Why does hip-hop music get a pass from the #MeToo movement?
Good question, I think. And it’s one being asked by Gabriel Hays in this article:
For the week of March 31st, 2018, eight of the top 20 songs in Billboard’s “R&B/Hip-Hop” chart were blatantly sexist and misogynistic. In these songs, women were portrayed as commodities or luxury goods — something to be owned or consumed and of no more importance than money, cars, liquor or drugs. Sexual lyrics are casually graphic and almost solely about women giving men pleasure.
In eight of the 20 songs, singers used the word “bitch” a total of 55 times, with 15 blatant instances of women being treated as sex objects. Cardi B, a woman and a wanna-be #MeToo activist, had a new Top-20 song about dominating “bitches” and giving them drugs…
Dr. Carolyn West, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington wrote in 2008 about the dangerous implications Hip-Hop culture poses towards young black women in particular. As far as rap music’s expansion from its urban roots to the corporate mainstream, West claimed, “What’s changed over time is the greater sexualization of hip-hop. Initially it started off as a revolutionary form of music. Now, large corporations produce images that sell, and there is a blatant link between hip-hop and pornography.”
Looking the lyrics of the recent top- 20, it’s hard not to recognize this pornographic material. West argued that “Black adolescent girls are being bombarded with graphic sexual images”¦ Black Entertainment Television, plays more than 15 hours of music videos per day.” Considering that rap has become the predominant music genre in the decade since, furthered by the enormous prevalence of social media in America today, it’s safe to say that even more youngsters are plagued by hip-hop’s negative connotations.
“Plagued”—and entertained, titillated, and influenced.
This has been evident since the genre began to proliferate in the popular music scene, several decades ago. Even before that, actually. Remember Tipper Gore’s campaign to require labels on rock albums to guide parents, back in the 80s? She was made fun of back then—and the lyrics were relatively chaste compared to what is commonplace today.
But the answer to Gabriel’s question is obvious, isn’t it? There are two reasons #MeToo has for the most part ignored the blatantly exploitative and misogynist lyrics of the genre, and why even a new female MeToo-ish rapper such as Cardi B doesn’t condemn it and in fact uses some of it herself.
The first is that it’s highly popular and popularity means dollars. This is the same thing operating in the movie and entertainment industry as a whole. Individuals might complain about the behavior of certain people in the field in private life, but most people who earn their living in entertainment don’t want to kill the cash cow that supports them. The result is that hypocrisy is evident and widespread; the disconnect between what’s condemned when done in private in the industry and the message conveyed in so many movies is profound. Same for violence, by the way.
The second is the same reason that misogynistic Muslim societies (for example, many Arab countries) get a pass on their mistreatment of women: protected groups generally get a pass from the left.
In the immortal words of Ice Cube, “Because we’ll f*cking kill you if you do that sh*t.”
(From “School Daze,” when asked by a redneck student why they can’t play their country music as loud as Cube plays his gangsta rap.)
It’s because these hip-hop artists are Oppressed Persons of Color, deserve our sympathy, and can’t be held accountable in the way Privileged White Male Oppressors are.
The “oppression” status is really only part of it. Jews are oppressed too, but progressives will ban them from their marches just because they don’t want to look like they’re supporting Israel.
The real reason is liberal cowardice. Groups gain victim status not because they are minorities, but because they pose a very real threat of violence if they aren’t given whatever they want. Oppressed minorities that don’t pose a threat of violence, don’t receive the special victim status.
Hip hop gets a pass for the same reason Arab nations get a pass while Israel doesn’t. Why Linda Sarsour can speak on a college campus while Ayaan Hirsi Ali can’t.
Feminism is a product of cultural Marxism. The message is that Western civilization, and in particular the culture of the United States, is the worst in the world. So naturally Ayaan Hirsi Ali can’t be allowed to speak. Her tale of oppression and genital mutilation at the hands of a tyrannical Islamic theocracy would spoil the narrative.
As long as the left maintains the fiction that Israel is in danger of becoming an apartheid state, the last thing it can do is allow discussion of the fact that Muslim majority countries are genocidal states.
Search on the terms “Turkey” and “Armenia” for further information, if you are still unclear.
http://freedompost.org/media/Muslims-crucify-Christian-girls-during-Armenian-Genocide-by-Turks-.jpg
Of course, the Turks didn’t just strip them before crucifying them. Natch, they raped them.
According to leftists and Muslim apologists, we are worse than that.
Intersectionality, dude. Look it up.
“Intersectionality, dude. Look it up.”
I know what they say. The difference is I also know what they really mean.
To paraphrase the South African consulate guy in ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ it’s because ‘they are bleck’. Any other reason is just superfluous.
Of all Muslims, the Turks may be the most cruel, depraved and merciless.
Of all Muslims, the Turks may be the most cruel, depraved and merciless.
GB: I could swear in the first or second season of “Saturday Night Live” there was a recurrent skit titled “More Reasons to Hate the Turks” or something like that. Given that John Belushi was Armenian and likely lost relatives in the Armenian Genocide, it made sense.
However, I can find no Youtubes or mentions of these SNL skits on the web. Does anyone else remember this?
Priceless:
You can’t wholesale something for very long if you can’t retail it IOW, the actual issue is the market, the people buying this dreck.
Tatterdemalian Says:
April 13th, 2018 at 2:14 pm
In the immortal words of Ice Cube, “Because we’ll f*cking kill you if you do that sh*t.”
That’s what the ghetto culture claims, but I wonder how many of them can successfully carry it out against operatives like me.
I don’t know, Geof. They have plenty of competition. There are reliable reports of mothers (Muslimas) who go begging to Daesh to inquire about the fates of their sons who have been arrested.
They are greeted politely and given bowls of rice and meat to eat while the Islamic State barbarians promise to look into the matter.
They return to inform the women that the meat they’ve been eating is in fact the corps of their sons.
http://newsweekme.com/boko-harams-war-on-women/
I could go on, citing the cases of mostly Persian generals and warlords who would compete with each other to pile up the largest mound of Hindu heads when they invaded India. But then, the mostly Berber invaders of Spain did exactly the same thing.
I find nothing that makes the Turks’ depravity particularly distinctive.
I have not even begun to plumb the examples of Muslim atrocities regardless of race or nationality. This doesn’t excuse the purported Christians who engaged in the Crusades. They committed bloody atrocities as well. In fact, many churchmen advised their sovereigns and their vassals not to Crusade, as it was wrong (and still is) to engage in violence in Christ’s name. Especially not over real estate. While I firmly believe the Crusades could have easily been sanctioned as a just war, the church went to far and made it a holy war. This is a direct violation of the third commandment, and unfortunately many Crusaders who met Christ after fighting in it found out too late that Christ was not bound by the church’s promise of automatic entry into heaven.
If Christ wants the Holy Land back he’ll take it himself as it says in Isaiah.
There is one simple difference between the atrocities that the so-called Christians committed and those the Muslims committed. The Christians almost to a man didn’t know what Christ taught. It was illegal to translate the Bible from the Latin into the vernacular. How many of the knightly class could read and understand Latin. Almost zero, and then things get worse among the lower classes. Even a great many priests, among the most literate of all people in Europe at the time of the Crusades, often had to have the liturgies they were performing in Latin explained to them in the vernacular so they could know what they were saying.
So most of the men on crusade didn’t know they were acting in opposition to Christ’s teaching.
The Muslims on the other hand are acting in accordance with Alllah’s teachings, and the example of their prophet. Now it is true that most Muslims during the four centuries of Jihad that led up to the first crusade were illiterate, they still were spot on theologically. And I enjoy it when I discuss the Quran with Muslims (they usually become Quran-only Muslims after I embarrass them with the ahadith and the sirah literature) finally retreat to the bastion of “It can only be understood in Arabic.” So much for Allah’s final revelation being for all mankind. First of all, the Quran itself says that Allah “sent down” the Quran in Arabic so the Arabs wouldn’t have as an excuse on judgement day that unlike other people they didn’t have any scripture in their own language. Unlike the Jews and Christians. So for them to turn around and require the rest of us to learn Arabic to understand this “final revelation” is laughable and in fact contrary to Allah’s word.
Second, only about 15% of Muslims are Arabic speakers. So most Muslims don’t have a clue.
Finally of the 15% of Muslims who do speak Arabic almost none of them can comprehend 8th century classical Arabic. Note I say 8th rather than 7the century Arabic, as there is no basis to believe there is any historicity to the standard Islamic historical myth.
Almost none of you could get very far reading the original text of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, which was written in late Middle English in the 14th century. Which is why modern versions of the Canterbury Tales are called translations. I enjoy pointing out to Muslims who try to spring this “Arabic only” argument on me that their 1924 Cairo Qurans (which the vast majority of Sunni Muslims, and therefore the vast majority of Muslims, rely upon) are just as much a translation of the earliest Qurans as anything I read in English.
But all that being said, when they commit atrocities in the name of Allah they are getting their scripture right, whereas any so-called Christian committing an atrocity in the name of God is not only doing so in opposition to the teachings of Christ but violating the 3rd Commandment and commits an unforgivable sin.
Exodus 20:7
Committing evil in the name of God is the epitome of misusing His name.
“That’s what the ghetto culture claims, but I wonder how many of them can successfully carry it out against operatives like me.”
If you’re alone and unsupported because you’ve been disowned by your operation for “being racist?” Not only are they much more likely to succeed, even if you survive you will be held responsible for every death that results, theirs and yours.
In fact, many churchmen advised their sovereigns and their vassals not to Crusade, as it was wrong (and still is) to engage in violence in Christ’s name. Especially not over real estate. While I firmly believe the Crusades could have easily been sanctioned as a just war, the church went to far and made it a holy war. This is a direct violation of the third commandment, and unfortunately many Crusaders who met Christ after fighting in it found out too late that Christ was not bound by the church’s promise of automatic entry into heaven.
They also ended up sacking Constantinople and killing/raping anyone that the Vatican told them was excommunicated?
Maybe that looks like Jesus of Nazareth on his Holy War Path but.. not to me.
Just another State sanctioned war for human greed.
If Christ wants the Holy Land back he’ll take it himself as it says in Isaiah.
They are already doing it. Look up Muslim conversion stories to Christianity on youtube.
Far more powerful than America’s bombs bombing ragheads. That didn’t convert anybody far as I know.
If you’re alone and unsupported because you’ve been disowned by your operation for “being racist?” Not only are they much more likely to succeed, even if you survive you will be held responsible for every death that results, theirs and yours.
Warriors have never relied on society for protection. That was a misperception.
The Way of the Warrior has always been solo combat only. Me against the Entire World if needed, just like Edward Snowden decided to do.
Always an ideal, but usually people never get to that point.
Of course I’m going to be held responsible for all their deaths. Because all of them will be dead. Is that a problem?
People might want to read Revelations and the various other conspiracies up on youtube. It won’t be long now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8z1A3TsxU
All kinds of US history nobody told us about…
I have always thought that white men, musicians and listeners have placed black women in sexual roles in music. Their look is more of a come on and their words more explicit. They add purrs and moans. They get into a groove and move in close to the horn players and guitarists. Many white singers do, but not like black women. Prop her up as a woman who can fulfill your desires. And you don’t have to have any guilt. Hip hop is just another level of the same.
Cathy may be black, like Rachel Dolezal.
Women of course have no ‘desires’.
Because anyone who listens to rap, hip-hop, etc. is to damn stunted as a human to care.
In addition to the racial angle, let’s not ignore the sociosexual angle:
Chicks dig Bad Boys. Thugs, Gangstas, etc. The majority may scream #MeToo! #MeToo! but they buy the songs and the outfits and the culture.
Moral of the story is: Pay attention to what people do (and who they do or want to do) rather than what they say.
I stopped buying hip-hop, back when it was still rap, because the lyrics sickened me. I didn’t mind the music itself — I’d bought dozens of albums of the stuff, and still like some of it — it was explicitly the lyrics.
Isn’t it weird that it is almost certainly the ones labelled “sexist” who are actually more offended than the “woke” about the treatment of women in hip-hop. Not faux “offended” but actually offended.
Un-Hip barbarian and curmudgeon that I have apparently become, I think that Rap and Hip-Hop are just un-musical, no talent crap. Cole Porter, now there was some talent and artistry.
Just another theater of war for the Left’s Gramscian ”long march through the culture,” this theater one in which the Left has done a good job of transmogriphying or destroying any last trace of what used to be beautiful and elevated in Music and painting, with the other Arts soon to follow.
You can’t be Hip if you don’t admire the paint smeared drop cloth, the piece of junk nailed to the wall, or the mysogyny and hate-filled profanity of Rap.