Our class discussions and readings have really broadened my understanding of what feminism is and the way it can intertwine within the roles of gender and sexuality, both in and outside of hip hop. When we watched the video/interview of ‘Jerk’ tagging her name in various styles all over the walls, I couldn’t help but appreciate the irony and unique approach she takes in marking her own version of feminist masculinity and identity. What better way to disguise her gender than choosing a term that holds a rough/masculine connotation as her tag?
As I pursue a career in visual arts, I am well aware of the lack of recognition and value female artists receive in comparison to their male peers simply because of their gender. With this notion in mind, I find Jerk’s tag choice and expression to be quite clever as a means to eliminate gender from the viewer’s impression of the artwork. In retrospect though, it’s still disappointing to me that the artist’s gender even affects the artwork’s impact for certain viewers.
Female rapper Medusa who sings “My Pussy is A Gangsta”, as discussed on pages 156-157 in “(Ph)eminists of the New School: Real Women, Tough Politics, and Female Science” in The Real Hiphop: Battling for Knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground”, uses her lyrics and word choice in the song to bring attention to her gender in contrast to Jerk’s use of her tag to conceal her identity. The story told within the song and the way she is directly discussing her sexuality and gender by using the word “gangsta” highlights feminist masculinity. She takes back a sense of power and just touches on a hint of irony by describing her female body with the hip hop term often associated with men. Not to mention, she uses the word “pussy” to describe her genitalia which also adds power to her song’s declaration of sexuality.
Among the artists we’ve read about and viewed in class, these two examples were by far my favorite uses of gender deconstruction and construction. I believe their tactics of concealing and revealing their gender/sexuality through visual art and lyricism/music were beautifully executed and thoughtfully powerful, as well as the majority of other artists we’ve discussed.
