Hip hop, like any other art form, allows for the expression of ideas and feelings. However, in this male dominated genre of music, hip hop is often used to assert dominance and masculinity. Unfortunately, this reassurance of masculinity, heterosexuality, and dominance comes at the cost of respect for women. Misogyny is generally defined as the hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women, or prejudice against women (Random House). However, Terri Adams and Douglas Fuller from the Journal of Black Studies, define misogyny in rap as “the promotion, glamorization, support, humorization, justification, or normalization of oppressive ideas about women.” They also add that “in this genre of rap music, women are reduced to mere objects - objects that are
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The song has two meanings; the first is meaning that can be extrapolated is about a woman whose body is attractive, but her face is not. The second interpretation, arguably the more explicit one, describes a woman who is willing to have multiple men have sex, in a repetitive fashion with her, one after another. The video was featured on BET Uncut which was a late night show for the more explicit videos. In the video, women are either nude or dressed in tiny bikinis that reveal some of their more sexualized body parts like the buttocks. During the duration of the video, women are seen shaking their butts, grinding on each other while nude, and rapping along to the lyrics. However, the things that caused the most controversy was towards the end of the video when Nelly swiped a credit card in between the butt cheeks of a woman. This was the tipping point for most female viewers and led to protests against Nelly due to him being perceived as a misogynist. However, he attempted to defend himself by saying: “It was the girl’s idea. She’s okay with that, [so] how am I disrespecting her?” (Nelly, 2011). Nelly raises a good question because, if these women actively participate in these demeaning acts, should the blame be placed solely on men? Unless these women are being coerced into dancing in these music videos naked they are simply expressing autonomy, which is valued and encouraged in feminism. However, autonomy in hip hop becomes a problem because when women embrace their sexuality freely in these videos and songs, they are moving towards a place of counterproductivity with the negative representations of women in hip
The song has two meanings; the first is meaning that can be extrapolated is about a woman whose body is attractive, but her face is not. The second interpretation, arguably the more explicit one, describes a woman who is willing to have multiple men have sex, in a repetitive fashion with her, one after another. The video was featured on BET Uncut which was a late night show for the more explicit videos. In the video, women are either nude or dressed in tiny bikinis that reveal some of their more sexualized body parts like the buttocks. During the duration of the video, women are seen shaking their butts, grinding on each other while nude, and rapping along to the lyrics. However, the things that caused the most controversy was towards the end of the video when Nelly swiped a credit card in between the butt cheeks of a woman. This was the tipping point for most female viewers and led to protests against Nelly due to him being perceived as a misogynist. However, he attempted to defend himself by saying: “It was the girl’s idea. She’s okay with that, [so] how am I disrespecting her?” (Nelly, 2011). Nelly raises a good question because, if these women actively participate in these demeaning acts, should the blame be placed solely on men? Unless these women are being coerced into dancing in these music videos naked they are simply expressing autonomy, which is valued and encouraged in feminism. However, autonomy in hip hop becomes a problem because when women embrace their sexuality freely in these videos and songs, they are moving towards a place of counterproductivity with the negative representations of women in hip