Masculinity in Rap and Hip Hop free essay sample

Hop every rapper has to portray themselves as being hard, having a lot of girls In their circle and having money. Since the beginning of the American society being considered a real man was to be able to protect their families. When television came around western films portrayed men as either strong or weak and defined their masculinity as being the stronger man because of their guns.For example in a western movie during a draw two men would be about twenty feet away room each other and whichever man shot the other man first won the draw and was then considered the dominant male and very masculine. Therefore what goes on in rap songs about the talk of gun play and who is more masculine between rappers is nothing new in American society. All of the violent lyrics In rap songs could have stemmed from the effects of the crack era. We will write a custom essay sample on Masculinity in Rap and Hip Hop or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page During that time a lot of gang activity arose therefore whoever was the hardest or had more power was looked at as more masculine. Gangs rap also Influenced hardcore lyrics to the extent that majority of todays rap lyrics contain talk bout guns, plumping, violence and homophobia. Being a homosexual is not acceptable in rap, especially for a male. Today in society, for females there is a lot of homosexuality occurring.Many believe its a fad and I believe mainstream media has a lot to do with it because you have artists such as Nick Mina] and Greenshank who claim to be bisexual and homosexual. Viewers who listen to them want to hop onto the band wagon to be like them and they think its cool. Even artists who are not within the Hip Hop genre are claiming to be bisexual such as Lady Gaga. Mainstream uses the sexuality people to sell records, obviously.In rap lyrics homosexuality is used as a threat to question another males masculinity. A rapper may use derogatory terms such as fagged or you must be a Even All Wayne popularized the phrase NO HOMO, and uses It In many of his songs. Frazzling another mans manhood Is the objective In most rap lyrics, simply to boost their own ego and masculinity. The person who has to bring someone else down by criticizing their upbringing and manliness only shows that they are insecure about theirs and become a bully.The lyrics that are in rap songs are not only listened to by African Americans but by many other cultures, cultures who know nothing about them. Different cultures listen to rap music to get to know a culture and all the violence and explicit lyrics within rap creates stereotypes. To other cultures they see African Americans as violent pimps, which is not the case at all. Not to mention African American women In rap videos, even the men In the same culture consider them to be not sisters.During the documentary a scene was shot at BETs Spring Blind and a young male pointed out that women are determined to be or women by the way they dress. Sexism is an issue that to society is not seen as important compared to the not more because one in four African American women is raped after the age eighteen. Most women who are called a b**** or another demeaning name think that it wasnt referred to them, and either way is still unacceptable. Hip Hop is not being represented by men, which is why the decision of their lyrics is said the way that they are.