HIP HOP AS A PRODUCTION OF URBAN SPACE
BY STUDENT
Graffiti, breaking dancing and rap, all key aspects
of Hip Hop, emerged in poor urban communities as expressions of status and
youthful rebellion in the 1960s. All of these aspects of poor black and
Hispanic culture within poor urban areas such as the South Bronx are results of
years of neglect from the city. Not surprisingly, the majority of Hip Hop
production came from the male populations of these areas. Females did in fact
participate and contribute a lot to this new uprising comprised of low class
minority groups but were also treated unfairly. The struggle by female
minorities to gain status and reputation was much more difficult than their
male counterparts, why was this? Is it because woman throughout history have
continuously been marginalized no matter what the music genre? Through this
essay the obscene truths of woman marginalization will be revealed in order to try
and answer these questions.
Sexism occurred in all the aspects of Hip Hop one
of them being in graffiti. Graffiti is and was very dangerous mostly due to the
location the art would be displayed. Although there were other factors such as
being caught and jailed doing so, it didn’t match up to the risks taken to
write the art where everyone could see such as high places and in the early
stages, train cars. The problem with woman and graffiti was the sexual
harassment they received from other male writers through the graffiti itself. Rumors
spread about these high status female graffiti artists led them to take higher
risks to make sure their reputation stayed intact (Rose 44). Along with
graffiti there was break dancing. Breaking dancing was incredibly competitive to
the point where there was constant violence between groups. According to one of
the most well known breakers, Crazy Legs, him and his crew had to fight other
crews almost every weekend. Like in graffiti, women were discouraged from break
dancing and even if they participated they would continue to be discouraged by
male critics stating certain moves were “unfeminine”. Women who went against
this stereotype were ridiculed as masculine due to the apparent view by males
that they shouldn’t be able to physically assert themselves as so (Rose 48-49).
Lastly, there is the most prominent aspect of Hip
Hop culture, rap. Rap music has quite the reputation for objectifying woman and
like graffiti and break dancing; their fellow males didn’t particularly
encourage women rappers. Although there was a clear lack of approval towards groups
with woman, many have found success such as Salt ‘N’ Pepa and the Funky Four
Plus One More. There are many speculations about the lack of woman involvement
in rap due to lack of encouragement due to basics that need to be known but
aren’t taught to woman. This common lack of knowledge includes knowledge about
operating stereo equipment because women were rarely welcomed into male social
spaces to learn about the technology. If welcomed, it wasn’t always comfortable
for them to spend these extended periods of time in male homes (Rose 57). Along
with the struggle of being a poor minority group in urban America in which all
members of Hip Hop had to face, woman were a subject of their male counterparts
and treated unfairly due to their gender. Sexism has existed for ages but the
prominence of it within Hip Hop is intriguing. While both male and females both
fought for the same cause, women are continuously pushed out. Unfortunately, an
acceptable conclusion has yet to appear as to why these sexist acts occur but
is definitely of importance. One could only hope after reading this post more
puzzle pieces can be put together to try and grasp an individual understanding
of this frustrating issue.
Reference:
Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black
Culture in Contemporary America. Hanover, London: University Press of New
England, 1994.
