DePaola_blog 5

Published on: Author: depaolac1 Leave a comment

In episodes 7, 8, and 9 of The Get Down, we see some sexism and misogyny from straight men, while Zeke and Mylene both struggle with their future in music. Zeke has to make a very difficult decision when he is torn between Yale and the get down, and decides to commit to the music with Shaolin. Despite this with Zeke, every time Mylene is brought up she just gets berated by Shaolin, usually being called a bitch. Mylene’s music career is a back and forth battle between being a purist virgin for her father and being more sexually explicit for the record label. Asheton specifically said to Mylene that sex sells and her religious themes would have to get the be eliminated or masked for her to succeed in the mainstream. This reminds me of the reading ‘Hip Hop is not Responsible for Sexism’, where it’s said that “mass media corporations profit extensively from promoting sexism” (155). So basically, the discussions and decisions about the direction of her career, what she’ll sing, what she’ll wear, and all of that were made without her, not allowing her any agency in the process. Her agency is able to profit from that extensive sexism, so with a pretty young girl like that, why wouldn’t they? Mylene’s options with her career are to be sexualized or to fail, so she doesn’t have much of a choice if she wants her dreams to be realized. Mylene’s genre might not be hip hop, but the same sexism still influences and determines the music that gets played and produced. Mylene’s musical worth is tied to her sexuality, which may seem more open than her oppressive home life but in reality, is just another side of sexualization and misogyny. It is so upsetting to see that this sexism occurs in the music industry, especially with young women and girls who just want to make it.

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