Hip hop feminism is a sub-set of black feminism that centers on intersectional subject positions involving race and gender in a way that acknowledges the contradictions in being a black feminist, such as black women's enjoyment in hip hop music and culture, rather than simply focusing on the victimization of black women in hip hop culture due to interlocking systems of oppressions involving race, class, and gender.
The term was coined by the American author Joan Morgan in her book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip Hop Feminist Breaks it Down for black women who grew up in the post-Civil Rights Movement and feminist movement era of the 1960s and 1970s. Morgan explains that a hip-hop feminist is a self-defined name for black feminists that acknowledges black women's lived experiences as they identify with and enjoy hip-hop culture along with supporting feminist issues and agendas where black women are marginalized by the mainstream feminist movement because of their race or the black antiracist movements due to their gender.
Hip-hop feminism has various definitions and scholarly inventions to help understand how hip-hop sensibilities influence not only music but also different forms of black expressions as well as feminist and antiracist social justice movements.
Definitions
In When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks it Down, Morgan explains that she coined the term hip-hop feminism because she was unable to fully identify with feminism without acknowledging and embracing her enjoyment in misogynistic hip-hop music and elements of patriarchy.[1] Morgan explains that the term hip-hop feminism is used to express the ambiguities and contradictions of being a black feminist who still enjoys certain aspects of a patriarchal and misogynistic society, such as enjoying hip-hop music that reaffirms rather than challenges misogyny, which she calls "fucking with the greys."[1]
In The Stage Hip Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay, Aisha Durham, Brittany C. Cooper, and Susana M. Morris define hip-hop feminism as a form of black feminism rooted in the lived experiences of black feminists and members of the African Diaspora along with the political prerogatives and aesthetics of hip hop culture that builds on previous black feminist thought.[2] They also stress the importance of black women and girls as well as women and girls of color remaining central within analyses of hip hop culture.[2]
Hip-hop feminism acknowledges the problematic, misogynist nature of culture and its formative effects on young black women and empowers them by enabling participation, response, and owning self-identification.
Further, it aims to affirm Black women and girls' lived experiences and contributions to hip hop culture, such as Double Dutch, childhood chants, and twerking, that are less culturally recognizable in comparison to more traditional and masculine forms of expression in hip hop culture, such as "emceeing, deejaying, graffiti, and b-boying/b-girling."[3] It can also be used to provide a more gender-inclusive study of Black women and queer folks' involvement and expression in hip hop culture rather than focusing on cisgender Black boys and men as hip hop subjects.[3]
Hip-hop music and music videos, as mediums easily spread through the internet, mass media, and popular culture, are perfect platforms for motivating social change.[4] It can also be used to recognize intersections between communities.[5][6]
Rabaka explains the way in which creative mediums such as hip-hop can be used to wreck the interlocking systems of oppression in America:
"The point is to offer the women of the hip-hop generation feminist and womanist alternatives to the patriarchal (mis)representations of womanhood spewing out of the US. culture industries. Whether they meant to or not, "the women of the hip hop generation have created a body of work that offers up feminist or womanist answers to many of the hip hop generation's most urgent interpersonal, cultural, social, and political issues" and "recent feminist scholarship suggests that in its own controversial and/or contradictory way the hip-hop feminist movement may very well be the most politically polyvocal and socially visible manifestation of the ongoing evolution of the Women's Liberation movement prevalent in contemporary US society".[4]
Hip hop feminism can be situated within Afrofuturism to understand how hip hop feminism operates both within and outside of academia as well as examine and critique the marginalized experiences of Black people throughout time.[2]
In Growing Up Where 'No One Looked Like Me': Gender, Race, Hip Hop and Identity in Vancouver, Gillian Creese uses interviews from second generation African-Canadian men and women in their analysis of how the sociocultural understanding of blackness and hip hop influence the experiences of African-Canadian youth growing up in communities where they are one of the few Black/African children within the community.[7]
Creese found that Black/African-Canadian men's experiences differed from Black/African-Canadian women's experiences because of how hip hop in youth culture allows black men to be seen as "Cool Black" and have an easier time connecting and being popular in school due to the cultural view of Black masculinity as "cool" in comparison to the lack of "Cool Black" femininity in hip hop culture, where culturally Black women are seen as hypersexual, 'exotic,' or 'whitewashed' version of Black femininity.[7]
In 1992, R&B singer Mary J. Blige released What's the 411? on Uptown/MCA Records and was considered the pioneer of hip-hop feminism.[8] In If You Look in My Life: Love, Hip-Hop Soul, and Contemporary African American Womanhood,[8] author Treva B. Lindsey documents Blige's diverse musical influences and claims that, "...these diverse influences sparked a sonic innovation that generated a unique space for African American women's storytelling and narrative (re)articulations of love and contemporary black womanhood."[8]
What's the 411? Was ground-breaking given its success and permitted Blige's entry into a musical arena almost entirely regulated and mediated by men. Lindsey further claims that by crafting woman-authored narratives and performing "woman-centered hip-hop era storytelling" artists such as Blige prove, "...that the voices of black women hip-hop soul singers create a distinctively hip-hop feminist space within a male-dominated soundscape."[8] Such artists created a distinct space within hip-hop for explorations of African American womanhood and dynamically brought light to issues of representation in narratives and stories in hip-hop—opening doors for rising women hip-hop artists.
Behind Queen Latifah came hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill who became the best example of hip-hop feminism with record-breaking worldwide sales of her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and has won five Grammy awards in 1998. Artists such as Latifah and Hill mimicked the hip hop rhetoric of males in the scene and generated a massive amount of attention. Missy Elliot was often seen dressed similar to male hip-hop artists and utilized the same body language and aggressive delivery of her lyrics as a means of protest, while still preserving her femininity. Even after losing weight over the years, she made sure that while performing videos the camera were faced to her face and her dancing.[9]
These artists have carved out a new politically conscious identity in Hip-hop for women.[10] Artists such as Nicki Minaj have changed the way fashion and sexuality is viewed in hip-hop. She uses the way in which she expresses herself through her body to send a message that being comfortable in your skin and with your sexuality is okay.[9] These issues don't only affect the United States, as hip-hop has traveled and inspired movements beyond American borders. In Cuba, a hip-hop trio group known as Las Krudas Cubensi rap about commonly overlooked challenges that people of color, specifically women of color, face.[11]
In the 2010s, hip-hop feminists moved past the male rhetoric and doused the genre in feminine prose. For example, many modern hip-hop feminists[who?] utilize their voluptuous figures in a commanding manner rather than adopting male rapper outfitting and lyric style. Aisha Durham writes that hip hop aided in creating a style icon out of the female black body.[12] Durham also stated a solution to the problem of patriarchy, homophobia, misogyny, et cetera that is present in hip-hop: hip-hop feminism. She stated, "[Hip hop feminists] are moving and mobilizing and rescuing ourselves from virtual action blocks ... Hip-hop feminism is the answer (to) rap."[13]
Rihanna is another mainstream hip-hop feminist. In her most recent album "Anti," her lyrics assert black female independence. Given Rihanna's past, the hip-hop feminist scene looked to her as a role model to stand up for domestic violence against the black female body.[14] Many women artists have played a big role in how hip hop has evolved.
Hip hop feminist scholars
In the foundational text When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip Hop Feminist Breaks it Down, Joan Morgan coined the term hip hop feminism to discuss how black feminists can enjoy hip hop culture but still support feminist and antiracist movements despite the misogynistic elements of hip hop, which acknowledges the "grays" of social life because we can enjoy these "problematic" cultural artifacts and continue to support social change.[1]
Msia Clark
Msia Clark's Hip Hop and Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers, explores Hip Hop culture in Africa specifically focusing on women within African hop. In addition to Hip Hop and Africa she has published various academic articles that explore the experiences of women within the African Hip Hop scene. In her work, Clark looks to understand Hip Hop as a method of protest and challenging of social norms. Her article Feminisms in African Hip Hop dissects the intricacies of being a woman within African Hip Hop. She explains the ways in which an artist's country shapes the content of their music, highlighting artists such as Dope Saint Jude from South Africa who challenge notions of partiarchy, heteronormativity, and misogynoir. Much of her works also address the relationship and discourse between feminist activists, scholars, and rappers. Clark is currently a professor at Howard University where she teaches the course Black Women and Pop.[15][16]
Seth Cosimini
Seth Cosimini's analysis of the performativity and self-presentation of Nicki Minaj articulates how women in hip-hop culture may simultaneously challenge and conform to stereotypical representations of femininity. As explained by Cosimini, Minaj uses contradictory public personas in order to construct a hip-hop identity that recognizes the social oppression driven by race, gender, and sexuality within and beyond hip-hop culture.[17] Cosimini's contributions to hip-hop feminist scholarship have offered a unique perspective on the role of self-presentation in identity construction for women in hip-hop.
Murali Balaji
Murali Balaji has contributed to existing research on the roles of "video vixens" in hip-hop. Balaji argues that hip-hop music video models have the opportunity to utilize a sense of agency in order to negotiate their positions within hip-hop culture. Through an analysis of Melyssa Ford's music video career, Balaji highlights how it is possible for women in hip-hop to harness their sexuality as a form of political resistance. By way of carefully calculated self-presentation, video vixens are given the chance to subvert objectification and benefit from their own commodification.[18]
Reiland Rabaka
Reiland Rabaka examines the history of the hip-hop genre, looking at the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts movements and the Feminist Art movement. He critiques traditions in hip hop culture, highlighting black masculinity and how this masculinity is performed in hip hop.[19] Rabaka assesses how this black masculinity is reproduced and consumed by the public, looking at white people in particular. Rabaka claims that critical scholarly inquiry can be applied to the hip hop movement. When understanding political and social activism, Rabaka says that the contributions of hip-hop must be considered.[20]
Tauya Saunders
Tauya Saunders' Towards a transnational hip hop feminist liberatory praxis: a view from the Americas makes an intervention in U.S. hip hop feminism by explaining how a transnational approach of hip hop feminism would provide opportunities for international Black solidarity between Black folks within the U.S. and other non-English speaking countries throughout the Americas and empowerment of Black women throughout the Americas.[21]
Saunders places emphasis on the importance of including hemispheric, non-English, equally marginalized (with varying struggles), black activists into American hip-hop feminist conversations. Saunders attempts to vocalize the need for greater connectivity between black mobilization in the United States and similar mobilization in the Global South, specifically Latin America and the Caribbean.[21] She also stresses that without a transnational outreach that breaches language and geopolitical barriers, American hip-hop feminist praxis will, in fact, be limited.[21]
Saunders also uses the word "artivism," which merges "artist" and "activist," in an argument stating that feminists in nations such as Cuba and Brazil, where hip-hop feminism is present, are not given enough credit for the agency and resistance that emerges from their art.[22] Saunders urges hip-hop feminists in the United States to recognize their privilege as a referent for activist movements, and the power, privilege, and responsibility that comes with living in a global hegemony.
Michael P. Jefferies
Michael P. Jefferies's Hip Hop Feminism and Failure makes an intervention in hip hop feminism scholarship by discussing how hip hop feminism being institutionalization within academia impacts the relationship between hip hop communities outside of academia and academic hip hop feminist circles because hip hop feminist scholarship loses its anti-establishment or radicalness nature by being institutionalized within the system it aims to critique.[23] Another intervention Jefferies make is his claim that hip hop feminists must acknowledge inconsistencies concerning labeling various (often male) hip hop rappers as being either "socially conscious" and/or "commercial" based on the subject matter within their music given how "socially conscious" rappers are still capable of reproducing sexist or problematic societal behaviors within their music.[23] Jefferies also explains that a stimulus-based inconsistency involves us feeling "a dope line" before "we know it" to explain how people's affective responses to listening to rap music with problematic lyrics cause them to ignore the problematic lyrics of the song because they enjoy the musical and sexual sensation and performance of hip hop.[23]
Gwendolyn Plough
In the chapter "My Cipher Keeps Movin' Like a Rolling Stone: Black Women's Expressive Cultures and Black Feminist Legacies" of Check It While Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere, Gwendolyn Plough explains that hip hop feminism is a subset of black feminisms that allows black feminist scholars to critique and expand Black feminist thought.[24] Black feminist and third wave feminists that examined hip hop culture and rap through a feminist lens have taken various approaches to discussing rap and Black women. For instance, feminists may condone sexist rap music, provide critiques of how the cultural production and consumption of sexist rap music is shaped by larger society's perpetration and upholding of sexism, and/or discuss their enjoyment and love of rap despite its sexism in hip hop culture but also speak out against sexism and misogyny in hip hop.[24]
She also makes an intervention in hip hop feminist scholarship by stating that feminist scholars should also analyze Black female rappers' music because feminists have primarily focused on male rappers and male misogyny within their music.[24] Plough states that examining Black women's rappers' work would provide feminist scholars the opportunity to analyze how women in hip hop challenge sexism within hip hop as well as within the larger society.[24]
Aisha Durham
Aisha Durham refers to the work of communication scholars when discussing the role of the black woman's body in hip-hop culture. With an epistemological approach, Durham cites her own experiences in hip-hop, touching on how the black female body is sexualized and policed within the hip-hop industry. Her work examines how black women in hip hop are depicted and challenges media representations and objectification. She emphasizes that through hip-hop, artists communicate with other artists, the public and the media.[25]
Rachel Raimist
Rachel Raimist identifies as a professor, filmmaker, and a crunk Feminist. Raimist is a member of the Crunk Feminist Collective since 2010, the Crunks is a collective of feminist activists, scholars, and, artists. Raimist earned her B.A. and M.F.A degree in Directing, but she also earned her M.A. degree in Women's studies and her Ph.D. in Feminist studies. Being able to teach and the love for storytelling and cameras gave students the accessibility to learn about filming and the roles of females behind the scenes through her.[26]
Her research help train females get comfortable with cameras and comfortable getting into the entertainment industry. Raimist mainly focuses on "feminist filmmaking, women of color feminisms, hip-hop feminism, pedagogy, and digital storytelling." Among her fine accomplishments, Raimist also taught a class out at the sea and four of the seven continents in a program called "Semester at Sea." Out on her voyage, she taught global cinema, digital photography and women's literature.[26]
Use of visual and audio elements
Visual and audio elements, including editing, narrative, and performance, also can be analyzed in hip hop feminism.[27] A song's lyrical content may be considered feminist, while the visual content of its corresponding music video may not be.[27]
Performers may use strategic queerness to disrupt the hegemonic racist, sexist, homophobic, and patriarchal scripts that try to capture or recognize her as a "compliant" and authentic black female subject that embodies what it seen as properly feminine or queer.[28]
There are some opportunities for women to resist a Hip-Hop video culture that simply fetishizes their bodies and limits them to a "One-Dimensional Womanhood".[29] This resistance became extremely prevalent in the 1990s with artists like Erykah Badu, Missy Elliott, and Lauryn Hill. Rather than conforming to this hyper-sexualized, and powerless image these women used their music videos to challenge these heteronormative and patriarchal motifs, by asserting their independence and strength.[29]
The lyrical and visual objectification of women within hip hop may be a means for men to cope with a lack of normative indicators of heterosexual masculine power and the presence of insecurities associated with self-worth, racial discrimination, and access to various types of resources.[30]
Producers
In regards to female producers in hip-hop, Joseph Schloss' Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop briefly discusses the presence of Black women in hip-hop as producers specifically. "...beyond the lack of role models, the abstract masculinization of the role of the producer requires a potential female producer to follow conceptual and behavioral norms that presume a male constituency."[31] Schloss points to the rigidity of gender in hip-hop and production, and this idea that women must masculinize themselves in order to find entrance and success in producing.[32]
The lack of female producers in hip-hop stems from the lack of opportunities and access to learn how to produce; Rose attributes this to the societal barriers women face when seeking education in technology. Along with the masculine presence in hip-hop, women rarely find a chance to hone their production skills in the typical intimate house settings men usually engage because they don't feel "comfortable spending such extended time in a male neighbor's home.".[32] These barriers in hip-hop hinder Black women from standing at the forefront despite their abilities to produce in the earlier days of the genre, and continue to place an emphasis on sound as an object these women create as labor.
Graffiti is regarded as an element of hip hop.[33] Graffiti as a subculture is one that has overlapped with hip hop feminism. Though women actively participate in the graffiti subculture, they are often underrepresented and underestimated. Graffiti gives female writers the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of community and claiming space in a visual way through their work which ties back to the role that hip hop plays in society, particularly for female writers. Its secrecy has made graffiti a form of expression that is not judged at the surface level by gender, since you can't truly tell who made the graffiti.
Breakdancing is also a part of hip hop. Breakdancing is also male dominated, similar to both deejaying and graffiti. Women get mixed reactions about this form of art, a woman from the female crew Full Circle spoke about how when a man lost to her in a battle, he said that it was because it was hard to focus because he was attracted to her because she was a girl.[34]
African Hip Hop Feminism
African hip-hop feminism refers to the intersection of hip-hop culture, feminism, and the unique experiences of women in Africa. It involves using the medium of hip-hop music and culture as a platform to address gender issues, challenge stereotypes, and advocate for women's rights. This movement has gained momentum as artists incorporate feminist perspectives into their lyrics, challenging societal norms and fostering conversations about gender equality. African hip-hop feminists use their music to express themes of female empowerment, self-love, and independence. They challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes, promoting the idea that women can be strong, resilient, and successful.
Through their lyrics, African hip-hop feminists address a wide range of societal issues affecting women, including gender-based violence, discrimination, unequal opportunities, and limited representation. They use their art to amplify the voices of women and bring attention to social injustices. Many African hip-hop feminists infuse their music with cultural authenticity, incorporating local languages, traditional beats, and indigenous storytelling techniques. This helps create a unique and powerful form of expression that resonates with diverse audiences. African hip-hop feminism recognizes the intersectionality of identity, acknowledging that women's experiences are shaped by various factors such as race, class, and sexuality. Artists often incorporate intersectional perspectives into their music, addressing the complexities of women's lives.[35]
Some African hip-hop feminists use their platform to advocate for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. They challenge homophobia and transphobia, fostering inclusivity and acceptance within the hip-hop culture. African hip-hop feminists play a crucial role in social activism. Their music becomes a tool for raising awareness, mobilizing communities, and inspiring positive social change. They engage with their audiences to encourage critical thinking and activism. Beyond the music, African hip-hop feminists contribute to building supportive communities. They engage in discussions, collaborate with other artists, and participate in initiatives that promote gender equality and women's rights. African hip-hop feminism has influenced popular culture by challenging the status quo and reshaping societal perceptions of gender. It has encouraged a broader conversation about feminism within the hip-hop scene and beyond. Some notable African hip-hop feminist artists include Dope Saint Jude (South Africa), Muthoni Drummer Queen (Kenya), and Moonaya (Senegal), among others. Their work reflects a commitment to using hip-hop as a form of cultural resistance and a means to amplify the voices of women in Africa.[36][37]
Hip hop feminism in literature
Brittany Cooper's "Maybe I'll Be a Poet, Rapper": Hip-Hop Feminism and Literary Aesthetics in Push" examines the literary aesthetics of hip hop in street literature (or hip hop literature) by Black women authors, such as Sapphire's Push, to discuss how black women authors of hip hop literature are able to show connections between other Black musical and literary texts, traditions, and histories as well as create works exploring Black female subjectivity with hip hop sensibilities.[38]
Dana Elaine Owens, known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two NAACP Image Awards, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. In 2006, she became the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Womanism is a feminist movement, primarily championed by Black feminists, originating in the work of African American author Alice Walker in her 1983 book In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens. Walker coined the term "womanist" in the short story "Coming Apart" in 1979. Her initial use of the term evolved to envelop a spectrum of issues and perspectives facing black women and others. Walker defined "womanism" as embracing the courage, audacity, and self-assured demeanor of Black women, alongside their love for other women, themselves, and all of humanity. Since its inception by Walker, womanism has expanded to encompass various domains, giving rise to concepts such as Africana womanism and womanist theology or spirituality.
Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, starting in the Bronx, New York City. Pioneered from Black American street culture, that had been around for years prior to its more mainstream discovery, it later reached other groups such as Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans. Hip-hop culture has historically been shaped and dominated by African American men, though female hip hop artists have contributed to the art form and culture as well. Hip hop culture is characterized by the key elements of rapping, DJing and turntablism, and breakdancing; other elements include graffiti, beatboxing, street entrepreneurship, hip hop language, and hip hop fashion. From hip hop culture emerged a new genre of popular music, hip hop music.
Black feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on the African-American woman's experiences and recognizes the intersectionality of racism and sexism. Black feminism philosophy centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of our need as human persons for autonomy."
A video vixen is a woman who models and appears in hip hop-oriented music videos. From the 1990s to the early 2010s, the video vixen image was a staple in popular music, particularly within the genre of hip hop. First appearing in the late 1980s, when hip-hop culture began to gain popularity. It was most popular in American pop culture during the 1990s and 2000s. Video vixens are aspiring actors, singers, dancers, or professional models. Artists and vixens have been criticized for allegedly contributing to the social degradation of black women and Latinas.
Chickenhead is an American English slang term that is typically used in a derogatory manner toward women. The term mocks the motion of the head while performing oral sex on a man, but contains social characteristics and cultural relevance as well, and is frequently heard in popular hip hop music. More recent uses of the term have seen it taken back by hip hop feminists and entertainers as a symbol of sexuality and power. "Chickenhead" is also a term used in overseas sex trafficking for individuals that facilitate and monitor a person's transition into sex work.
African feminism includes theories and movements which specifically address the experiences and needs of continental African women. From a western perspective, these theories and movements fall under the umbrella label of Feminism, but this categorization is misleading for many branches of African "feminism". African women have been engaged in gender struggle since long before the existence of the western-inspired label "African feminism," and this history is often neglected. Despite this caveat, this page will use the term feminism with regard to African theories and movements in order to fit into a relevant network of Wikipedia pages on global feminism. Because Africa is not a monolith, no single feminist theory or movement reflects the entire range of experiences African women have. African feminist theories are sometimes aligned, in dialogue, or in conflict with Black Feminism or African womanism. This page covers general principles of African feminism, several distinct theories, and a few examples of feminist movements and theories in various African countries.
From Black Power to Hip-Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism is a 2006 book by Patricia Hill Collins. Published by Temple University Press, the book is centered around Patricia Hill and her experiences with racism in America. The book also includes experiences from other Black men and women and their responses to it. In the end she offers her take on Black youth and how its changing along with how Black nationalism works today.
LGBTQ representation in hip hop music has existed since the birth of the genre even while enduring blatant discrimination. Due to its adjacency to disco, the earliest days of hip hop had a close relation to LGBT subcultures, and multiple LGBT DJs have played a role in popularizing hip hop. Since the early 2000s there has been a flourishing community of LGBTQ+ hip hop artists, activists, and performers breaking barriers in the mainstream music industry. Despite this early involvement, hip hop has long been portrayed as one of the least LGBT-friendly genres of music, with a significant body of the genre containing homophobic views and anti-gay lyrics, with mainstream artists such as Eminem and Tyler, the Creator having used casual homophobia in their lyrics, including usages of the word faggot. Attitudes towards homosexuality in hip hop culture have historically been negative, with slang that uses homosexuality as a punchline such as "sus", "no homo", and "pause" being heard in hip hop lyrics from some of the industry's biggest artists.
Misogyny in rap music is defined as lyrics, videos, or other components of rap music that encourage, glorify, justify, or legitimize the objectification, exploitation, or victimization of women. It is an ideology that depicts women as objects for men to own, use, and abuse. It reduces women to expendable beings. It might include everything from innuendos to stereotypical characterizations and defamations.
The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's liberation, reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. The movement's priorities have expanded since its beginning in the 1800s, and vary among nations and communities. Priorities range from opposition to female genital mutilation in one country, to opposition to the glass ceiling in another.
Misogynoir is a term referring to the combined force of anti-Black racism and misogyny directed towards black women. The term was coined by black feminist writer Moya Bailey in 2008 to address misogyny directed toward black transgender and cisgender women in American visual and popular culture. The concept of misogynoir is grounded in the theory of intersectionality, which analyzes how various social identities such as race, gender, class, age, ability, and sexual orientation interrelate in systems of oppression.
Feminist activism in hip hop is a feminist movement based by hip hop artists. The activism movement involves doing work in graffiti, break dancing, and hip hop music. Hip hop has a history of being a genre that sexually objectifies and disrespects women ranging from the usage of video vixens to explicit rap lyrics. Within the subcultures of graffiti and breakdancing, sexism is more evident through the lack of representation of women participants. In a genre notorious for its sexualization of women, feminist groups and individual artists who identify as feminists have sought to change the perception and commodification of women in hip hop. This is also rooted in cultural implications of misogyny in rap music.
Raunch aesthetics is a term in feminist theory which describes the ways in which women in hip hop express their sexuality through the performance of lyrics, choreography, and staging. These aesthetics are performed by artists such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Ciara, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion and Miley Cyrus with the intention to embrace and take control over their own bodies and sexual identities through verbal and physical expression.
The strong black woman schema, as defined by scholars, is an archetype of how the ideal Black woman should act. This has been characterized by three components: emotional restraint, independence, and caretaking. Strong black women must hold back their emotions to avoid appearing weak, portray themselves as strong and independent while being responsible for the problems of others, and take care of those problems as if they were their own. Stemming from stereotypes of enslaved Black women, the schema grew from the intersectional oppression Black women face from society's expectations. The notion that as women, they must uphold feminine standards, but as Black women, they must balance that with the responsibility of being emotionally and physically strong; this is also known as intersectionality.
Music and Black liberation refers to music associated with Black political movements for emancipation, civil rights, or self-determination. The connection between music and politics has been used in many cultures and was utilized by blacks in their struggle for freedom and civil rights. Music has been used by African Americans over the course of United States history to express feelings of struggle and hope, as well as to foster a sense of solidarity to aid their fight for liberation and justice. African Americans have used music as a way to express their struggle for freedom and equality which has spanned the history of the United States which has resulted in the creation and popularization of many music genres including, jazz, funk, disco, rap, and hip hop. Many of these songs and artists played pivotal roles in generating support for the civil rights movement.
Ratchet feminism emerged in the United States from hip hop culture in the early 2000s, largely as a critique of, and a response to, respectability politics. It is distinct from black feminism, womanism, and hip hop feminism. Ratchet feminism coopts the derogatory term (ratchet). Other terms used to describe this concept include ratchet womanism as used by Georgia Tech professor Joycelyn Wilson or ratchet radicalism used by Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper. Ratchet is an identity embraced by many millennials and Gen Z black women and girls. The idea of ratchetness as empowering, or of ratchet feminism, has been articulated by artists and celebrities like Nicki Minaj, City Girls, Amber Rose, and Junglepussy, scholars like Brittney Cooper and Mikki Kendall, and through events like Amber Rose's SlutWalk. Many view ratchet feminism as a form of female empowerment that doesn't adhere to respectability politics.
Since the early 1980s, South African hip-hop has grown significantly as both a musical and social movement. It started in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town in the early 1980s. The first all-female hip-hop group was Yo Girls, who also emerged in Cape Town in the 1980s. Over a decade later in 2002, the group Godessa became the first all-female hip hop group in South Africa to sign a record deal.
Dr. Gwendolyn D. Pough (1970s) is an American academic and scholar in rhetoric and composition studies. She is a post-Civil Rights African-American academic who developed as a writer during the rise of hip-hop culture.
1 2 3 Durham, Aisha; Cooper, Brittney C.; Morris, Susana M. (March 2013). "The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 38 (3): 721–737. doi:10.1086/668843. S2CID146469213.
1 2 Rabaka, Reiland (2011), "The personal is political! (Da hip hop feminist remix): From the Black women's liberation and feminist art movements to the hip hop feminist movement", in Rabaka, Reiland (ed.), Hip hop's inheritance: From the Harlem renaissance to the hip hop feminist movement, New York: Lexington Books, pp.129–187, ISBN9780739164815.
↑ Johnson, T. Hasan (2012), "Masculinity and femininity in hip-hop", in Johnson, T. Hasan (ed.), You must learn! A primer in the study of hip-hop culture, Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, pp.67–80, ISBN9781465205179.
1 2 Creese, Gillian (Winter 2015). "Growing Up Where 'No One Looked Like Me': Gender, Race, Hip Hop and Identity in Vancouver". Gender Issues. 32 (3): 201–219. doi:10.1007/s12147-015-9138-1. S2CID145569834.
1 2 White, Theresa Renee (September 2013). "Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott and Nicki Minaj: Fashionistin' Black Female Sexuality in Hip-Hop Culture—Girl Power or Overpowered?". Journal of Black Studies. 44 (6): 607–626. doi:10.1177/0021934713497365. S2CID144101223.
↑ Rivera-Velázquez, Celiany (2008). "Brincando bordes, cuestionando el poder: Cuban Las Krudas' Migration Experience and Their Rearticulation of Sacred Kinships and Hip Hop Feminism". Letras Femeninas. 34 (1): 97–123. JSTOR23022220.
↑ Rabaka, Reiland (2011-03-31). Hip hop's inheritance: from the Harlem renaissance to the hip hop feminist movement. Lanham, MD. ISBN9780739164822. OCLC792700832.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Rabaka, Reiland (2013-04-04). The hip hop movement: from R & B and the civil rights movement to rap and the hip hop generation. Lanham, Maryland. ISBN978-0739181171. OCLC842500352.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
1 2 3 Saunders, Tanya (3 March 2016). "Towards a transnational hip-hop feminist liberatory praxis: a view from the Americas". Social Identities. 22 (2): 178–194. doi:10.1080/13504630.2015.1125592. S2CID147483446.
↑ Saunders, Tanya (2009). "La Lucha Mujerista: Krudas CUBENSI and Black Feminist Sexual Politics in Cuba". Caribbean Review of Gender Studies. 3. hdl:2139/15949.
1 2 3 4 Pough, Gwendolyn D. (December 2015). Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere. Northeastern University Press. ISBN978-1-55553-854-5. OCLC929952398.[pageneeded]
↑ Durham, Aisha S. (2014). Home with hip hop feminism: performances in communication and culture. New York. ISBN9781433107085. OCLC880122498.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Shange, Savannah (14 May 2014). "A king named Nicki: strategic queerness and the black femmecee". Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory. 24: 29–45. doi:10.1080/0740770X.2014.901602. S2CID191486577.
↑ Rose, Tricia (1994), "Voices from the margins: rap music and contemporary Black cultural production", in Rose, Tricia (ed.), Black noise: rap music & Black cultural resistance in contemporary American popular culture, Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, p.15, ISBN9780819562753, Few popular analyses of rap's sexism seem willing to confront the fact that sexual and institutional control over and abuse of women is a crucial component of developing a heterosexual masculine identity
↑ Cooper, Brittney (2013). "'Maybe I'll Be a Poet, Rapper': Hip-Hop Feminism and Literary Aesthetics in Push". African American Review. 46 (1): 55–69. doi:10.1353/afa.2013.0028. S2CID159752725.
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