Feminism within the music industry - By Goddard Adali-M

Music is a powerful way of getting a message across, and it is used to gather supporters for all sorts of acts, this can be dangerous baring in mind the youths are easily influenced by music, and some wrong messages sent by false-minded musicians can do damage to young listeners. When a child grows up in a certain surrounding he or she gets used to the influences of their surroundings and usually grows up sticking to the principles he or she learnt from their childhood, a lot of kids are obsessed with celebrity life-styles and have chosen to make superstars their role-models.

My main focus is on female musicians in hip-hop and how their feminist acts and words influence many young girls out there. Feminism can be summed up as woman power, or the fight for equality between women and men. Some feminist women take it to heart and take it so far that they end up sounding sexist, forgetting that the fight was not to discriminate men, but to stop men discriminating women. In music videos women are always used as what I see as 'bait' to attract more viewers, the women tend to be half naked and aspects of their body need to be in a certain shape or form for them to be accepted as beautiful, while the men appear more over-powering and careless. The men sleep with more than one woman and get praised by being called 'playas', where as if a woman was to do the same she would be labelled as a whore and discriminated.

 

There have been a few women putting their foot down in music, such as Mary J Blige, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott and many more. The sad side of this is that many of these positive female artists don’t sell much, which would mean people prefer the naked woman talking about sex, more than the well dressed lady talking about power. It’s not just in hip hop that women get degraded; Pop music is mostly based around fantasies, and whose fantasies does not involve a hot naked woman? Whether it’s the woman looking at herself as a flawless model or the man looking at the woman as a sexually attractive character. Madonna put out a song called Human Nature, talking about being censored and given less opportunity all because of her gender, some of the lines in the song are "You wouldn’t let me say the words I longed to say" and "You didn’t want to see life through my eyes", she peaks of the un-fair rules she was bound by and how men did not want to see things through a woman's perspectives and avoided their opinions. Personally I think her songs empower women to realize that they deserve more and need to stand up for their rights, but then an artist like Nikki Minaj, (who has sold millions of records worldwide) steps into the music scene and does everything that destroys the power of women, she’s gotten plastic surgery to look more attractive, she barely wears any clothes and talks about sex all the time. Nikki Minaj would call herself "Barbie" (which clearly means a toy to be played with) or a "Bad Bitch" whereas Madonna would say "I’m not your bitch" she does all the things that angered women to stand up for their rights in the first place, even though she doesn’t have to in an era such as now where women have more rights and power than they used to have.
A lot of girls follow the likes of Nikki Minaj, they dress like her and believe that in order to look attractive you must wear clothes that show-off some cleavage or clothes that expose your thighs. There are other artists like Nikki Minaj that discriminate women even further, for example Lil Kim talks about selling her body to get men to accept her and make her famous, there’s a song where she says "Sucked dick just to get to the top", and later on talk about being an independent woman who doesn’t need the help of a man in her life.

Young girls look up to some of these false minded superstars and feel they can relate to them, but I feel like depending on men to get to a position where you wouldn’t need them anymore isn’t woman power. If a woman has to lower her standards at any point of her life because of her gender then she either does not know her rights or the power of her rights aren’t strong enough.

I was reading a book called 'From Black Power to Hip-hop: Racism, Nationalism, and feminism' and came across a quote by a female rapper 'Queen Latifah' who began her music career in the times when hip-hop was about getting the right message across, she was one of the few good role models who practiced what they preached. The quote is: "I don't act the way society dictates that woman should. I am not a dainty. I do not hold back my opinions. I don't stay behind a man. But I'm not here to live by somebody else's standards. I'm defining what a woman is for myself. Simply put, I'm not interested in subscribing to what society has decided for half of humankind. I am an individual." These are the kind of words that I will expect to hear from a feminist, or a woman who claims to stand for woman power. These days hip hop surrounds the fabulous lifestyle, being rich, driving the finest cars and wearing huge jewellery. The female rappers getting into the game follow the same trend, talking about fashion designer clothes and diamonds that they can afford by just appearing half naked in a music video and talking about sex, instead of them showing girls that you do not have to exploit yourself to be well off. This kind of music tends to degrade a certain type of audience, if a black woman always talks about having “the tightest vagina” or “shooting it out” (Lil Kim) and a white woman talks about “Sippin' gin and juice, layin’ underneath the palm trees” (Katie Perry) it is going to make black women look like the aggressive and violent type who will do anything for money or fame. “Apparently, singing and dancing about Black pain and wearing the latest styles while doing it could generate cold, hard cash.”

The book From Black Power to Hip Hop talks about colour blind racism, the fact that black people in general have to be involved in stereotypical activities in order to be successful,
The artists getting into hip-hop these days seem to have forgotten what hip-hop begun as. Before hip-hop there was the Black Power Movement, it was the voice of many who were tired of the unequal treatment. The female rappers could’ve stepped into the game of hip hop and sold millions based on lyrical content alone. Lyrical content informing the younger girls to focus on education and become doctors, encouraging the young ones that they are beautiful just the way they are and that they do not need botox to be loved or look any better. The songs these artists put out will influence a young girl to act cheap and whore-like, this has already been going on, many girls have no fathers because their mothers embraced the wrong lifestyle and either do not know their daughters father or their daughters father is just another thug minded man locked up. Nikki Minaj is very good with her lyrics and has some good songs apart from her usual sex topics, but still falls back into the act of getting naked and talking about things that degrade women. I think young girls need a role model, and not just one but many, because there are a few artists that try to educate the young black girls out there but they don’t get enough audience attention. There are even YouTube comments calling for good music, a lot of people are seeing the effects of this new hip hop and calling for the old “Real hip hop” back, here are a few YouTube comments on Nikki Minajs music videos:
“That's the dumbest shit I've ever seen.”
Written by: KurtwithKnives
“it's bullshit”
Written by: mizfest
But then there’s a comment that catches my attention, “Her music isn't aimed at young girls, so its not really her fault.”

Written by: MrHimey in reply to EfFaBaRbIElOlZ.

Even though her music is not aimed at young girls, it’s the kind of music young girls will want to listen to because every child wants to act as if they’re grown, so they dress like the grownups, talk like their favourite musicians and try to be like them. They’re young and can be thought anything, yet the false music is what they’re fed and when they grow and have daughters, their daughters are most likely going to act like their mothers. Black female rappers need to change their choice of topic and begin to influence their young black female fans the right way. It will take a lot of work but every step will count.

References:  From Black Power to Hip Hop by Patricia Hill Collins
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZvOhHF85I

Feminism and Women's rights- by Jonathan Sebbanja

 Introduction

First of all feminism is defined as an organised, political movement for the attainment of such rights for women to be equal to men. The movement started off purely in relation to suffrage giving women the right to vote. During the time both genders felt that women had a specific place in the society for example: home maker, but women felt that this role meant they should be allowed a degree of influence on policy and politics that affected them. From this movement developed feminism as we know it today still continues through the struggle to have complete equality between women and men.

'

A myth invented by men to confine women to their oppressed ‘state. For women it is not a question of asserting themselves as women, but of becoming full-scale human beings''. 

In religion terms this struggle can still be very much ongoing this , despite the United Nations passing the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

The Campaign for Equal Rights

The arguments that inspired the French Revolution and justified the right of man did not necessarily lead to the advocacy of the rights of women, since it was quite possible to define women as having a different nature from that of men. Nevertheless, the French school of rationalism was important in the development of feminist ideas and the question attracted a good deal of attention from French philosophers in the eighteenth century (Bouten, 1975, p 52). The three Frenchmen Montesquieu, Diderot and Voltaire were sympathetic to women’s rights although Rousseau was strongly anti-feminist and believed that women should be subordinate men. Moreover, although the French revolution did little to further the emancipation of women in France (Tomalin, 1974, p 13). The ideas behind this revolution were to be important in the development of feminism in England and in America.

Women's Rights: are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and young girls of all ages in many societies. In some places these rights are supported by law, local custom and behaviour. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the rights by women and girls in favour of men and boys. During the whole of the nineteenth century women had no political rights though there had been some movement in other areas to advance or help the rights of women. In 1839 a law was stated that if a marriage broke down and the parents separated, children under seven years of age should stay with their mother. As the years passed new laws were being made until 1857 where women could now divorce husbands who were cruel to them or who have left them during their relationship.

As soon as it hit 1870 women were allowed to keep their own earned money so they can spend it on how ever they wish for themselves and for their children if a divorce has been confirmed. Finally in 1891 women could also not be forced to live with husbands unless they wished to do so, in other terms having their own way of overcoming a man who can bring a high level of support and love. All these laws were very important towards women which advanced the rights for them. However the laws where powerful to the local public.

 If the woman left their husband it things would get much harder for her and for the children because of the attitude of Victorian Britain, which was that women should look after the husband after a long day at work .

For example I have researched into the area where women faced difficulties after qualifying into a doctor. The UK's population was very little in their books as men would not be treated by women and the remaining with their male GP's as that way it was done. It took a very long time until women could get a decent reputation among Londoners along with hostility among the way. 

During that time the culture also meant that only a few women where naturally skilled doing the obvious jobs such as , teachers, nurse, doctors etc. The view was very much supported by Queen Victoria but how ever she hardly did anything in advance for women. But eventually she had written a statement the country that ''let women be what god intended them to be and do, a helpmate for man, but with totally different duties. In the later years of the 19th century all women wanted one simple right which was the right to vote. This right was known as the right of suffrage for women and the group that fought for it became known as the ''Suffragettes''.


There was an argument that women who had money and employed men as gardeners, cooks etc were in the position of not being able to vote but yet the men who are employed  in the business are able to... personally this indicates a high level of sexism. Also the argument lead to another statement in which those women that worked paid the same level of tax as men who were employed could not vote only men could. Their campaign took them into the 20th century - a century that gave women over 30 years of age the right to vote in 1918 and allowed them to stand for the parliament in the same year. Eventually 10 years later all women were given the same political rights as men.


The Suffragettes


The whole point of the suffragettes were to make a right into women being allowed to vote. This move for women started in 1897 and the founder of the National Union of women's suffrage is Millicent Fawcette, whom had to fight for the women's right of voting. The claim for the political emancipation of women is part of the equal rights tradition of feminism, and the demand for this enfranchisement on the equal terms with men dates from the very beginning of feminism as an ideology. 


Already in Britain a number of articles advocating female suffrage as a general principle had appeared early in the 1830's and the subject was, as we have seen a topic of discussion. In the early 1832 a petition was presented to the parliament asking for the vote for all the unmarried females who possessed the necessary qualifications. The debates that were carried out in 1830 of the male franchise were not to result in any substantial campaign for women's suffrage. Indeed the working class women were not to involve themselves in political activities until almost the end of the century. 


By the end of the 1890's and early 1900's the movement had entered a new phase, this was largely the result of two new factors in the situation: the growth of support for women's suffrage amongst themselves, and the increasing importance of the labour movement in British politics. If we are to understand the dramatic change in the fortunes of the suffrage issue that was to take place in the 20th century it is necessary to look at these circumstances in advance. 


The growing support for women's suffrage within the new profession of charitable work had been mentioned: For these women the vote was seen as a powerful tool for the reformation of the society and they began not only to accept its necessity but in many cases, to join actively in the campaign. 


Finally in my sense I believe that the support for the women's suffrage within the labour movement was to prove as problematic, in practice, as support within the liberal party, and for very similar reasons. Although some labour leaders were firmly and unshakeably feminist, others remained unconvinced. Even so the inclusion of women in the 1917 bill was by no means a forgone conclusion. In the event the act in 1918 introduced adult suffrage for men only. For women, the suffrage was limited to those over 30 who were local government electors, or wive and university graduates. By ristricting women's suffrage mainly by age the government allayed the fear that many still had that the country would be governed by women. 

References 

Faces of Feminism By Olive Banks
The Golden years, 1870-1920 
Votes for women Chapter 8 
The Campaign for Equal Rights 
Bernard, Jessie (1979) 'Women as voters'  
Bernard, Jessie (1971) The status of Women in Modern Patterns of Culture.