This essay examines how race and gender are portrayed in a music video Anaconda by Nicki Minaj from 2014. The issue of representation of the Black community and women is significant, considering a huge impact hip-hop culture has on young people’s perception of social matters (Emerson, 2002, p. 115). Minaj is an influential figure in popular culture - her album The Pinkprint, which is supported by the single Anaconda, debuted at number one on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as well as a number two on the US Billboard 200 chart (Caulfield, 2014; Mendizabal, 2014). Additionally, the music video for Anaconda has over 500 million views on official Nicki Minaj’s YouTube page. According to Emerson (2002), young African American women are exposed to contrasting
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The video clip begins with images of a jungle accompanied by animal sounds. This wilderness connotes primitive life of non-white societies. Hall (1992) argues that “Others” are presented as people living in harmony with nature. Music video emphasises this idea by the use of such images as tropical fruits, an anaconda and a wooden hut (Schoppmeier, 2015, p. 63). Moreover, tribal masks, which are often associated with trivial African rituals, appear a few times in the video. Nicki Minaj clearly refers to African culture, however, her choice of visuals is detrimental to the Black community. As a result, African Americans seem to be archaic and undeveloped compared to White people. Furthermore, bananas can either connote a penis, which is discussed later in relation to gender representation, or a monkey. Linking Black women, as no other race is represented in the entire video clip, and apes signify that people of colour are underdeveloped. Lemons (1977) references trade cards from the 1880s which caricature Negros and present them as chimpanzees. They are meant to represent African Americans as inhumanly senseless and narrow-minded (p. …show more content…
In this song, the Black community is associated with such social phenomena as crime, violence and drug abuse. Hurwitz and Peffley (1997) highlight that those racial stereotypes are deeply rooted in the White community’s judgements. Besides, Nicki Minaj does not limit to physical violence, she explicitly expresses her hatred for slim women in this line: “Fuck them skinny bitches! Fuck them skinny bitches in the club!”. As a result, the song disseminates stereotypes of the Black people who are allegedly aggressive. The second part of the essay will focus on the representation of female characters in the single. Some of the images refer to both racist and sexist perceptions, thus this section elaborates on some of the ideas mentioned in the first part and introducing new
The video clip begins with images of a jungle accompanied by animal sounds. This wilderness connotes primitive life of non-white societies. Hall (1992) argues that “Others” are presented as people living in harmony with nature. Music video emphasises this idea by the use of such images as tropical fruits, an anaconda and a wooden hut (Schoppmeier, 2015, p. 63). Moreover, tribal masks, which are often associated with trivial African rituals, appear a few times in the video. Nicki Minaj clearly refers to African culture, however, her choice of visuals is detrimental to the Black community. As a result, African Americans seem to be archaic and undeveloped compared to White people. Furthermore, bananas can either connote a penis, which is discussed later in relation to gender representation, or a monkey. Linking Black women, as no other race is represented in the entire video clip, and apes signify that people of colour are underdeveloped. Lemons (1977) references trade cards from the 1880s which caricature Negros and present them as chimpanzees. They are meant to represent African Americans as inhumanly senseless and narrow-minded (p. …show more content…
In this song, the Black community is associated with such social phenomena as crime, violence and drug abuse. Hurwitz and Peffley (1997) highlight that those racial stereotypes are deeply rooted in the White community’s judgements. Besides, Nicki Minaj does not limit to physical violence, she explicitly expresses her hatred for slim women in this line: “Fuck them skinny bitches! Fuck them skinny bitches in the club!”. As a result, the song disseminates stereotypes of the Black people who are allegedly aggressive. The second part of the essay will focus on the representation of female characters in the single. Some of the images refer to both racist and sexist perceptions, thus this section elaborates on some of the ideas mentioned in the first part and introducing new