Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Find a new scapegoat

I have had numerous conversations over the years touting the positive aspects of the hip-hop culture. Yet constantly I am berated with the same argument over and over again. “It’s so misogynistic.”

"Love is blind, you just see bright light, you up in the club feelin' the night life, lookin' for the right type. Blood rushing to your heart making it beat when she swept you off your feet and made it complete"
-Talib Kweli

Yeah, I can see that. I know what some of you are saying, what about songs like “Move bitch” and “Get Low?” I say to you, what about the forms of music that’s not hip-hop that has the same kind of degradation people are so upset about. What you may be saying to yourself, hip-hop didn’t invent the objectification of women? I know shocking. Let’s see there is the classic tune by Prodigy aptly titled “Smack my bitch up.” How romantic. There is the Rolling Stones tune “Brown Sugar” thought to be one of the more racist songs of its time. Not to mention all of the songs that paint men in a negative light such as Tyrone by Erykah Badu, Goodby Earl by Dixie Chicks and every other man is a dog song that spurned women have been singing for years.

What is the point of this rambling and possibly incoherent rant? It’s quite simple; it’s not just hip-hop. So when the talk of misogynism comes up let’s not automatically cut to a Jay-Z video, how about a corporate boardroom or even a random living room. Hip-hop didn’t invent the unfair media portrayal of women, and they’re not the only ones succeeding off of it.

Instead of finding a scapegoat how about we find some solutions.

Rant over.