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Society has always been a male dominated space; such pervasive gender inequalities are rooted much deeper than the modern burdens triggered by millennials. Male domination has always been prevalent in society with the common man being the stoic, independent breadwinner whilst the sensitive woman takes a backseat, both in the family and the workplace (Evans, 2016).  This patriarchal discourse is derived from hegemonic gender stereotypes established within culture, media and institutionalised government legislations (Ridgeway, 2011). The predominance of such stereotypes unknowingly provokes the normative ideas surrounding gender, its role within public opinions; broadcasting outlets, educational spaces and gendered divisions of labour (Ridgeway, 2011).  The understanding that these stereotypes are fixed in the thoughts of most other members of society leads one’s tendencies to act on them, all the higher (Sechrist & Stangor 2001). Simply put; society is a space of conformity and obedience to the majority. As when not complied with and women for example, try to assert dominance rather than submission; or men show emotion rather than force; a backlash of negativity follows (Prentice and Carranza 2004). The disadvantages of women in society were first challenged by second wave feminism who recognised the sexist narrative in society. The limited roles presented for women in society were challenged by the women of society seeking equal opportunities and indiscriminative treatment (Allen, 2017). However, ideologies surrounding sexism are somewhat embedded and naturalized into society. As many occurrences deviate from prototypical sexist behaviour both men and women alike fail to recognise the extensiveness of sexism and its way of presenting itself in everyday thoughts. An example can be shown in the gender reveal of an expected child; and the planning that typically follows. For a boy typically, a blue room equipped with ‘manly’ toys and for a female, a pink room with soft ‘cute’ toys (Lindisfarne & Neale, 2019). There is a considerable degree of consensus that women, both born and made, have less access to power and privilege than men. Hence why we speak of gender inequality. Female ideas of success were often met with descriptions of fear and negative consequences as a certain level of anxiety presents itself when it’s a notion of ‘competing with men’ (Horner, 1972). Furthermore, both male and female conformity is more likely when the occupation conflicts with orthodox gender roles; with examples seen in male nurses or female engineers (Cherry & Deaux, 1978; Janda, O’Grady, & Capps, 1978). As such, the normative conceptions surrounding gender are relevant to the structure and hierarchy of society at that time (Ryan& Brandscome, 2014).

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In turn these patriarchal influences perpetuate a misogynistic narrative, not only in society; but the media too. More specifically, the music industry. The culture of male control within music directly limits women’s power to participate. From production of the music; to the exposure they have; within the music videos and the lyrics of the songs (Randolph 2008). Women are often depicted as objects, glorifying a disdain and excitement towards the violence. In turn this degrading attitude perpetuates a certain dependency on men, and the reduction of female power to nothing other than objects for their ownership (Adams & Fuller, 2006). Music is a powerful means for self-expression however within rap and hip-hop, songs are promoting misogyny and the normalization of exploiting women. Audiences listening to this music are constantly being reaffirmed that women are mere objects to be spoken to/about in a derogatory manner and are only communicated with either for sex, abuse or control (Dixon, Zhang & Conrad, 2009). The diminishing of women’s power only further reinforces the stereotypes of female subordination to men within society. A considerable amount of what is considered to constitute ‘misogynistic rap’ can be broken down into six themes. These include; derogatory comments towards women relating sex; women being a burden and a hassle for the men; in turn, statements regarding violence towards them; a portrayal of women as ‘using’ the men; defamation of the women’s existence as lesser than the men; and finally, statements of the women being short-term, disposable individuals (Adams& Fuller, 2006). The above themes directly reflect a narrative of violence and disrespect and this can be seen in music from the likes of Eminem. 

Within Eminem’s rap music there is a constant occurrence of derogatory lyrics condoning violent sexual behaviour towards women. We can see this in the breakdown of the songs such as;

Low Down, Dirty- “Bitch getter, hid in the bush like Margot Kidder Jumped out, killed the bitch and did her … Slap dips, support domestic violence Beat your bitch's ass while your kids stare in silence”

Just don’t give a fuck- “Went to gym in 8th grade, raped the women's swim team Don't take me for a joke, I'm no comedian” As the world turns- “…I told this bitch in gym class That she was too fat to swim laps, she need a Slim Fast (Who? Me?) Yeah, bitch, you so big”

All of the above songs glorifying acts of physical violence and female subordination reached the ‘Billboards Hot 100’ song list (Ruiz,2016). Showing indisputably the influence rap music has on glamourizing sexist ideologies; using words and phrases such as ‘bitch’, ‘support domestic violence’, ‘she was too fat’, ‘rape’. Thus, humourizing and supporting the oppressive ideas towards women and further enforcing male anger and aggression towards females in society (Beatty, 2002; Keathley, 2002). Furthermore, as in subsequent years Eminem went on to win a Grammy award for this music. The institutionalised misogyny within society becomes more apparent as this behaviour was directly applauded, fostering a discourse of hegemonic masculinity and a gender superiority. Moreover, a more obvious display of sexism can be found in music videos. Those even of an innocuous nature may even display sexually suggestive content unnecessarily objectifying women. This further reinforces the notion that women are products of male desires with no personal agency or substance (Randolph, 2008). Additionally, as misogyny cannot be confined to one simplified paradigm, wider culture and social notions are to be considered. As such, within the music sphere it is typically African- American females defamed and unpopular (Adams& Fuller, 2006). The black women are presented as ‘bitches, mammies and baby mamas’ (Rebollo-Gil& Moras, 2012), fuelling the stereotypes of the African-American woman being the ‘Mammie’ image. A one typically depicted of an overweight, black woman working to please the white family and males in society (Adams& Fuller, 2006). Similarly, the image of the ‘Jezebel’ signifies the easy sexually suggestive females or ‘bitches’ who more often than not become the target, stereotypical sex object within these music videos (Adams& Fuller, 2006). Examples of the aforementioned themes of sexually suggestive lyrics and videos can be observed in the likes of: Nelly ‘Tip Drill’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQU0Zakg9o Robin Thicke ‘Blurred Lines’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU Tyler the creator ‘Tron Cat’: https://youtu.be/Kd3hxZtHwvw Kanye West ‘Monster’: https://youtu.be/dK2zzhgMlJA NWA ‘Straight Outta Compton’: https://youtu.be/TMZi25Pq3T8

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Over time, however the sexist underpinnings of society have been met with resistance and challenge in an effort to subvert the patriarchy. Not only within the music and media industry but the similar problems rooted in the everyday lives of everyday people. Social change and feminism interlink to propose the ideal, yet cooperative society. The notion of achieving utopia or the ideal is not for women to find a means to deal with oppression but to dismantle it (Imani Kasai, 2018). Male domination has always been prevalent in society with unchallenged dismissal of females reducing them to not only face sexist treatment but discrimination and oppressiveness alike (Hooks, 2015). The idea that feminism is slander of all men in a chance to avenge this oppression and subordination, is labouring under a false impression. Conversely, reform as a notion of providing equality within the boundaries of individual social classes, allows for peers throughout different economic backgrounds to have a fair treatment. As opposed to a profound movement, eliminating any discrepancies within society and social divisions (Hooks, 2015). Liberal feminism denotes the idea that existing gender equality such as those in the music industry can be eliminated when women are met with the same rights as men. Through legal, political, educational and other reforms of the existing system, rather than oppression as a basis for sexual politics (Wagh, 2017). The individualist supposition assumes the behaviour and choices a woman makes is the determiner for their success. Similarly, equality is achieved not by male agency or domination but the socialization of injustices within society (Mills, Durepos & Wiebe 2010). However, although a development in capitalism surrounding the service industries opened many a door for women the pressures of austerity disproportionately affected women rather than men (Lindisfarne & Neale 2019).  Additionally, welfare cuts are challenging the gender binary, producing again, a violence and harassing tone within the workplace (Phipps, 2019). Contemporary examples of aforementioned behaviour are evident in the rise of the new ‘Me Too’ movement. In October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano sought for responses if anyone similarly, had been the victim of sexual misconduct. Over some 30,000 responses stated, ‘Me Too’ and thus the movement began (Garcia, 2017). Celebrities and those who had been the victims of abused power came forward to show the prevalence of male domination in society. All of the victims were women who had been silenced by their inferiority and subordinate positions within the music, film and political industry (Gibson, Davenport, Fowler, Harris, Prudhomme, Whiting, & Simmons-Horton 2019). Hegemonic masculinity in turn, becomes institutionalised within society and as previously mentioned in the music industry. The constant reinforcement that women are products of male fantasies fosters a discourse of gender superiority and normalises the notion that females lack agency and respect (Randolph, 2008). This can finally, be further reinforced with the example of singer/ songwriter Kesha. Who was directly exploited by her producer Lukasz Gottwald. As well as being her personal ‘mentor’ he sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused her to the point where she “nearly lost her life” (Claire, 2019). Female subordination cannot be reduced to noticeable harm with much of society taking advantage in discrete, behind the scenes happenings. However, just because something isn’t visible does not mean that it doesn’t still exist.

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Self- Reflective Statement

Writing my DG blog started off with me learning how to use Tumblr and the process of looking at setting up a blog. I definitely found this more challenging than I thought I would with most of my work being done electronically I thought of myself to have natural skills in this area. I think I was slightly overconfident and definitely did not utilise the help offered in class and after hours to figure out how to use it. But in the end using the tools on Moodle I got there. The initial thought process began looking at example blogs and taking inspiration from issues that resonated with me personally. As a young female I knew I wanted to focus it around issues I personally or people I know have faced such as sexist remarks and general prejudice attitudes. The blogs surrounding issues to with feminism, representation of minority groups online (K-pop blog) and stereotypes in the media started a thought process. Moreover, this got me thinking I wanted to design my focus around women in the media. I had previously been reading on twitter Donald Trump defaming a young female’s character and it sparked an anger in me to explore the themes of men in a position of power exploiting young females. I initially began my focus looking at the media specifically but again underestimated the scope of negative portrayal of females in the media. In the future I would work on thinking more concisely before jumping to an idea to make sure I’m not overwhelmed and thrown off by the amount of information I’m trying to condense as I found this to waste a lot of time planning, then re planning. However, once I settled on male domination specifically in music I was able to direct my research. I have learned to definitely pick a topic you have some base knowledge on but also a desire to learn more as unpicking the depth that sexism is rooted in music is something that stunned me. I already knew Eminem was a misogynistic, sexist artist however the depth of these themes I was unlocking were shocking as I was researching into my blog. I think picking a topic that appeals to you personally is something I will take away from this assessment and I think it is reflected in the outcome of the work I have produced. Finally, for future reference I would work on the layout of my ideas. As mentioned above Tumblr was a new platform for me to navigate and I found the breaking up of my sections to be a little bit trickier than I anticipated. I knew where I wanted to take the blog I just needed to make this idea visible in a clear and natural way. Where the inclusion of images and hyperlinks and other content could be added in a pleasing and understandable way.

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