Jean Ait Belkhir, Race, Gender & Class Journal

Women of Color in Hip Hop: The Pornographic Gaze Author(s): Margaret Hunter and Kathleen Soto Source: Race, Gender & Class, Vol. 16, No. 1/2 (2009), pp. 170-191 Published by: Jean Ait Belkhir, Race, Gender & Class Journal Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41658866 Accessed: 15-01-2020 19:18 UTC

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Women of Color in Hip Hop: The Pornographic Gaze

Margaret Hunter Department of Sociology Mills College

Kathleen Soto Education Teachers College

Abstract: The lyrical content of is a widely contested, yet understudied popular culture phenomenon. This article presents a content analysis of the lyrics of the 49 most popular mainstream rap songs over a two year period. The analysis revealed three over-arching themes regarding women of color: 1 ) consistent with trends in mainstream pornography, women are commonly characterized as sex workers, particularly strippers and prostitutes, 2) women's voices are used strategically in songs to "sell" particular images of women and gender ideologies, and 3) women are often valorized for their loyalty to male partners despite danger to themselves. We find that popular rap music draws heavily from mainstream pornography contributing to a "pornification" of youth culture.

Keywords: pornography; rap music; hip hop; popular culture; youth culture

Margaret Hunter is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Mills College in Oakland, California. Her research focuses on women of color in the United States in comparative perspective. She has published extensively on skin tone discrimination in the African American and Mexican American communities, including her book, Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone (Routledge 2005). Hunter is currently studying the shifting racial attitudes of white youth in the post civil-rights era. Address: Department of Sociology, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Ph.: (510)430-3220, Fax (510)430-2304, Email: [email protected].

Kathleen Soto is a Graduate Student in Education at Teacher's College. She has

This content downloaded from 146.244.101.138 on Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:18:03 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms The Pornographic Gaze 171 been active as a student leader in social justice issues in higher education. Her areas of interest are race and gender inequality in schools and youth activism. Address: 24429 Albatross Ave., Wilmington, CA 90744. Ph.: (310)702-2959, Email: [email protected].

Please direct all correspondence to Margaret Hunter.

to the rising tide of pejorative lyrics about women in rap music. "Who In you to you 1994, callin' the callin'a bitch?" rising she Queen asks tidethe alistener bitch?" andLatifah the oflarger pejorative hip hop she released asks lyrics the the about song, listener women "U.N.I.T.Y." and in the rap larger music. as a response hip "Who hop community. More than a decade later, the African American women of Spelman College asked the same question, and found themselves in the middle of a media frenzy about rap music videos and representations of women. In the decade that has passed since Queen Latifah initially posed this question, many have argued that representations of women have only spiraled downward in mainstream rap music (Cole & Guy-Sheftall, 2003; Perry, 2003; Sharpley- Whiting, 2007). In music videos, women wear less clothing, and perform more explicit sexual acts on screen. This trend toward the pornographic began early in rap music, and accelerated as pornography expanded into the cultural mainstream (Caputi, 2003; LeVande, 2008; McFarland, 2003; Miller-Young, 2008).

In 1990 members of the rap group 2 Live Crew were arrested in Florida on "obscenity charges" for the pornographic depiction of women and sexuality on their , As Nasty as They Wanna Be (George, 1998; Perkins, 1996). In 1994, DJ Yella of the notorious group, NWA (Niggaz With Attitude), made a pornographic video and marketed it with his name and association with NWA. But rap music's relationship with pornography has only expanded in recent years (Miller-Young, 2008). Many rappers' entrepreneurial skills have taken them into the markets of fashion, energy drinks, liquor, and even the actual production of pornography. Snoop Dogg has been the most successful in this crossover. As reported by Adult Video News , Snoop boasts the top selling adult videos of 2001 (Doggystyle) and 2003 (Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp) (Allers, 2005). Several other best-selling rappers including , Lil' Jon and Ice-T have begun producing and hosting pornographic videos as well (Kinnick, 2007). It is worth noting that "hosting" a pornographic videos means being fully clothed and simply introducing scenes and actors throughout the video.

Music videos and rap lyrics increasingly draw on well-established themes in pornography. The "pornification" (Paul, 2005) of rap music also involves increased representation of women as porn stars, strippers, prostitutes, and other types of sex workers. Beyond representations of "types" of women, the pornification of rap also involves the routinization of a "pornographic gender relation." We describe pornographic gender relations as those that portray interactions between women and men in particular and limited ways.

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Examples of this particular gender relation widely communicated in hip hop include scenes or lyrics where women are routinely sexually humiliated, used for male sexual pleasure at the exclusion of female sexual pleasure, or typically shown as exchanging money or status for sex. Sex work and pornographic culture (their economics and gender relations) have merged with rap in form and content (McFarland, 2003; Miller- Young, 2008).

Why should anyone research rap music if it is "common knowledge" that the lyrics are sexist? We suggest two reasons. First, aside from journalistic accounts of rap, few empirical studies have been done on lyrical content. Pundits and alarmists routinely grab headlines about rap music, but few scholars or activists have systematically looked at rap music content. Second, much research shows that adolescents who watch and listen to more rap music are at increased risk for displays of violence, substance abuse, and "risky" sexual behavior (Miranda & Claes, 2004; Wingood et al., 2003).

Images in rap music lyrics are not simply sexual in nature. They also convey a particular gender and racial ideology. The commingling of sex, race, objectification, and violence in contemporary mainstream hip hop has resulted in a "pornification" of the genre consistent with the expansion of pornography into youth culture more generally.

One recent public example involved shock jock Don Imus. Imus, who has a long history of using offensive language on the air, referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hoes" (CBS News, 2007). After his show was dropped from CBS Radio for that comment, many public voices wondered aloud how his comment was any different from the way rappers routinely talk about black women in their songs ( Chicago Tribune , 2007). Best-selling rapper and producer Snoop Dogg responded this way:

It's a completely different scenario. [Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about hoes that's in the 'hood that ain't doing shit, that's trying to get a nigga for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel (Reid, 2007).

Snoop's use of the "good girls/bad girls" dichotomy is common in popular culture in general and rap music in particular. Many young women who are rap music fans feel that the girls in the songs are "bad girls" or "hoes." while they regard themselves as good, decent, or normal. This distinction allows them to enjoy the music and distance themselves from its female subjects, avoiding feelings of degradation or humiliation. The race of the women in the videos also plays a role here. For white consumers (and they constitute the plurality) the fact that the

This content downloaded from 146.244.101.138 on Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:18:03 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms The Pornographic Gaze 1 73 women and men in rap music are almost exclusively black and brown adds an additional layer of social distance between them.

This good girl/bad girl distinction dominates mainstream rap lyrics. Our analysis reveals that there are two predominant roles for women characters in rap songs: the "video hoe," who is essentially a prop for male sexual pleasure, and the "loyal girlfriend" willing to die for her man. Young girls have few identities to try on in hip hop as they experiment with sexual expression and gender roles.

This article reflects the belief that social location has informed our perspectives on rap music. We are both women of color who "grew up on" rap music. As a biracial African American rap music consumer in the 1980s and 90s, and a Latina rap music consumer in the 1990s and 2000s, we each bring unique racial, regional, and generational experiences with the genre. In the spirit of bell hooks' (1990) theory of critique as an act of community, we examine the ways in which women of color are portrayed in a genre of music we grew up with and remain attached to. This paper attempts to answer the question, Beyond the terms "bitches and hoes," how are women of color imagined in hip hop lyrics?

Rap music is a cultural form deriving from a specific economic (capitalist, postindustrial), political (post-civil rights), and social (sexist and racist) context (George. 1998; Kelley, 1994). Rap music is challenging to analyze because it is simultaneously liberating and oppressive (hooks, 1994). White corporate music executives (Lena, 2006), black music industry moguls (e.g. Jay-Z, P. Diddy, and Snoop Dogg), black and Latino rap artists, and rap music consumers (the largest percentage of whom are young white men) (Allers, 2005) all play a role in creating the lyrical products examined in this article (Kitwana, 2005). Moreover, rap is created in a larger social context of institutional racism, persistent poverty, political marginalization, glorification of capitalism, and degradation of women, particularly women of color (Kelley, 1 994; Ransby & Matthews, 1 993). Rap music speaks truth to power, but in our study, we find that rap music also speaks profits to power, and sometimes at women of color's expense.

In fact, rap music's mainstream commercial success happened precisely at the time that the genre turned away from more political lyrics frequently referred to as "message rap" (Basu, 1998; Watkins, 2001). Wildly popular groups like Public Enemy of the 1980s were supplanted by "" artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg of the 1990s (Hurt, 2006). Black criminals, black whores, and even black pain are now packaged and sold to a largely white audience that can't get enough (Hurt, 2006; Lusane, 1993; Rose, 2008; Watkins, 2001). In fact, Lena (2006) found that rap music produced from major commercias labels, as opposed to independent ones, produced lyrics with less political content and more racial and gender stereotypes. Most recently, the pornification of rap may be best illustrated in the commercial success of the "Dirty South" genre, focused largely on strip clubs and sex workers (Miller, 2004).

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After studying the lyrics of best-selling rap songs, the themes that emerged from our data are most consistent with economic and gendered analyses of the growing pornography industry. For this reason, we adopt the concept, "the pornographic gaze" to further understand how hip hop imagines women, and the subsequent racial and gender politics it re/creates.

Pornography is no longer a fringe enterprise reigned in by government regulation and cultural taboos. The pornography industry now generates over 10 billion dollars in revenues every year in the U.S. alone (Paul 2005) and up to 57 billion dollars per year, globally (Jensen & Dines, 1998). It is more available now than ever before with internet, videos, text messaging, magazines, web cams, and other communication technologies. We now live in a porn-saturated culture (Caputi, 2003 ) where young girls' clothing mimics that of porn stars (Bishop, 2007), women can take exercise classes with a "stripper's pole" (Levy, 2005), and "Girls Gone Wild" is a recognizable household name. Nonetheless, many Americans have conflicting beliefs about pornography given its tensions between sexual expression, sexism, and free market principles (Cottle et al., 1989).

Noted pornography researcher and critic, Robert Jensen (2004), suggests that mainstream video pornography has changed in particular ways over the past decade, consistently ratcheting up the "edge" factor. Mainstream heterosexual pornographic videos increasingly feature women as props for male sexual pleasure: giving oral sex to men, receiving anal sex, and as participants in (or victims of) gang bangs and "double penetration" (Jensen, 2007). Men's anger toward women is increasingly present in mainstream video pornography, best exemplified by the typical "money shot" of a male actor ejaculating in a woman's face, often while calling her names such as slut, cunt, bitch, or whore (Jensen, 2007; Jensen & Dines, 1 998). This paper's concern is not to re-engage the feminist "sex-wars" of decades past, but to ask how the proliferation of the pornography industry has also influenced the production and consumption of hip hop. The images described above are no longer relegated to the "adult video" world. Pornographic images such as those described above have gone mainstream and our research shows that they saturate best-selling rap lyrics.

It is important to note that the women described in rap music lyrics are not all women, but specifically women of color. Any cursory examination of the accompanying music videos reveals a plethora of anonymous, interchangeable, black and brown women (Fitts, 2008; Morgan, 2002). Imani Perry (2003) describes contemporary music videos this way:

Every time you turned on BET or MTV there was a disturbing music video. Black men rapped surrounded by dozens of black and Latina women dressed in swimsuits, or scantily clad in some other fashion. Video after video was the same, each one more objectifying than the next. Some were in strip clubs, some at the pool, beach, hotel rooms, but the recurrent theme was dozens of half naked women (137).

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As listeners and viewers, we are led to believe that the women in the videos are the "hoodrats," "chickenheads," and now cliché "bitches and hoes" about whom the performers are rapping. For clarification, the term "hoodrats" is a pejorative term used to describe women in poor neighborhoods (thus "hood") who have had sex with and are available for sex. It also implies a worthlessness or low status. The term "chickenhead "refers to a woman who frequently performs oral sex on men. The word "chickenhead" comes from the movement that the woman's head makes while performing oral sex.

The omnipresence of music videos today significantly changes the listening experience, so that listening to the song elicits the images of the video (Aufderheide, 1986; Emerson, 2002). In fact, women of color's increased popularity in pornographic films in the 1980s and 90s (Miller- Young, 2005-06) parallels the rise of the so-called "video hoe" in rap music videos. Women of color's bodies are increasingly used to sell all kinds of products, and more importantly to sell particular gender/racial ideologies.

Data and Methods

Billboard Music's "Top Rap Singles of the Year" lists were used in this study to identify the top 25 rap singles in 2002 and the top 25 rap singles in 2003 for a total of 49 songs (one single appeared on both lists, see Appendix A). The terms "rap" and "hip hop" are interchangeably used throughout this essay, although it is acknowledged that hip hop is a cultural movement that encompasses more than music. Because Billboard's "Hot Rap Tracks" was used for data analysis, the term "rap music" is used to refer to those particular song lyrics.

We used Billboard Music charts for this study because they represent the most popular singles in sales as well as in radio play for each given year. Popularity in radio play and in sales was an important factor for our research because we wanted to look at lyrics that were "mainstream." Using the Billboard Music charts ensured us that the lyrics we analyzed were listened to and recognized by the greatest number of people and not, "extreme examples." Moreover, we are less interested in morally scrutinizing specific rap artists and more in painting a coherent picture of the confluence of today's pornography and rap music industries.

We completed a content analysis of the lyrics, analyzing them for representations of women. We used an inductive approach, reading all of the lyrics first, in order to see what themes emerged from the data. There was less diversity in how women were represented than we expected. It was only after we identified the following three, most common, themes, that we adopted the concept of the "pornographic gaze" as an organizing framework because it best fit our findings.

Through qualitative coding we isolated three primary themes that were very common in today's popular rap music. First, women were routinely described

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as sex workers with frequent references to prostitution, pornography, and stripping. Second, women's voices played a central role in communicating compliance with unequal gender relations in hip hop. Third, women were depicted as ''partners in crime" who exhibited loyalty to men in the face of adversity. We call this pattern the "Bonnie and Clyde" theme.

Women as Sex Workers

In the increasingly overlapping fantasy worlds of rap music and pornography, sex work is seen as commonplace and mundane and references to stripping, exotic dancing, pimping, and prostitution are frequent throughout much top-selling rap music (Amber, 2005). In fact, nearly a third of the songs we analyzed contained overt references to stripping, prostitution, or pornography. Sex work is naturalized in much of the rap music in our sample, and the strip club or porn set is a common setting for a song. For example, in his best selling single, "Lights, Camera, Action" rap artist, Mr. Cheeks (2002), describes a night out at the strip club;

Booties dancin' 'round a nigg and I'm killin' one killin' one from the top of the stash and I'm feel in' buns I'm fuckin* with this chick with a phat body and the ring up her navel dances around, she stmts with the 'fuck' walk touches her toes, and she can make her butt talk

Interestingly, the title of the song, "Lights, Camera, Action," (2002) arguably refers to shooting a pornographic video, and even the rapper's stage name, "Mr. Cheeks" embodies the focus on African American women's buttocks. Black women's behinds are a spectacle in mainstream rap music. This trend is best exemplified by Nelly's controversial video, "Tip Drill" (2003) where he slides a credit card through a black woman's buttocks. Lyrics like "make your butt talk" and "clap your ass" are common in the sample used in this study. Much like the European gaze on the so-called Hottentot Venus, Sarah Baartman, African American women's buttocks are both the site of male sexual fantasy and the symbol upon which all the anger and hatred against black women is directed.

The song that best exemplifies the theme of women as sex workers in rap is 50 Cenťs "P.I. M. P." (2003). From its title and content, the artist constructs a two-sided story about pimps and prostitutes. For pimps, life is good. A pimp is well-dressed, sophisticated, partying at the clubs, and taking much money from the women who work for him. The prostitutes, however, are portrayed as foolish and poor. 50 Cent raps:

Now shorty, she in the club dancin' for dollars she got a thing for that Gucci, that Fendi, that Prada that BCBG, Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana

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she feed them foolish fantasies, they pay her cause they wanna...

I holla at a hoe 'til 1 got a bitch confused she got on Payless, me, I got gator shoes

50 Cent glamorizes the life of a pimp, but interestingly, he does not inflate the life of a prostitute (she got on Payless, me, I got gator shoes). Although there are some exceptions, most women who work as prostitutes do not earn high incomes, neither do most pimps. Far from gator shoes or Dolce and Gabbana, most workers in the sex industry struggle to make ends meet, but in the fantasy land of mainstream rap music the life of a pimp is gilded (Sharpley- Whiting, 2007).

50 Cent, also demonstrates overtly violent lyrics against women in his songs. In "P.I.M.P." (2003) he raps

Bitch choose with me, Til have you strippin' in the street put my other hoes down, you get your ass beat now Nik my bottom bitch, she always come up with my bread the last nigga she was with put stitches in her head.

"P.I.M.P." (2003) mixes the growing characterization of women as sex workers with physical violence against women. Ironically, this combination reflects the high levels of violence that actual sex workers endure from male managers, pimps, supervisors, as well as by male customers (Katz, 2006). Many rappers defend their lyrics as authentic descriptions of real street life. What is important to point out, however, is that 50 Cent's song is not a commentary on, or a critique of, pimping or violence against women; it seems to be an acceptance of it (put my other hoes down, you get your ass beat) and a glamorization of a lifestyle. In fact, in "P.I.M.P." (2003) the male character attempts to normalize sex work in poor black neighborhoods by rapping; "Yeah in Hollywood they say there's no b'ness like show b'ness, in the hood they say there's no b'ness like ho b'ness." The message that the audience gets is that pimps and hoes are common in poor, black neighborhoods. "Ho b'ness'' is normalized and the economic benefits of trafficking in women of color is naturalized.

Even Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, sometimes described as a feminist presence in rap, describes sex work as mundane in her lyrics. In her single, "Work It," the only track to appear on both the 2002 and 2003 Billboard charts, she raps, "Girls, girls, get that cash. If it's 9 to 5 or shakin' that ass; Ain't no shame ladies do your thang; Just make sure you ahead of tha game."

While the lyrics may be empowering in the sense that they encourage women's financial independence, the reference to sex work (shakin' that ass) as commonplace sustains the frequent representation of women as sex workers extant in rap music.

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The most common references to sex work in rap music are described as occurring in a strip club. Many artists rap about partying with their male friends at a strip club and asking/demanding that the women who work there perform various sexual acts. These lyrics have become especially popular with Southern rap artists, often referred to as the "Dirty South." Strip club culture has fused so dramatically with rap lyrics that some analysts now refer to the genre as "strip-hop" (Sharpley- Whiting, 2007:120). For example, in "Get Low" (2003), by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, they rap;

Now gimme my dough back and go get ya friend stupid bitch standing there while I'm drinking my Hen' steady looking at me still asking questions times up nigga, pass me another contestant hoe, move to the left if you ain't about 50th done talk through 3 or 4 songs already looking at a nigga with yo palm all out bitch, I ain't even seen you dance twerk something baby, work something baby pop yo pussy on the pole, do yo thang baby slide down dat bitch with yo little bit then stop get back on the floor catch yo balance then drop now bring it back up. clap your ass like hands see your ass dirty dance

The primary theme in this song, consistent with strip club culture, is that the women are present to sexually entertain the men. However, the women here are also portrayed as greedy, ("looking at a nigga with yo palm all out bitch, 1 ain't even seen you dance"). This frame is consistent with the larger political discourse on poor women of color as always trying to "work the system" and "get something for nothing." Lil' Jon constructs poor black women in the same way, as debased (pop yo pussy on the pole, do yo thang baby), scheming (done talk through 3 or 4 songs already), and incompetent (Now gimme my dough back and go get ya friend / stupid bitch standing there while I'm drinking my Hen').

There is yet another way that women are represented as strippers or prostitutes, and that is in a pseudo-complimentary fashion. Some rappers use stripping metaphors to describe how attractive a woman is. Others suggest to women who are not sex workers that they "work the pole" or "get that money honey." The following examples demonstrate this pattern:

Man, she so stacked, and she know that 1 want that her man, he so whacked, girl I can taste your cat gave her three hundred to strip, like buyin' a throwback she stay in the club, I can be seein' she got it honest in real life, girl remind me of Pocahontas she be at events, I'm so impressed when she pass all the high rollin" cats wanna pay for that ass" (Chingy. "Right Thun*",

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2003)

Woo, yeah, slow down baby let you know from the gate I don't go down lady 1 wanna chick with thick hips that licks her lips she can be the office type or like to strip (Fat Joe with Ashanti, "What's Luv?" 2002)

Stop pacin' time wastin' I got a friend with a pole in the basement (Nelly, "Hot In Herre", 2002)

Now real girls get down on the floor get that money honey, act like you know (Nelly, "Shake Ya Tail Feather'4, 2003)

These exceipts show the pattern that stripping and prostitution are so mainstreamed in popular culture and in rap music that rappers use these images both to discipline and to compliment. Beyond the "bitches and hoes" who are routinely described as prostitutes with all the negative cultural baggage attached, even the objects of male affection in rap songs are complimented through sex work metaphor (all the high rollin' cats wanna pay for that ass). The "nice" girls are encouraged to act like sex workers (1 got a friend with a pole in the basement).

This focus creates a rap music universe where nearly all women are essentialized as sex workers of varying kinds. There is very little temale space or representation that exists outside of the role of prostitute or stripper. The overwhelming pattern of characterizing women as sex workers and sexual props has caused alarm among many progressive African American community leaders. Constant popular culture messages describing violence and humiliation of black women at the hands of black men has led many to worry about the health and safety of African American girls and the future of gender relations in the Black community at large (Cole & Guy-She flail, 2003; Kitwana, 2002).

Women 's Voices and Porn Performance

In the past decade there has been a significant amount of collaboration in rap and hip hop where various artists will rap together or singers will sing a "hook" in the song while rappers rap the verses. These collaborations have led to some very entertaining and creative productions, in our data set of 49 singles, 4 1 percent (20 songs) featured a woman rapper or a woman singing the "hook" or chorus. Most of these collaborations featured male rappers with women singing the hook. This gender distinction is important because the song's meaning changes when the lyrics are performed by a male or female voice. Interestingly, women often sang the hook in songs that contained extremely violent or degrading images of women.

This trend is best exemplified in Ja Rule and Ashanti's collaboration in

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"Always on Time" (2002). Ja Rule begins with: "But baby you know the name and love is about pain so stop the complaints and drop the order restraints."

And later in the song he raps:

And I'm just outside of Jersey, past the Palisades, and 1 love to see that ass in boots and shades. hold down on the bed while I'm yankiiť your braids thug style, you never thought I'd make you smile while I'm smackin* your ass and fuckin' you all wild [ with Ashanti] but we share something so rare, but who cares, you care

In the first excerpt, the listener may wonder if "Move is about pain" refers to pain in the metaphorical sense rather than the physical sense, until in the following line the male character asks the female character to drop the "order restraints" which we read as "restraining orders." Later in the song, the listener learns that the female character likes "rough sex" (yankin' your braids / thug style / smackin' your ass) because she "smiles." While sexual expression takes many forms, this excerpt seems to reinforce the common rape myth that women (especially women of color) enjoy violent sex. What makes this song particularly seductive, however, is that Ashanti sings the hook, "but we share something so rare. . ." Her words seem to communicate that there is active female participation in these violent acts, reinserting the particular image that black women enjoy violence (Collins, 2004). Her vocal presence in the song makes it feel like a song about love, instead of violence.

In the 2002 collaboration, "What's Luv?" (2002) Fat Joe raps:

Girl you get me aroused, how you look in my eye but you talk too much, man you ruinin' my high don't wanna lose the feelin* cause the roof is chillin' iťs on fire and you lookin' good for the gettin' chorus [ Ashanti 's voice w/ Ja Rule] what's love? (got to do, got to do with it, babe) what's love? (it's about us, it's about trust, babe) what's love? (got to do, got to do with it, babe) what's love? (it should be about us, it should be about trust, babe)

Here, the male character described getting "aroused" by the woman in the song, but he wants her to stop talking because she's "ruining his high." These lyrics reinforce the common pornographic theme of women as objects (without voices) for male sexual pleasure. While the woman character is told to stop talking, Ashanti sings the chorus, v%Whaťs Love? It should be about us, it should be about trust babe," again communicating agreement or compliance with the message of the song.

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Do women rappers in this sample draw on the same pornographie images that male rappers do? In our data set, even when female rappers break into Billboard's top 25 singles (Eve, Lil' Kim, and Missy Elliott), their songs also borrow pornographie style and content. LiP Kim, one of the best selling female rappers in history, relies heavi ly on images of oral sex in her lyrics. In her top ten single ''" (2003) with 50 Cent, she raps:

LiP Kim not a whore but 1 sex a nigga so good, he gotta tell his boys when it come to sex, don't test my skills cause my head game have you head over heels give a nigga the chills, have him pay my bills...

And I ain't out shoppin' spendin' dudes' C notes I'm in the crib givin niggaz deep throat...

Guys wanna wife me and give me the ring I'll do it anywhere, anyhow, I'm down for anything

Lil' Kim repeats the same themes in her best-selling collaboration with artist, Mr. Cheeks, titled, "The Jump Off (2003). "Don't he know Queen Bee got the ill deep throat? Uh! Let me show you what I'm all about. How I make a Sprite can disappear in my mouth... HO!"

Lil' Kim borrows the images of mainstream pornography in many of her songs. The female characters in the songs above enjoy performing oral sex on men. (Interestingly, this song includes a description of the male character's skills at performing oral sex on women, a rarity in rap music.) The female characters in Lil Kim's songs are available for any kind of sexual experience the man chooses ("I'll do it anywhere, anyhow, I'm down for anything.") They brag about their skills ("I can make a Sprite can disappear in my mouth") and maintain the position that they are available for male sexual pleasure. The female characters in LiP Kim's songs derive power from their ability to please men sexually (Gonzalez, 1997).

We contend that the characters that Lil' Kim creates only work because they are African American. She draws on the familiar, historical image of the jezebel, the hypersexual black woman, who is sex-crazed and depraved (Jewell, 1993). If Lil' Kim were white and the audience imagined white women as the personae in her songs, there would likely be a national response of outrage, or no one would buy the music. Perhaps this racial reality is the reason that white women are nearly absent from rap music lyrics and video. Although LiP Kim creates more porn-like rap than her female counterparts. Missy Elliott and Eve, in this two year period, all three rely heavily on objectified women's sexuality, and the trope of the male gaze in their lyrics (Porter, 2001 ).

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Bonnie and Clyde: Loyalty to men at any cost

Women's voices are also central to the success of what we have designated, the "Bonnie and Clyde" genre. This subset of rap songs, comprising about 1 5 percent of our sample, depicts women as loyal partners of their men, sticking with them through adversity and acting as partners in crime (literally and metaphorically). These characters, also called "ride or die chicks" are the "good" women of rap, who are implicitly contrasted with the "bad" women (hoes, bitches, hoodrats, gold-diggers, and chickenheads) who only want money from men or are only useful for sex. The "good" women of this genre are not typically described in sexually explicit ways, but the gender ideology they communicate through the songs is consistent with the larger trend of pornification.

Music mogul and rapper Jay-Z popularized this genre in his single, aptly titled, "*03 Bonnie & Clyde" (2003), a collaboration with his now wife and mega- star. Beyonce Knowles. The male character describes the difference between a "good woman" and a "bad woman." "The problem is, you dudes treat the one that you lovin; With the same respect that you treat the one that you humpin."

Here, the rapper relies on the age-old distinction among women (some are for sex and some are for marriage) when the male persona says men should not treat women they are "humpin" with the same respect as the women they are "lovin." Pornification is also at work in this genre, but the focus is on the latter woman, rather than the former. Jay-Z and Beyonce sing in the hook that loyalty is the key trait in their relationship. Consistent with the genre, it is Jay-Z who describes a "life of sin," while Beyonce invokes the "ride or die chick" image in her lyrics. Again, the presence of the female voice (Beyonce) helps to "sell" the gender ideology of the song:

[Jay-Z raps:] All 1 need in this life of sin is me and my girlfriend, me and my girlfriend [Beyonce sings:] Down to ride 'til the very end, it's me and my boyfriend, me and my boyfriend

Industry powerhouse P. Diddy takes up a similar theme in his 2002 single, "I Need a Girl (to Bella)." Here the rapper describes the ideal "girl" or woman:

I need a girl that'll ride for me situation get real bitch' 11 die for me even step in the courtroom and lie for me I'm talkin about right hand in the sky for me do twenty-five for me, nigga steal a pound for me shorty probably blow a nigga to the sky for me and go and sit in a chair that'll fry for me and Lord know if I die she gon cry for me never say bye to me

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Like his fellow male rappers, P. Diddy raps about a woman who will do just about anything for and with the male persona in the song. These women are not characterized as prostitutes, strippers, or props for male pleasure. Instead, they are represented as loyal sidekicks. Women characters in the Bonnie and Clyde genre are expected to sacrifice and potentially even give up their lives for their men (sit in a chair that'll fry for me.) Although these songs tend not to be sexually degrading, they do communicate an unequal gender relation.

The Bonnie and Clyde theme is particularly powerful because it is seductive. It draws the listener into believing that women will be appreciated and valued for being loyal girlfriends, wives, and partners in crime. This image is so appealing in part because it stands alone as nearly the only consistently positive image of women in mainstream rap music. But how positive is it? In Ja-Rule's top single "Down Ass Chick" (2002) he collaborates with female rapper Charli Baltimore. She raps:

Cause I'm your bitch, the Bonnie to your Clyde it's mental, mash your enemies, we out in the rental I'm your bitch, niggas run up on ya, shift ya lungs, who's your organ donor? what they know about, extreme measures I'm a ride with you and my baby three-eighty at my side and we lock the town, I'm as down as any thug my love, they gotta take us in blood, what

Here, a "good woman" is distinguished by what she does to protect and defend her man. This includes donating her organs, carrying a "three-eighty " automatic pistol to ensure his safety, and potentially dying (they gotta take us in blood).

Interestingly, unlike the top-selling female rappers of decades past who rapped about issues of sexuality and womanhood on their own terms (e.g. Queen Lati fall, MC Lyte, and Salt-N-Pepa) (Forman, 1 994), the issues pertinent to today's best-selling female rappers have shifted. Loyalty to men at any cost and providing sexual pleasure for men are the two most prevalent themes of female voices in rap. In the Bonnie and Clyde genre, the presence of female voices (e.g. Beyonce, Charli Baltimore, Ashanti) suggests women's participation in and endorsement of the gender ideologies in the songs, potentially mitigating the problematic ways that women are represented.

This maneuver is best exemplified in Ja-Rule's 2002 single "Down 4 U.'* In this song, he and female R&B singer Ashanti explain: "Babygirl would ya bust ya gun with me? [Ashanti's voice: Yeah yeah ]; Lie to the feds to come get me? [Ashanti's voice: Yeah Yeah];And if 1 died kill for me? [Ashanti's voice: Yeah Yeah ]

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In this song, like others in this theme, a woman's voice is used strategically to ease the representation of a "good woman/' According to the male persona in the song, a good woman would shoot, lie, and kill for her man. Whether art imitates life or life imitates art, rap music's call to loyalty at the expense of female incarceration mirrors the fast-growing number of young black and Latina women in prison (Davis. 2003). Vastly different from the female rappers of 1980s and early 1990s whom Tricia Rose describes as an, "important and resistive voice in rap and contemporary black women's cultural production in general," (1994:182), the contemporary female rappers who sing the hook in these songs perform a more passive voice that "softens the blow" of patriarchal expectations.

Discussion

Hip hop is a global movement of youth culture more influential and far- reaching than most cultural movements before it (Dyson, 2007). Rap music, one of its most popular and lucrative components, has generated criticism, from the right and the left, about its sexual and racial content. Our analysis finds no evidence that today's rap music "celebrates the black female body." Instead, the content we analyzed indicates that female bodies are routinely dismembered and highly racialized, making it possible to represent black and brown women who "make their booties clap" and "pop their pussies on the pole." Intersectionality was crucial to our analysis in order to make sense of the ways that gendered racism and racialized sexism were each manifest in the lyrics.

Essence (2005), the leading Black women's magazine, published a series of articles on what it called, the "crisis" in rap music. In its "Take Back the Music" series Allers (2005) suggests the recipe for success in the rap industry is simple; ".. .throw a few 'bitches' and "hoes* in your lyrics, brag about their performing sex acts and make a few obligatory references to ways to keep a woman in check." Compare that to Rose's (1994) description of hip hop a little over a decade ago as, "a contemporary stage for the theatre of the powerless" (101). Is what we see today a harsh reduction of a that was once deemed the "black urban critical voice of social protest [that] has profound potential as a basis for a language of liberation" (Rose, 1994:144)? We can surmise with confidence that "there's no b'ness like ho b'ness" was not the "language of liberation" that both bell hooks and Tricia Rose had in mind.

The turn toward mass commercialization, and mass profits, has coincided with a shift in lyrical content. Commercially successful rap, such as the 49 songs analyzed here, increasingly draws on long-standing "controlling images" of men and women of color (Collins, 2000: Simms, 2001) creating a type of new minstrelsy. "The most commercially promoted and financially successful hip hop... has increasingly become a playground for caricatures of black gangstas, pimps, and hoes" (Rose, 2008: 1 ). As Rose (2008) describes, there is nothing new about the "new hip hop." The historic images of the black criminal, the j ezebe I. and

This content downloaded from 146.244.101.138 on Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:18:03 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms The Pornographic Gaze 185 its Latina counterpart, the "hot tamale," are all grossly overrepresented in rap music. Images of women of color are nearly universal in hip hop, leaving the consumer with little doubt that the gender relations it communicates represent black and brown women, not white ones. The racial message it communicates about women of color is especially important given the fact that young, affluent white men purchase more rap music than any other racial-gender group (Allers, 2005). Johnson ( 1 996) suggests, rap lyrics "do not represent a new trend in Black popular culture, nor do they differ fundamentally from woman-hating discourses that are common among White men" (10). Rap music's mainstream success is related to its heavy reliance on familiar racial and gender stereotypes. Rap's success has come at a cost, one that is felt most deeply by the very communities in which it began.

Many scholars raise serious questions about the role of hip hop in socializing young people today. Cole and Guy-Sheftall (2003) argue that, "hip hop is more misogynist and disrespectful of Black girls and women than other popular music genres. The casual references to rape and other forms of violence and the soft-porn visuals and messages of many rap music videos are seared into the consciousness of young Black boys and girls at an early age" ( 1 86). Cole and Guy- SheftalPs (2003) concerns about rap music's impact are already realized according to Stephens and Few (2007). In their research on African American preadolescents, Stephens and Few found that the sexual scripts communicated in hip hop (such as that of the Diva, Gold Digger, Freak. Gangsta Bitch, and Baby Mama) were widely recognized among the girls and boys they interviewed and "influenced participants' conceptualizations of their own and general African American female sexuality" (2007:48). Many community leaders are concerned that rap music's sexual degradation of women of color contributes to a broader trend that devalues young women's bodies and contributes to already high rates of HIV/AIDS transmission, sexually transmitted infections, and sexual violence against women of color (CDC 2000).

In fact, much public health research has focused on the relationship between rap music and increased risk of substance abuse, violence, and "risky" sexual behaviors (Diamond. Bermudez, & Schensul. 2006: Herd, 2005; Miranda & Claes. 2003: Wingood et al.. 2003 ). Recent studies have shown clear relationships between the hours of music videos watched and negative outcomes tor young people. Researchers found that, even when controlling for family background variables such as parental superv ision, African American girls who watched more hours of rap music videos per week, were, at the end of the 12 month study, significantly more likely to have hit a teacher, been arrested, had multiple sexual partners, contract a sexually transmitted infection, and used drugs and alcohol (Wingood et al., 2003). The pornification of rap over the past decade can only increase the problematic public health outcomes for girls and boys. In addition to contributing to unhealthy behaviors, mainstream rap music is communicating a pornographic gender relation. Young women and men are barraged with images of black and brown men sexually humiliating women of color. The flood of

This content downloaded from 146.244.101.138 on Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:18:03 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 186 Margaret Hunter & Kathleen Soto messages, consumed through multiple media, socialize young women and men into a gender relation that is not only unequal, but sexually violent.

Although the Bonnie and Clyde genre has served as an exception to the sexually explicit images of women of color seen in other rap music lyrics, the genre is still problematic because it capitulates to patriarchy by defining "good women" as loyal to men at the expense of their own health and safety. As a socializing force for youth, it can have grave outcomes. The incarceration rates of black and brown young women have steadily increased as real girls and women have become "criminalized" through partnership with the men in their lives (Davis, 2003).

Rap music is obviously not the sole reason for increased violence and incarceration, earlier ages of sexual initiation, or increased rates of sexually transmitted diseases, however, the pomification of rap has certainly contributed to troubling cultural shifts that make the sexual degradation of girls and women of color seem unremarkable.

Conclusion

Rap music has demonstrated its ability to speak to social problems and provide creative expression for generations of young people, especially African Americans. However, rap's more recent confluence with the pornography industry has more than a few people concerned. Effective interventions in hip hop will likely fall into one of three areas: critical media literacy, alternative rap production (independent label or underground), and change or expansion of commercially successful rap. Media literacy campaigns guide students in thinking critically about lyrics, images, and marketing in hip hop. Programs of this sort are crucial in arming young people with the tools they need to sort through the barrage of images hip hop offers. Although media literacy is an important strategy in today's multimedia climate, literacy campaigns do not change the media content itself. Creating space for new or alternative rap artists is imperative. The "underground scene" plays an important role here in providing an outlet for rap music that exists outside of the "gangsta-pimp-hoe trinity" (Rose, 2008). In decades past, there was a broader diversity in chart-topping rap, but the fusion of rap and porn has edged out most of the competition leaving little room for artists or tracks outside its rubric. Finally, a change in the content of commercially successful rap is necessary for a cultural foundation of racial and gender equality. Whether this is achieved through boycotts, public forums, or corporate investment in alternative types of rap, it is untenable to continue to socialize young people on a diet of hip hop culture without significant consequences.

Black and Latina feminists have led the way in initiating a more nuanced dialogue on the politics of race, gender, and sexuality in rap music (Bragg & M c Fari and, 2007: Clay, 2007; Crenshaw, 199 1 ; Hurt, 2006; Pough, 2004). Many have highlighted the simultaneous and sometimes contradictory elements of

This content downloaded from 146.244.101.138 on Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:18:03 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms The Pornographic Gaze 187 liberation and subjugation in the music (Collins, 2004; Dyson, 2007; hooks, 1994; Johnson, 1996; Kelley, 1994). As rap music and pornography both continue to "push the envelope" in sexual content and violence, we anticipate more public and academic discussion on rap. Systematic content analysis, such as this study, can ground that discussion in the actual words and images of rap music, so that feminist and racial analyses may continue to transform rap music in creative and productive ways.

Appendix A

Billboard's Top 25 Rap Singles of the Year (2002)

1 . Hot in Herre - Nelly 2. Always on Time - Ja-Rule Featuring Ashanti 3. Dilemma - Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland 4. What's Luv? - Fat Joe Featuring Ashanti 5. 1 Need a Girl (Part Two) - P. Diddy & Ginuwine Featuring Loon, Maria Wanins & Tammy Ruggeri 6. Oh Boy - Cam 'ron Featuring Juelz Santana 7. Nothin -N.O.R.E. 8. 1 Need a Girl (to Bella) - P. Diddy Featuring Usher & Loon 9. Gangsta Lovin* - Eve Featuring Alicia Keys 10. Move Bitch - Ludacris Featuring Mystikal & Infamous 2.0 1 1 . Still Fly - Big Tymers 12. Pass the Courvoisier Part II - Busta Rhymes Featuring P. Diddy & Pharrell 13. Lights, Camera, Action! - Mr. Cheeks 14. Down 4 U - Irv Gotti Presents The Inc. Family Featuring Ja Rule, Ashanti, Charli "Chuck" Baltimore & Vita 15. We Thuggin' - Fat Joe Featuring R. Kelly 1 6. Welcome to Atlanta - Jermaine Dupri & Ludacris 17. Work It - Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott 18. Luv U Better- LLCool J 19. Roll Out (My Business) - Ludacris 20. Hey Ma - Cam "ron Featuring Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey & Toya 21. The Whole World - OutKast Featuring Killer Mike 22. Gimme the Light - Sean Paul 23. Good Times - Styles 24. Break Ya Neck - Busta Rhymes 25. Down Ass Chick - Ja-Rule Featuring Charli "Chuck" Baltimore

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Appendix A (continued)

Billboard's Top 25 Rap Singles of the Year (2003)

1. - 50 Cent 2. Get Low - Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Featuring Ying Yang Twins 3. Right Thurr - Chingy 4. Get Bust - Sean Paul 5. - 50 Cent Featuring Nate Dogg 6. Can't Let You Go - Fabolous Featuring Mike Shorey & Lil MO 7. P.I.M.P. - 50 Cent 8. 1 Know What You Want - Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey Featuring The Flipmode Squad 9. Magic Stick - Lil' Kim Featuring 50 Cent 10. Into You - Fabolous Featuring Tamia or Ashanti 1 1. Shake Ya Tailfeather - Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee 12. Beautiful - Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharrell & Uncle Charlie Wilson 13. Damn! - Young Bloodz Featuring Lil Jon 14. Stand Up - Ludacris Featuring Shawnna 15. Air Force Ones - Nelly Featuring Kyjuan, Ali & Murphy Lee 1 6. Excuse Me Miss - Jay-Z 17. - 50 Cent 18. Mesmerize - Ja-Rule Featuring Ashanti 19. Gossip Folks - Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot Featuring Ludacris 20. Work It - Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot Featuring Ludacris 2 1 . No Letting Go - Wayne Wonder 22. 1 Can - Nas 23. The Jump Off - Lil' Kim Featuring Mr. Cheeks 24. Can't Stop, Won't Stop - Young Gunz 25. '03 Bonnie & Clyde - Jay-Z Featuring Beyonce Knowles

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