these scripts of control are played out in a present-day setting.
A picture-perfect example of this is 50 Cent’s song and music video for “Candy Shop.” The song hit number one in the US Billboard Hot 100, US Billboard Rap 100, and US Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B 100. It was a widely successful single and was nominated for best Rap song at the 2006 Grammys. And the video was nominated for Best Male Video at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. The song however, is worthy of none of these accolades and is proof that American culture has popularized the objectification of black women as sexually deviant “freaks.”
I’ll focus on the lyrics. The lyrics contain lines such as:
“I'll let you lick the lollipop. Go 'head girl, don't you stop. Keep going 'til you hit the spot…You can have it your way, how do you want it. You gon' back that thing up or should i push up on it… After you work up a sweat you can play with the stick. I'm trying to explain baby the best way I can. I melt in your mouth girl, not in your hands”
The lyrics provide an impeccable example of popular American culture’s views on black females. Incorporating Wolf’s language into mine, the song degrades women and tells them that after they have attained this male-dominated idea of femininity (worked up a sweat), then the women may receive the “resources that men have appropriated for themselves” (Wolf 121). Or as 50 Cent stated, they can “play with the stick”
I’ll focus on the lyrics. The lyrics contain lines such as:
“I'll let you lick the lollipop. Go 'head girl, don't you stop. Keep going 'til you hit the spot…You can have it your way, how do you want it. You gon' back that thing up or should i push up on it… After you work up a sweat you can play with the stick. I'm trying to explain baby the best way I can. I melt in your mouth girl, not in your hands”
The lyrics provide an impeccable example of popular American culture’s views on black females. Incorporating Wolf’s language into mine, the song degrades women and tells them that after they have attained this male-dominated idea of femininity (worked up a sweat), then the women may receive the “resources that men have appropriated for themselves” (Wolf 121). Or as 50 Cent stated, they can “play with the stick”
50 Cent - Candy Shop
Nelly - Tip Drill
Notice the video's conformity to the "white-washed" idea of black female beauty.
Nelly's music video for Tip Drill builds upon the script laid out in the previous music video, and drives the obscenity to the extreme. This song didn't share quite the same success as Candy Shop, but it still managed to achieve a top-20 spot in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and a top-10 spot in the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The music video is a modern day version of the freak shows that Sara Baartman was forced to be displayed at. Just as she was poked and humiliated, Nelly humiliates the females in his music video by showering them with money and displaying acts of extreme over-sexualization.
In one of our in-class readings, Patricia Hill Collin’s sums up the purpose of this objectification of black women as:
“Depicting African American women as bitches; the sexual use of African American women’s bodies by circulating images of Black women’s promiscuity…all work to obscure the closing door of racial opportunity in the post-civil rights era” (Collins 153)
What she is eluding to is that with legal descrimination no longer being a viable option, the scriptorium must be updated again to reinforce the "animalistic" and over-sexualized nature of the black female. The same over-sexualization traces it's roots all the way back to Sara Baartman.
The music video is a modern day version of the freak shows that Sara Baartman was forced to be displayed at. Just as she was poked and humiliated, Nelly humiliates the females in his music video by showering them with money and displaying acts of extreme over-sexualization.
In one of our in-class readings, Patricia Hill Collin’s sums up the purpose of this objectification of black women as:
“Depicting African American women as bitches; the sexual use of African American women’s bodies by circulating images of Black women’s promiscuity…all work to obscure the closing door of racial opportunity in the post-civil rights era” (Collins 153)
What she is eluding to is that with legal descrimination no longer being a viable option, the scriptorium must be updated again to reinforce the "animalistic" and over-sexualized nature of the black female. The same over-sexualization traces it's roots all the way back to Sara Baartman.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT