Al Sharpton is Starting a Rap Label.

Dr. Munoz needs to get with Dr. Sharpley-Whiting.

Of course Al is not starting a label, but I could not help
but think about it when I read two articles about
women and Hip Hop in the NY Times by Tara Parker-Pope.
Apparently there is a Professor, Dr. Munoz Laboy, who is studying
young women and hip hop. Parker-Pope writes,

Dr. Muñoz-Laboy spent three years studying the hip-hop club scene, talking to dozens of teenagers and watching them dance. While hip-hop music has been widely assailed as misogynistic, the researchers found that young women were the “gatekeepers” of boundaries on the dance floor, according to research published this month in the journal Culture, Health and Sexuality. Even during the highly sexualized form of dance known as grinding, in which bodies rub against each other, the girls in the study “were consistently vigilant about maintaining control over their bodies and space,” the study noted.

Most of the teenagers in the study were sexually experienced. But the researchers found that the overt sexuality of the music and dancing was not the main influence on sexual behavior. Rather it was the old standbys of alcohol, drugs and peer pressure that typically led them into sexual encounters.

I thought that was an astute observation, but I would NEED
to see the data before I cosigned on anything.

The second article starts off ambitious enough.

The Atlanta teens are part of a group called HOTGIRLS (Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations). Although rap is often blamed for promoting degrading images of women, HOTGIRLS uses rap music to start conversations with girls about the challenges they face growing up.

Rewriting song lyrics helps girls “critically analyze the messages they encounter in the media and in their daily lives,’’ said HOTGIRLS founder Carla E. Stokes. “Girls are using hip hop as a vehicle to reach their peers and raise awareness about issues that affect their lives.’’

The bugged out thing about it is that RAP HAS ALWAYS been about
talking about how f*cked up your life is, how dope your car is,
how you can take someone else's man. Duh. We came from the
people who made the blues.

The comments section in the second article, on young
was full of tolerance, love and understanding.

I mean they had so much shit poppin' in there
that I felt myself get the blog wiggles just reading it.

November 6th,
2007
12:02 pm

Chronic sexual harrassment of girls and women is the sound track to how demeaning and deadly Hip Hop and Rap have been to the black community.

As Stanley Crouch points out, approximately 3,000 black people died in the south from the reconstruction after The Civil War through The Civil Rights Novement, whereas 10,000 black people were victims of black-on-black gun violence in the 1990’s in California alone.

Music that celebrates this slaughter and perversion of black culture is $ in the pockets of ClearChannel and disrespects and endangers black girls and women especially. White people who defend it are poseurs, appologists, and dilletantes with ‘no skin in the mix’.

— Posted by jay scott

The Stanley Crouch reference not withstanding, the poster
does make an economic argument about the issue,
which is TYPICALLY what is missing when talking about
minority/majority issues.

I guess the article would have made more sense if they mentioned pop culture AND ITS affect on women
in general

Then there was this comment.
I couldn't tell if the person was serious, a f*ck wad or both.

November 6th,
2007
12:24 pm

How about teaching teens to completely avoid rap music, rap “culture” and always speak proper English? Rap music and culture leads to low IQ, low expectations from life, angry attitude, praising-prison mentality and many more social problems.

When will you liberals give up on this “hip hop in the classroom” nonsense?

KP

— Posted by Karlos

Shit just made me want to play Stakes is High.

Rap music and culture leads to low IQ, low expectations
from life, angry attitude, praising-prison mentality and
many more social problems.

Rap music is also responsible for...
$100/ barrel gas.
The Writers Guild Strike.
Obama's drop in the national polls.
Overinflated CEO pay.

I mean really.
What did White/Black people blame Black struggle/failure/apathy on before Hip Hop? The article illustrates when you use your voice be prepared to be silenced. Another commenter noticed this when they wrote,

November 6th,
2007
2:31 pm

I live in Portland, OR–one of the most liberal, whitest cities in America–and I can tell you my partner and countless other young women are harassed, screamed at, catcalled and followed every single day. A man can walk around wearing nothing but sandals and shorts on a sunny day but my partner would not dare wear even a tight shirt. The way women are treated in our country is a complete disgrace. So I guess I have no idea what someone is talking about when they say “asking for harassment”. I have no idea why a group of black girls empowering themselves makes anonymous readers fret about the girls’ sexual practices.

Ah. The WAY WOMEN ARE TREATED IN OUR COUNTRY. Wait. I thought it was only in Hip Hop that women were treated like expendable sex pockets.
Then I came across this one and got really, really concerned.

November 6th,
2007
5:41 pm

I love the idea of suing the idiots making all of the money off of selling audio poison–sorry, misogynist rap–to teens. I wonder what the legal strategy would look like for said law suit…

— Posted by Ulrike

Creepy. Law suits to end Hip Hop. As long as they sue Half of
Hollywood while they're at it. I'm down.

=========
=========

What would happen in a world if you could sue an artist because you
didn't like their genre of music?

How about being able to sue an artist because he stole your music.
Elvis anyone?
That commenter probably wants to sue Michael Vick as well, lol?
What if that were possible?

Public figures get convicted of sh*t,
gave us the right to sue them because they disappointed us.
HA!

People and they sometimes applicable Constitutional Rights.

==========
==========

***writing that. felt. good.