Gender Identities: Treatin' ladies with respect since 1988

I've never considered a girl a dime-piece. Incredible, I know. Also, I've never thought that lifting weights or spittin' game was the way to attract a woman. So in that sense, yeah, hip-hop has affected my gender identity. I think listening to and seeing the gender roles defined within hip-hop (that, in my opinion, has evolved into all parts of pop culture) has formed my identity as a man: I do the opposite. I'm not saying I'm a hero. I just know that a smile, a held door and a mixtape is my substitute for protein shakes and eye-f*cking. I think hip-hop and pop culture have evolved women these days into thinking that all they are to men are sexual objects. And I thank hip-hop for allowing me to see what women think I want, then go against that notion, and form a relationship. As I said before, I think the masculinity and warped femininity found in hip-hop has fused into pop-music and the culture that comes with it. Therefore, I think many more younger people are affected by this, and you can see it. Go anywhere and you see more little punks and divas than you could ever imagine. In my generation, just a few years prior, these ideals and images didn't really reach pop culture the way it does now, and that shaped me. I definitely go against the prescribed gender roles that the media, including hip-hop, throws at me. Frankly, I do the exact opposite as they tell me, and I'm pretty damn happy because of it.

Make Believe

Setting: QB, NYC. Nas returns home to find his mother and Biggie back from the dead, talking.

There she was. My mom, my life. Sittin' in that same chair she always sat it, drinkin' and tellin' me stories about her life. My guardian angel was back. Since the day she died everything I did, everything I said, was in memory of her. I looked long and hard with tears rollin' down my face, and I'll never forget the passion that burned in me that day. And on top of seeing my mother again, who was she talking to? My idol. My influence. My brother. B.I.G. This man did more for me as a rapper than anyone but my Mom ever did, and as the tears continued to pour out, I whispered "Thank you" as he looked over, sipped his drink, and gave me a smile. I knew right then and there that everything would be okay. Even though they couldn't hear me and I couldn't touch them or hug them, it was enough. I knew that they were sick of lookin' down at me and smilin' cuz they came right to my kitchen instead.

God

For many, God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. He is a perfect God. So why do we have war, poverty, rape, crime, disasters, etc? This is the biggest and most sustainable atheist arguement to this day. How can an all-perfect God (strongly advocated by believers) create imperfection? Sigmund Freud belived in a projection theory, that God was simply created as a projection of our mind. If I had to bet, I would need to be logical. And logic tells me that a theory that God is not real is a more powerful and compelling arguement. But there are also questions that arise that make me think twice about the existence of God: where did we come from? How do we explain miracles and the unexplainable? Questions like these science can't answer. We just don't know. And even though it is easier (in my opinion) to prove God does not exist, there are questions that will never be answered, and I will never have definite proof. Therefore, I can't say that I don't believe in God, but I am skeptical as to his existance, and I feel that as humans, that is all we can say for that which has no answer.

Tupac

It may sound like I'm taking the easy way to answer this question, but I can't help seeing Tupac as both courageous and immature/confused when he put out such questionable words for everyone to hear. I think you can still be courageous even if what you are doing is not accepted by other people. Isn't that how most revolutions start, anyway? And aren't revolutions, for the most part, good for their society in the long run? Tupac should not have been misogynistic. But this was what he grew up with . In other words, I think I would be looking at this differently if he was lying. He may have been confused when it came to how women should be talked about or treated, but this was all he knew to do, and he knew people would be offended, and he did it anyway. A courageous, confused action, if you will. But I think that is like most of us. We don't really know why we do anything. Sometimes we say things we don't mean, we lie, etc. Tupac had a lot to say and he had the ability to say it, so he said it all. That's courageous. I don't think he could change his misogynistic ways just to appease the audience, it was who he was.

Gender Identity

I think that hip-hop does have an effect on our gender identity. Music is an important part of my life, and hip-hop is the only music I listen to with a common uber-masculine figure. Yet at the same time, hip-hop has helped me grow to have more feminist views. For example, Tupac asked, “Tell me why we take from our women why we rape our women do we hate our women?”

In my Critical Theory class this semester, we watched 50 Cent’s “Still Kill” video, as well as clips from Beyond Beats and Rhymes. In “Still Kill” 50 does stuff like box and look angry. Beyond Beats and Rhymes really questions hip-hop’s idea of a man. A man has to put down women and never show weakness or feminizing qualities. I found 50’s explanation of a “bitch ass nigga” particularly troubling. Ja Rule, as well as men in general, cannot do something like cry because they will no longer be men? In hip-hop, you can never slip up, and you always have to be tough. I find it ridiculous, and unfortunate.

Gender Identity

As a youth, hip-hop did had an affect on my gender identity, yet as I became older it began to diminished. Reason why hip-hop had an affect on my gender identity was the fact that when I was younger, my mind was too immature in determining my gender identity. I basically let hip-hop developed it. What I realized, in the end, was that it was wrong. hip-hop portrayed me as a whole different individual, which was not relevant to whom I am as a person. As time went by and I became older, I stop allowing hip-hop control my gender identity. As of right now, I believe that hip-hop has a greater affect on gender identity in this generation, than my generation. The reason being is because times has change, and younger people are more naive than my generation. In addition, the music of today's hip-hop is more attractive than in my generation, which makes it easier to manipulate people's gender identity for this generation. sadly, there is not a way to stop this because of the media, and because of corporate America, unless is through government intervention which is not likely to happen

P.S- Hip hop is dead..

A Hip-Hop Gender Identity

Hip-Hop has had a huge impact on my gender identity. I remember listening to "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta," and aspiring to get my hustle on. I used to wear Akademiks and still dress in a highly hip-hop influenced style.
Many aspects of culture, personal experience, reading, upbringing, friends, and other factors have contributed to my gender identity. Hip-Hop is a large part of that. I think children are highly susceptible to stimuli, and therefore mirror hip-hop language, clothing, gender roles, themes, etc. Kids who identify with certain places, races, socio-economic backgrounds, lyrics, accents, or whatever else they pick up from hip-hop videos and songs will be especially prone to internalizing their messages.
I try to challenge gender stereotypes by attempting to treat men and women equally. I expect the same effort and intellect from any gender. I admire strength in women and emotion in men. I also strive to do and say the unexpected in an effort to escape social molds and patterns in favor of new values.

The Hard Life of a Modern Day Superhero

Homeboy has nappy hair and raggedy clothes. He's standing on top of a bench in Boston Common looking at the pollution purple sky. He's got no money, no home, and no friends.
Why is he so hard up? Well, see, my brother always tells that deep, mind-blowing, day-changing, life-altering truth. He can't help it. Truth pours from his mouth like bullshit from a politician. People just can't talk to this cat. After a few words, they stumble off struggling to retain ignorance or to internalize wisdom.
How does my man eat? Well when he needs a bite, he approaches the nearest purveyor of sustenance and says, "We all gotta eat." Struck by the tone and sincerity of the words, our vendor can't help but say, "true, true." Then our honest to a fault friend says, "I have no money, for it doesn't exist." "Are you begging," asks the nourishment salesman? "Naw, just speaking truth. I'm hungry." Confused, but hypnotized, a meal changes hands. "Thank you for such kindness, in turn so shall ye receive kindness," offers our hero, ambling away.
Where does such a man sleep? In the Commons of course, and a shelter when it gets cold. Now what use is truth as a superpower, if you broke, homeless and hungry? Well, this man know what truly is important, what he truly has, who he truly is, and how to appreciate and be grateful for the gift of each breath.

I wasn't exposed to Hip-Hop music until I was older, so I can't say that it had a major impact on my gender perception. Now I hear it all the time. I'm pretty set in my beliefs as far as ideas of femininity and masculinity, and it would take a lot more than song lyrics for that to change. It definitely still bothers me that women are constantly berated in Hip-Hop music. However, I take into consideration that there are a few women out there who pride themselves on being "dime pieces", but they do not define femininity. I think that's an important thing to remember when listening to Hip-Hop. It's also important to remember that its a business, and right now, these are the subjects that are making hits and selling albums. It's not necessarily what these performers believe.
As far as children are considered, I think that they should be sheltered from hearing these offensive lyrics. They are very impressionable as they form their perceptions of gender. They are not able to grasp the concept of Hip-Hop as a commodity, and are more likely to take the songs for what they are. I challenge the gender roles prescribed by Hip-Hop by refusing to accept the songs as an accurate representation of women as a whole, and by taking the songs for entertainment value, not social commentary.

The Realness

Well first of all, I’d like to recognize some already existing hip-hop superheroes. Omar, from HBO’s The Wire, comes to mind. He’s a cowboy / Robin Hood figure placed in the ghettos of Baltimore, and is also the ultimate badass who happens to be homosexual. Luke Cage, the Marvel Comics character, could also be considered one since he has a very urban / hip-hop feel. But I’ll attempt to get more creative.

My hip-hop superhero would be named “The Realness,” after the Cormega album. Their power would be the ability to telepathically force someone to be truthful in revealing ways. Oh what fun it would be to see the president of the United States admit on television the terrible things they have done. Maybe George W. Bush would prove Kanye West in a speech about racism. Rapper’s careers would be ruined with such reveals as “I was never shot 9 times.”

This power is “hip-hop” because hip-hop speaks the truth in ways that are not usually heard. After all, Tupac said that 2pacalypse Now was a “report” of life as he had witnessed it so far. We would know where people stood, and everyone would be “real.”

"Anti-Wackness" Woman

My superhero would be a well-educated, but still street-wise/credible artist, who can bring both entertainment and intellect to the table. I think these attributes are crucial in developing a superhero because they are characteristics that far too few artists today lack. The purpose of this superhero would be that she would use her intellect to knock the "wackness" out of mcs today. Her powers include the ability to sense bad music as it is being made. This is called her wackness senses, and they tingle while bad music is being made. She has ultra-sensitive hearing, and the ability to fly to the scene of the potential crime. Her name would be Anti-Wackness Woman, and her purpose would be to fight the forces of evil within the music industry. She would reside in New York, so as to be at home in the home of hip hop.

Tupac

I think that Tupac was courageous by putting "himself out there." Even though his songs were contradictory, he told the world how he felt without holding back. It may appear that he was confused, but you are not always going to bein the same mind set when you write each song. This would explain why his songs expressed different perceptions. If all of his songs held the same views, then his music would not be as interesting. The contradictions are what make them worth studying and analyzing.

The Truth

My hip-hop hero exists deep in the heart of the city, living in a two-room apartment full of spraypaint, newspapers, and once-discarded televisions set to 24-hour news stations. Not very glamorous, right? It gets better. Our hero is constantly searching for lies perpetrated by the mass-media - the spin and mistruths commonly held as fact. He has an acute mind that picks them out so fast that it would make your head spin. He doesn't just rest on it, however - in his black hoodie, nondescript jeans, and secondhand sneakers, he descends from the steps of his complex, paint cans hidden safely where no one can see. Then, his real powers can be seen - the man who no one remembers (but is really all around us) bravely climbs train bridges and billboards with his sticky hands, tagging trains and signs so all can see. He never leaves a signature, though, and the only way to know it is him is to look for the concept in his writing that is the moniker given to him by cops, civilians, and bureaucrats everywhere - The Truth.