Misogyny

Lil Wayne has jizzed all over the face of feminism. In today's world men are quick to argue that the days of male and female inequality are a thing of the past, but with lyrics like "I wish I could f&*k every girl in the world" blasting through radio stations at nauseum it seems the women's right movement has been set back to the early fourteenth century. While degrading women literally has nothing to do with music or any specific genre for that matter, music remains a reflection of our culture and society; it is our culture and society that condones sexism and misogyny. Don't get me wrong, I love mainstream music as much as the next person, but it's dying a fucking miserable death. While watching the Everygirl video, I personally counted 126 times where women were objectified and made into some form of commodity. Women are valued solely for their physical attributes, with videos featuring hordes of scantily clad women dancing around like idiots on beds of money or the hood of a Bentley. Lyrics, if you have ever dissected them, perpetuate a perception of women as liars and whores. Ironically, while these lyrics outwardly degrade women, they inadvertently degrade the artistic legitimacy of rap music as well. Mainstream hip hop has become a far cry from the once enlightened voice of the oppressed and disenfranchised in society; it has turned into a commercialization of pretenders, who post revenues in excess of 1.5 billion dollars annually.

This is not to say that every man who listens to rap music ascribes to chauvinist tendencies, nor is it to say that men are the only ones who perpetuate this perception. As a self described moderate feminist, I cannot turn myself away from the facets of our media which absolutely rape feminism. Case and point, Girlicious; modeling for young girls a very deranged definition of femininity. I find the very existence of this group to be ridiculously insulting, not the least being the fact that they don't even produce real music. Their appropriately titled smash hit, "Stupid Shit", is literally the stupidest song to have ever been produced, accompanied by a music video which can only be described as a low budget porno for tweens, in which this vapid foursome spontaneously rips off their clothes to the chorus "let's do some stupid shit." I actually cannot get through this song without wanting to stab a sharpened pencil into my eardrums. And for the love of Jesus, sexism is even built into their name… Girlicious, break it down people… girl… licious (delicious). I rest my case.

You can find links to the subjugation of women throughout history; in religion, politics, philosophy and the social environment. In the second century, Tertullian, prolific Christian apologist, wrote of women "You are the gateway of the devil; you are the one who unseals the curse of that tree, and you are the first one to turn your back on the divine law". Although most of us find this sexist tripe to be completely absurd today, this historically engrained mindset has percolated into the practices and institutions of modern society. While I doubt the Catholic Church would cite the works of Tertullian as justification for the inability for women to obtain ordination, the fact that women are still seen to be inferior as leaders by one of the most powerful institutions in the world is quite scary. The common response? Women need to stand up for themselves. Ha! That sounds simple enough, but imagine growing up in a society that socializes you to be passive, meek and compliant? Some men in today's society will scoff at a woman if she vocalizes any inequalities that she may have experienced, writing it off as being overly concerned or making problems out of nothing. I can only hope change does happen though, not only because misogyny is destructive to women but also because money, cars, clothes and hoes is a very narrow and unsustainable definition of success indeed.