For my semester quote selection I wanted to tie it into sexuality,race, body image and the power it has in the hip hop culture. I put together my 10 quotes from the readings, videos and class discussions. One artist we discussed a few times was Cardi B and how much we can appreciate her honesty in regards to talking about why she raps about the things she does. “Y’all don’t wanna hear nothing else”, the bold artist states in regards to the demands of the consumers. The flow of my quotes begins with knowing what the hip hop culture demands and not being ashamed to “use what you got” to get what you want. Problem is, it has a had a back fire effect particularly on women in the hip hop community and an even harder hit on the black woman. On one side, if you are upfront about using your body image to gain what you want you are seen as a “ho”, if you dress a certain way you are a “ho”, if you have multiple sex partners you guessed it… a “HO”… yet men, nah they get the props.
The attack on the black woman is shameless. I remember watching artist, Amara La Negra being told she will never make it if she doesn’t change her look from an afro to straight hair like Beyonce. Is it any better when we are white shaming though? or body shaming? I put in “Eat a Sandwich” from one of the comments made in class because it brought up necessary discussions in regards to body shaming any body type and comments as such is the problem we have now in society that will not go away. Although the discussion may have been uncomfortable or some may have felt personally attacked it led to a deeper understanding.
I ended my slides with one of Cardi B song quotes because despite the bad, society continues to break barriers of the standard “norm” from the LGBTQ community to artist like Lizzo or women like Cardi B who have been knocked down 9 but get up 10. Everything we have learned in class screams Freedom. It could be Joe Sho from your back yard or the biggest activist you know people refuse to give up on what they believe in and its beautiful. We have to break free from our own mental with holdings. My last quote also shows that, the black man has been able to begin to express himself differently hopefully this will lead into more respect for the black woman and women in general. It is no secret what men portray in the hip hop culture is what goes. As the definition of masculinity and femininity undergo critique hopefully some of these double standards dissolve.
We are all different, from different upbringings and beliefs. Different body types, different looks so although nothing is ever perfect the way society continues to break barriers is wonderful to see.
