billyworld99
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i was in a library and there was a magazine called teenvoice.com talking about soem negative affects mainstram music can have on kids and teenagers
Colorism in Music
By Ajané
I’m driving to work with my dad, listening to the radio, when the song Every Girl by Young Money comes on. We both start singing along. The very first words out of Li’l Wayne’s mouth are, “I like a long-haired, thick redbone.” When I first heard the song, I didn’t pay much attention to the meaning and I never thought of it as colorism. Hip hop and rap artists are always talking about light-skinned women versus dark-skinned women, and saying that lighter-skinned women are better looking. They always talk about how they would rather be with a light-skinned woman with long hair and pretty eyes rather than a dark-skinned woman. In the song Boyfriend, Girlfriend by C-Side and Keyshia Cole, they say “love a...redbone with long hair.” Another song, She Got It by 2 Pistols, includes the line, “five foot five, hazel eyes, redbone.” I could go on for days with a list of songs that talk about “redbones” and “yellow-bones” with long hair and pretty eyes. Because hip hop and rap music is so popular, the things that are being said have a major influence on people and what they consider beautiful.
Even if an artist isn’t saying it, the music videos speak for themselves. How many times have you seen a dark-skinned woman as the main girl in a video? On her blog http://hellomissjean.blogspot.com, Claudia Jean, who has cast women for music videos, says, “It’s hard looking beautiful brown girls in the face knowing that the director gave me specific instructions not to cast any of ‘them.’ I even recall going to an R&B/hip-hop conference where the complexion subject was brought up, and the video director on the panel, who was darker than Akon, stated how dark skin models ‘are not dimes’ and the artists do not want them in their videos.” Most times, when a dark-skinned woman is in a video, she is not the main girl. The videos for Best I Ever Had by Drake, Rockin’ That Thing by The Dream, and Suffocate by J Holiday all feature mostly light-skinned women. Sherri Furtado, age 17, tells Teen Voices that she thinks of “Where's Waldo?” when she watches videos and tries to find a darker-skinned woman.
The problem isn’t just the lyrics and the music videos. The problem is that young women listen to the music and watch these videos, and internalize what they see. They try to portray the images that these rappers are creating. These women are trying to fit the rappers’ and the media’s standard of beauty. Young women should be able to feel beautiful no matter what their skin tone, but hip hop and rap artists make it difficult when they deliver the message that only light-skinned women are beautiful.
Did You Know?
•In 2005, a study led by Dr. Brian Primack from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine found that of Billboard’s 279 popular songs, 77 percent of the 62 rap songs portrayed substance abuse, usually with lyrics about peer pressure, wealth, and sex.
•A 2003 study published in the American Journal of Public Health showed watching many rap music videos increased a woman’s risk of using alcohol and drugs.
•Music videos often depict sexual activities, showing women as sex objects.
Why do we need girls to strip off their clothes and dance provocatively for a music video? If the song is good, won't it sell without all the jiggling going on behind the rapper? Or have we all become so conditioned to the idea that “sex sells” that we don’t notice it? Sex doesn't have to sell; if everyone stopped buying CDs and going to the concerts of artists who encourage the objectification of women, the practice would soon stop. Why should you, as a girl, listen to music that objectifies women? There's nothing wrong with nudity -- but the nudity of one gender being used to sell something can be wrong. Have we all become so delusional that a naked man showing off on a CD cover would make us buy it? Probably not, yet we see nothing wrong with a naked woman doing the same, and we promote it by purchasing the CD she’s on.
Women are influenced negatively by music videos. Music videos have created a mindset as to what women should do and look like. Music videos influence women to be sexy and have no sense of self-respect. Music videos make it seem like all women are good for is showing off their bodies. Women are not just sexual objects, they have feelings too. In videos women are just dancing and grinding. I hate how women are portrayed in music videos. They should be treated with some respect, but since women aren’t speaking up, they continue to be degraded in music videos.
The video for Nelly’s song Tip Drill shows him swiping his credit card in a women’s butt. This is so disrespectful. In the video to Akon’s I Want to Love You, women are shaking, grinding, and dancing on the floor as if they are having orgasms.
Women in music videos have no respect or self pride at all. They get pride from comments like, “You looked so fly in that video,” or “Your makeup was on point.” I get so mad and aggravated when I see women with potential degrade themselves so much. A women’s body shouldn’t be treated like a trophy prize. It should be treated with respect. Remember, it’s more important for women to be smart than prettyLil’ Kim and Lil Wayne are both rappers whose music videos have a huge impact on teens, but their videos portray women and men differently. Both Lil’ Kim and Lil Wayne’s videos show women wearing sexy clothing, but while Lil’ Kim’s video includes a group of muscular men in jail wearing orange uniform pants with no shirt, Lil Wayne is on top of the world showing off his millions of dollars worth of jewelry and wearing a black suit. Lil’ Kim portrays both men and women sexually, but Lil Wayne has professional men in his videos, giving men power.
Colorism in Music
By Ajané
I’m driving to work with my dad, listening to the radio, when the song Every Girl by Young Money comes on. We both start singing along. The very first words out of Li’l Wayne’s mouth are, “I like a long-haired, thick redbone.” When I first heard the song, I didn’t pay much attention to the meaning and I never thought of it as colorism. Hip hop and rap artists are always talking about light-skinned women versus dark-skinned women, and saying that lighter-skinned women are better looking. They always talk about how they would rather be with a light-skinned woman with long hair and pretty eyes rather than a dark-skinned woman. In the song Boyfriend, Girlfriend by C-Side and Keyshia Cole, they say “love a...redbone with long hair.” Another song, She Got It by 2 Pistols, includes the line, “five foot five, hazel eyes, redbone.” I could go on for days with a list of songs that talk about “redbones” and “yellow-bones” with long hair and pretty eyes. Because hip hop and rap music is so popular, the things that are being said have a major influence on people and what they consider beautiful.
Even if an artist isn’t saying it, the music videos speak for themselves. How many times have you seen a dark-skinned woman as the main girl in a video? On her blog http://hellomissjean.blogspot.com, Claudia Jean, who has cast women for music videos, says, “It’s hard looking beautiful brown girls in the face knowing that the director gave me specific instructions not to cast any of ‘them.’ I even recall going to an R&B/hip-hop conference where the complexion subject was brought up, and the video director on the panel, who was darker than Akon, stated how dark skin models ‘are not dimes’ and the artists do not want them in their videos.” Most times, when a dark-skinned woman is in a video, she is not the main girl. The videos for Best I Ever Had by Drake, Rockin’ That Thing by The Dream, and Suffocate by J Holiday all feature mostly light-skinned women. Sherri Furtado, age 17, tells Teen Voices that she thinks of “Where's Waldo?” when she watches videos and tries to find a darker-skinned woman.
The problem isn’t just the lyrics and the music videos. The problem is that young women listen to the music and watch these videos, and internalize what they see. They try to portray the images that these rappers are creating. These women are trying to fit the rappers’ and the media’s standard of beauty. Young women should be able to feel beautiful no matter what their skin tone, but hip hop and rap artists make it difficult when they deliver the message that only light-skinned women are beautiful.
Did You Know?
•In 2005, a study led by Dr. Brian Primack from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine found that of Billboard’s 279 popular songs, 77 percent of the 62 rap songs portrayed substance abuse, usually with lyrics about peer pressure, wealth, and sex.
•A 2003 study published in the American Journal of Public Health showed watching many rap music videos increased a woman’s risk of using alcohol and drugs.
•Music videos often depict sexual activities, showing women as sex objects.
Why do we need girls to strip off their clothes and dance provocatively for a music video? If the song is good, won't it sell without all the jiggling going on behind the rapper? Or have we all become so conditioned to the idea that “sex sells” that we don’t notice it? Sex doesn't have to sell; if everyone stopped buying CDs and going to the concerts of artists who encourage the objectification of women, the practice would soon stop. Why should you, as a girl, listen to music that objectifies women? There's nothing wrong with nudity -- but the nudity of one gender being used to sell something can be wrong. Have we all become so delusional that a naked man showing off on a CD cover would make us buy it? Probably not, yet we see nothing wrong with a naked woman doing the same, and we promote it by purchasing the CD she’s on.
Women are influenced negatively by music videos. Music videos have created a mindset as to what women should do and look like. Music videos influence women to be sexy and have no sense of self-respect. Music videos make it seem like all women are good for is showing off their bodies. Women are not just sexual objects, they have feelings too. In videos women are just dancing and grinding. I hate how women are portrayed in music videos. They should be treated with some respect, but since women aren’t speaking up, they continue to be degraded in music videos.
The video for Nelly’s song Tip Drill shows him swiping his credit card in a women’s butt. This is so disrespectful. In the video to Akon’s I Want to Love You, women are shaking, grinding, and dancing on the floor as if they are having orgasms.
Women in music videos have no respect or self pride at all. They get pride from comments like, “You looked so fly in that video,” or “Your makeup was on point.” I get so mad and aggravated when I see women with potential degrade themselves so much. A women’s body shouldn’t be treated like a trophy prize. It should be treated with respect. Remember, it’s more important for women to be smart than prettyLil’ Kim and Lil Wayne are both rappers whose music videos have a huge impact on teens, but their videos portray women and men differently. Both Lil’ Kim and Lil Wayne’s videos show women wearing sexy clothing, but while Lil’ Kim’s video includes a group of muscular men in jail wearing orange uniform pants with no shirt, Lil Wayne is on top of the world showing off his millions of dollars worth of jewelry and wearing a black suit. Lil’ Kim portrays both men and women sexually, but Lil Wayne has professional men in his videos, giving men power.
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