Bigger than Rick Ross: Hip-hop has to take responsibility for its objectification of women
OPINION - While we rightfully attack Rick Ross for his irresponsible lyrics, we also have to attack the culture that condones and allows him to profit off those lyrics...
Speaking from personal experience
In 2006, I was sexually harassed by a rapper during a joint phone interview with two other artists. From the outset of the call, this rapper asked me if I wanted to have phone sex, inquired repeatedly about whether I used a vibrator and made a variety of other inappropriate, sexually-charged comments that prompted the other artists on the call to remain silent or chuckle.
When I objected to this rapper’s harassment, he blamed it on the questions I asked — even though he asked me to have phone sex before I had a chance to ask any questions, and the questions I did ask were perfectly appropriate for a 15-minute interview with three artists. Not to mention the fact that no questions I asked would have justified his behavior.
I wrote about the incident for a Boston newspaper and it was picked up by several hip hop blogs and publications, some of which took a similar stance that somehow blamed me for what happened. That was a major wake-up call that hip-hop’s misogynistic messaging had bled beyond the boundaries of the music and into the mentality of those who work within the culture. I had witnessed hip-hop’s misogyny for years, and against my better judgment I had financially supported some artists who promoted it, but this was the first time I had experienced the hatred outside the confines of a song, specifically directed at me, not just from artists, but from bystanders and members of the media who created an environment where sexual harassment could occur unchecked.
Never once during that call did either of the other male artists step in and say enough was enough. Blogs and publications that could have used the incident as an opportunity to discuss hip-hop’s treatment of women instead regarded it as another passing blip to draw pageviews, or a chance to school journalists on how not to be harassed.
A culture that condones sexism in all its forms
I’m not at all attempting to equate sexual harassment with rape. But the point is that the rapper who sexually harassed me didn’t exist in a vacuum, and neither does Rick Ross. They exist in a culture that regularly condones and promotes the objectification, degradation and sexualization of women. They exist in a culture where whole sections of magazines are devoted to ogling over women as sex objects, where videos depict women as scantily-clad accessories and hangers-on that surround men like prize objects, where songs regularly refer to females as bitches and hos who exist only for a man’s sexual pleasure, where the only prominent female we have in mainstream hip-hop just appeared topless in the video for French Montana’s “Freaks.”
They exist in a culture where a woman’s worth lies not in what she has to offer mentally, emotionally or spiritually, but what she can offer a man physically, where she is celebrated not for her intelligence, wit, kindness or capacity to love, but her curves and sexual prowess. They exist in a culture where women are regularly regarded as sex objects and eye candy who exist to pleasure men, and women who speak up against mistreatment are seen as the ones to blame.
While we rightfully attack Rick Ross for his irresponsible lyrics, we also have to attack the culture that condones and allows him to profit off those lyrics, that stands by and does nothing while he promotes violence against women, that helps him make excuses for his behavior and blames the public for being too judgmental. Rick Ross has an entire industry behind him that is busy objectifying and devaluing women, and we support that industry with our dollars every time visit the blogs, read the magazines, buy the music, watch the videos, listen to the radio, attend the shows and drop money on the merchandise.
If there was ever any doubt, we now know that mainstream rap culture is rape culture. And since there seems to be some confusion about the definition of rape, we should voice our displeasure in a language the industry seems to understand: dollars and cents.
Lauren Carter is an award-winning writer and editor based in Boston. Her work has appeared in publications including the Boston Herald, Boston Phoenix, XXL Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, Madame Noire and RapRehab.com. Follow her on Twitter @ByLaurenCarter or visit her blog at www.bylaurencarter.com.
