Anyone offended by misogynist rap lyrics?

[Hilda]

Anyone find the misogynist lyrics of some rap songs offensive, such as these:

 

rapgenius.com/Kool-g-rap-hey-mister-mister-lyrics

[Minerva]

I find misogynistic lyrics offensive, period.

[Hilda]

I find misogynistic lyrics offensive, period.

I agree.

I know of no musical genre where misogynist lyrics are more prevalent than in rap.

[Minerva]

I agree.

I know of no musical genre where misogynist lyrics are more prevalent than in rap.

Do you know if an objective comparison has ever been made? Like a statistical one?

I can't make any comment about quantity, but, anecdotally, in terms of quality, I've been far more shocked by metal lyrics than rap lyrics. I don't understand why rap catches so much more flack than metal...oh wait, I do. :roll:

The most upset I've been over lyrics was when I found out that Blue October, one of my favourite bands, has a song about a man murdering his ex girlfriend.

[Hilda]

Do you know if an objective comparison has ever been made? Like a statistical one?

I can't make any comment about quantity, but, anecdotally, in terms of quality, I've been far more shocked by metal lyrics than rap lyrics. I don't understand why rap catches so much more flack than metal...oh wait, I do. :roll:

The most upset I've been over lyrics was when I found out that Blue October, one of my favourite bands, has a song about a man murdering his ex girlfriend.

No, I know of no objective comparison has been made, but I would be willing to bet that rap beats all other genres in the areas of misogyny, and hatred in general. I suspect that metal pales in comparison, but maybe I'll do a little independent study to verify that.

[Minerva]

No, I know of no objective comparison has been made, but I would be willing to bet that rap beats all other genres in the areas of misogyny, and hatred in general. I suspect that metal pales in comparison, but maybe I'll do a little independent study to verify that.

Why is that?

[formergothardite]

http://misogynisticlyricsthatarentrap.tumblr.com/

I feel like this would be appropriate for this thread. Misogynist lyrics in general are offensive.

[Hilda]

http://misogynisticlyricsthatarentrap.tumblr.com/

I feel like this would be appropriate for this thread. Misogynist lyrics in general are offensive.

Thanks for the link. Obviously, there are plenty of misogynist lyrics that are NOT in the rap genre.

(I "liked" your post.)

Once again, I consulted Wikipedia, and in an article there, read that various analyses of rap lyrics revealed that 22% to 37% of them are misogynist. There are footnotes which give the sources of these findings.

I doubt that any other genre is anywhere close to this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny_in_hip_hop_culture

[Minerva]

Thanks for the link. Obviously, there are plenty of misogynist lyrics that are NOT in the rap genre.

(I "liked" your post.)

Once again, I consulted Wikipedia, and in an article there, read that various analyses of rap lyrics revealed that 22% to 37% of them are misogynist. There are footnotes which give the sources of these findings.

I doubt that any other genre is anywhere close to this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny_in_hip_hop_culture

Why? Are you going to back that statement up, or are you just going to keep repeating it?

Did you notice the problem with basing your point on the studies (especially the 1st), given their methodologies? Did you notice the huge discrepancy between the results of the 1st and the 2nd and 3rd study? What do you think of the statistics presented in the introduction of the 2nd study? What do you think of its commentary on the influence of different music industries on their lyrics?

[treemom]

Most annoying thing about this troll the 'I "liked" your post'.

Everything else is standard troll issue,

[Savoring Samsara]

To be completely honest, when I think of misogynist song lyrics, the first song that comes to my mind is "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones. Which is pretty far removed from weird old-school hip-hop.

[GeoBQn]

Add to that:

"Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones

"Run For Your Life" by the Beatles

"A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley

"If You Wanna Be Happy" by Jimmy Soul

"Just Like a Woman" by Bob Dylan

And that's just the 1960's/early 1970's. If I went into 1980's hair metal bands, I'd be up all night.

[Hilda]

My friends, I suppose that we'll just have to agree to disagree on this issue.

I still feel that when it comes to blatant, in-your-face misogyny, rap is king.

But you seem to feel otherwise, and I respect that.

(I "liked" each and every one of your posts.)

[Ariel]

This is relevant because I've been feeling extra sensitive to sexist music and slut shaming lyrics on the radio recently.

I like Paramore, but damnit if Misery Business isn't full of slut-shaming and use of the word whore.

Also, the new Panic! at the Disco song ("Where will you be waking up tomorrow morning?"). And all of Robin Thicke.

Oh and the new Justin Timberlake ("Kill me with the coo-coochie-coochie-coo She kill me with the coo-coochie-coochie-coo")

And let's not forget Taylor Swift.

I kinda want to put on my tin-foil hat on this one. It's all the music and it's everywhere all the time.

[Hilda]

This is relevant because I've been feeling extra sensitive to sexist music and slut shaming lyrics on the radio recently.

I like Paramore, but damnit if Misery Business isn't full of slut-shaming and use of the word whore.

Also, the new Panic! at the Disco song ("Where will you be waking up tomorrow morning?"). And all of Robin Thicke.

Oh and the new Justin Timberlake ("Kill me with the coo-coochie-coochie-coo She kill me with the coo-coochie-coochie-coo")

And let's not forget Taylor Swift.

I kinda want to put on my tin-foil hat on this one. It's all the music and it's everywhere all the time.

I'm sorry that you are having difficulty finding music that you can enjoy. As you can see if you read some of my posts above, I think that one genre is particularly bad, but as other posters have pointed out, other genres leave something to be desired, too.

Not to glamorize the past too much, as no era in history was perfect, but I have found that some of the music from the past can be enjoyable.

If you want to go back about 30 years, to around the time MTV was new, there were some pretty good songs out there (by the Go-Gos, Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, and others). Going back about 50 years, there were acts such as the Beatles who put out some really great stuff.

Of course, going back almost to antiquity, there was early Rock n' Roll of the 1950s, and even before that, Big Band music.

There's a chance that a young person's peers might not think this stuff is "cool." But some of this stuff can be found on YouTube and sampled there.

Best of luck!

[outrunningzombies]

Ariel, have you seen the Feminist Taylor Swift twitter?

[lilith]

Ariel, have you seen the Feminist Taylor Swift twitter?

I love it. I have a Taylor Swift obsessed daughter and find Feminist Taylor Swift very refreshing.

[Ariel]

Ariel, have you seen the Feminist Taylor Swift twitter?

I love it so much. Personal fave: "She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts, and neither of us is asking for it"

[Hilda]

I'm a bit disappointed with Miley Cyrus.

"Shiksa" is an ugly, offensive word.

[Mama Mia]

I'm a bit disappointed with Miley Cyrus.

"Shiksa" is an ugly, offensive word.

I was really disliking her latest videos, mostly because they seemed gross, but she just had an interview in Rolling Stone that was pretty interesting. Her funniest line ( regarding the backlash from the VMA performance) : I've learned that this is a really good time to not be googling myself.

I agree with you that rap does tend to have more explicitly violent misogynist lyrics. I'm not a huge music buff, but after being subjected to a young relative who blares some really misogynistic violent rap...yeah, some of it is really shocking.

No, I haven't done a study, or researched in any way, just going off what I've heard.

[Hilda]

I was really disliking her latest videos, mostly because they seemed gross, but she just had an interview in Rolling Stone that was pretty interesting. Her funniest line ( regarding the backlash from the VMA performance) : I've learned that this is a really good time to not be googling myself.

I agree with you that rap does tend to have more explicitly violent misogynist lyrics. I'm not a huge music buff, but after being subjected to a young relative who blares some really misogynistic violent rap...yeah, some of it is really shocking.

No, I haven't done a study, or researched in any way, just going off what I've heard.

Funny remark by Miley Cyrus. :)

That's what I meant about the misogyny of rap lyrics compared to other music styles. I think that the rap ones are more explicit and violent than some of the misogynist lyrics in the other music styles.

I'm not saying that my fellow posters didn't post some good examples of songs (other than rap) featuring misogynist lyrics above, but they are more subtle and implicit, and less violent.

Anyway, thanks for posting. I "liked" your post.

"Shiksa" is an ugly, offensive word.

[blue_the_puppy]

Yes, lyrics from other genres can be misogynistic. Feel free to start a post about them.

I don't get why people think misogyny is inexcusable, unless its coming from rap music, because hey! It happens in other genres too, and it's not right when it happens in THOSE genres, those scumbags! Let's start a tumblr about it! But don't you dare point out the graphic violence toward women depicted in rap! :penguin-no:

[dawbs]

To be completely honest, when I think of misogynist song lyrics, the first song that comes to my mind is "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones. Which is pretty far removed from weird old-school hip-hop.

My first to mind is the date rape Christmas song, AKA. "baby it's cold outside"

which is unfortunate because I rather like the song

[Savoring Samsara]

My first to mind is the date rape Christmas song, AKA. "baby it's cold outside"

which is unfortunate because I rather like the song

Potentially casting some flamebait out on my line with this one, but oh well, here goes anyway: Personally, I think that "Baby It's Cold Outside" depends on context. If you view the characters in the song as being basically strangers, yeah, that's rapey. But it's potentially less so if it's an established relationship. If I'm hanging out with my husband and say, "okay, I'm going to bed," and he responds with, "oh, come on, stay up a little longer and have another beer with me, where's your sense of adventure" (which happens a fair bit in our house), that is very different from some dude I've just met at a party saying and doing the same things. So if you want to look at it as romantic partners teasing each other, the text of the song can support that too, IMO.

Not a song I'm personally a huge fan of regardless, but I also think we should give ourselves permission to like the things that we like, even if they have these potentially troublesome elements. A life consumed with guilt over entertainment preferences is no way to live - and alarmingly close to the kind of life that fundies would like us all to lead, too.

[thoughtful]

And let's not forget the entire musical Carousel, and lyrics like this, from Fiorello:

"And if he likes me

Who cares how frequently he strikes me

I'll fetch his slippers with my arm in a sling

Just for the privilege of wearing his ring"

Meant sarcastically, but still . . .

Yes, women volunteering for mistreatment, in beautiful melody, on Broadway, and in the "good old days" with no cursing -- ick!

The OP, of course, is trolling so that she can inch closer and closer to saying something blatantly racist, then defend herself with some sort of "you guys are just as bad" statement. Not very skilled -- clearly trained at the Trolling School of the Dining Room Table. :D

But, for the record, I don't know of anyone who gives rappers a pass on their misogyny, while condemning it elsewhere. Certainly nobody here has done it.

Misogyny can rear its ugly head in forms that rage against women, in gently-spoken "don't worry your pretty little head about that" false protection, and everything in between. It can and does come from men of every ethnic background, whole societies, historical eras, and even other women. Being aware that it comes in many forms is a hallmark of this forum.

The hints that rappers (aka black men) are the pinnacle of misogyny, and that anyone who disagrees is forgiving them, are distasteful and inaccurate.

ETA: countdown to "I never said black men -- there are white rappers" answer in 5 4 3 . . . :D