Bettio_AB Midterm
Danielle Bettio
Professor Jessica Pabon
Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop Culture
Annotated Bibliography for Hip Hop Feminism Wikipedia Page
Carney, Christina, Hernandez, Jillian, Wallace, Anya M. “Sexual knowledge and practiced feminisms: On moral panic, black girlhoods and hip hop.” Journal of Popular Music Studies, Wiley Subscription Services, Inc, Dec 2016, Vol. 28 Issue 4, p412, 15 p. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1111/jpms.12191.
In “Sexual knowledge and practiced feminisms: On moral panic, black girlhoods and hip hop,” authors Christina Carney, Jillian Hernandez, Anya M. Wallace explore black girlhood; specifically sexual self-determination through hip-hop and how the heterosexist, racist, patriarchal (etc) mainstream interprets and condemns black girls’ erotic expression. Carney, Hernandez and Wallace explore the topics of respectability politics and “moral panic” through descriptions of a panel called “Locating Power and Empowerment in Hip Hop,” through dialogues with black girls on negotiating their own sexual representation, and through pop-culture and social media references of black girlhood, sexuality and hip-hop. The text closes with a link to Audre Lorde’s idea of “the erotic as power,” and expresses the need for spaces and movements that move away from the policing of black girls’ sexuality, and for a future where such erotic energy can be reclaimed from patriarchal, white supremacist, capitalist structures.
Danielle Bettio
Professor Jessica Pabon
Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop Culture
Annotated Bibliography for Hip Hop Feminism Wikipedia Page
Clay, Adreana. “Like an Old Soul Record: Black Feminism, Queer Sexuality, and the Hip-Hop Generation.” Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 53–73
by Smith College, Indiana University Press, 2008.
In “Like an Old Soul Record: Black Feminism, Queer Sexuality, and the Hip-Hop Generation,” Andreana Clay links earlier feminist theories with more current hip-hop feminist ones to explore bisexual, hip hop artist Me’Shell Ndegeocello. Andreana expresses her own desire as a queer black woman for more representation in hip-hop, and specifically for more out black queer artists. Ndegeocello is described to not only be defiant of what is expected of black women but also of what is expected of a hip-hop artist, as she also inhibits multiple genres ranging from rap to soul to funk. Although it has not been determined whether the artist identifies as a feminist, her works can be analyzed through a feminist lense, as they shed light on black, queer and femme identity related to religion, class, and especially to a term Clay brings up and explains, called “new racism.” “New racism” is described as the advancement of racial justice in some areas and the subsequent desertion of black communities due to the fact that racism is no longer as prevalent. Clay highlights that Ndegeocello sheds light on the continued destitution in black urban settings, and through her related lyrics provides visibility for queer communities of colour.
Danielle Bettio
Professor Jessica Pabon
Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop Culture
Annotated Bibliography for Hip Hop Feminism Wikipedia Page
Saunders, Tanya. “Towards a Transnational hip-hop feminist liberatory praxis: a view from the Americas.” Social Identities. Mar2016, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p178-194. 17p. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/13504630.2015.1125592.
In “Towards a Transnational hip-hop feminist liberatory praxis: a view from the Americas” by Tanya Saunders, an emphasis is placed on the importance of including hemispheric, non-english, equally marginalized (with varying struggles), black activists into American hip-hop feminist conversations. Saunders exemplifies the emergence of hip-hop feminism in Brazil and in Cuba in an attempt 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. She 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. The author 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 hegemon. Saunders stresses that without a transnational outreach that breachers language and geopolitical barriers, American hip-hop feminist praxis will, in fact, be limited.
Danielle Bettio
Professor Jessica Pabon
Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop Culture
Annotated Bibliography for Hip Hop Feminism Wikipedia Page
Major Issues and Themes
In the three readings chosen, there is an overarching stress on the importance of visibility and inclusion, specifically related to the hip-hop industry. Hip-hop feminism is about creating a space and a platform for black feminists globally, in an effort to combat heterosexist, racist, capitalist structures that control political, social and economic systems. This same corrupt society has a way of constructing identities for people and regions that do not match up to their true natures, and that erase their efforts of resistance. Examples of this are the stereotypical portrayal of the sexual black woman as the Jezebel, of the acceptable black woman as straight, or as the black woman in the Global South as lacking of political agency.
It is clear that self-determination is power. Hip-hop feminism has been instrumental in allowing for the declaration of one’s own identity in relation to oppressive power structures. Be questions queerness, race, glocality or the erotic, hip-hop feminism is malleable and expansive enough to highlight these issues as important and essential. It is through collaboration of hip-hop feminists from different backgrounds that the movement will affect more change.
Christina Carney, Jillian Hernandez, Anya M. Wallace shed important light on the construction and perception of black girls’ sexuality, and how it affects the way black girls see and police each other. They argue that respectability politics are in fact stifling to true liberation, and that hip-hop feminist must work towards a future where a black woman can express her sexuality without it being linked to racist, sexist tropes of how society has defined black womanhood and sexuality for centuries. The answer lies in looking outside the box, and in racial consciousness on the part of all those who care about the hip-hop feminist cause. It is clear that as consumers of media we must all be aware of what judgements we impose on those in the limelight, for they are reflective of a larger, oppressive culture.
Andreana Clay’s piece on Me’Shell Ndegeocello similarly expresses notions related to constructed identity and imposed judgment, in this case on the alienation of being a black, queer woman. Ndegeocello is so influential because she provided visibility and presence for a community that at the time was lacking in such public declarations of identity. Clay mentions that some of Ndegeocello’s lyrics reflect girl-on-girl competition that the patriarchy clearly enforces, but realizes that in context of Ndegeocello’s bisexual, black identity the lyrics change meaning. This enforces the idea that as feminists and consumers of media, we must be aware of our own ability to subvert mainstream oppression and the ability of popular figures to do so as well. Hip-hop feminist consciousness such as this adds to black, queer visibility and the construction of a community for such two identities that have not been seen as compatible in the past.
Finally, in In “Towards a Transnational hip-hop feminist liberatory praxis: a view from the Americas,” Tanya Saunders links these aforementioned themes of visibility to include hip-hop feminists on a transnational scale. Saunders deconstructs the notion that nations in the Global South, such as Cuba and Brazil, lack agency and resources to be equally resistant as feminists in the United States. She emphasizes the inclusion of these global movements and the responsibility of hip-hop feminists in the U.S., a referent for hip-hop feminism, to reach out to non-English speaking groups in different geographical settings. Through examples of art and activism in Brazil and Cuba, it is clear that black women in these regions have been connecting and collaborating in the realm of hip-hop feminism for some time now.
The challenge in the quest for intersectionality and inclusion is the blindness that certain privileges provide. How does one include groups if one does not know of them because they are invisible? Luckily, we live in the age of information technology. This means that as feminists it is our job to keep our eyes and ears open for new information and new movements. Useful resources such as the internet, publications, protests, and art movements such as hip-hop provide individuals and communities with the ability to communicate and organize. These tools, along with a hip-hop feminist consciousness that mainstream media perpetrates oppressive structures and false portrayals of race, class, gender, sexuality and location, are exactly what hip-hop feminists need in their continued struggle for external and internal liberation.