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Introduction

The title of the article is "WOMEN OF COLOR IN HIP HOP: THE

PORNOGRAPHIC GAZE." Its authors are Hunter, Margaret and Soto Kathleen. The work

was published by the "Race, Gender & Class" professional journal in the year 2009.

Statement Problem

Hunter, Margaret and Kathleen state that there have been claims of rap music being

sexist among many people. However, these assumptions are based on few empirical studies

aside from some accounts of journalists. Very few scholars or activists have had time to look

into this genre. Other studies have also concluded that those grabbing headlines are alarmists

and pundits who give biased opinions. Through research, it has been found that most

adolescents who listen or watch rap music tend to be violent, engage in risky sexual

behaviors and substance abuse. It was the observation of the writers that apart from the music

being considered sexist, it also portrays racial and gender ideology. There has been

pornification of the youth culture based on the displays by this music on sex, violence,

objectification, and race. The study seeks to unravel the truth behind the assumptions.

Literature Review

The authors reviewed some previous scholarly papers that related rap music with

pornification, violence, and sexist claims. They found that the music represents a cultural

form that is derived from a specific social, political, or economic context. The social context

encompasses racial and sexist contents, while that of political and economic involves post-

civil rights and capitalist, respectively. From their review's perspective, rap music was
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oppressive and liberating, which made it more challenging to analyze. From the study, people

who play a role in this music writings are Black and Latino artists and white corporate music

executives. The researcher found out that this genre speaks about women of color's expense

and truth to power.

It is the understanding of the researchers that the success of rap music commercially

has been recorded in the time the lyrics deviated from being political. Due to this, gang crack

artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg supplanted Public Enemy, which was a wildly popular group

in the 1990s (Hunter, Margaret, and Kathleen 3). They also claim that black pain, whores,

and criminals are now packaged and sold to the audience of whites which does not seem to

get enough. Hunter, Margaret and Kathleen also found that the rap genre that did not have

political lyrics was used for major commercial labels. However, the librettos of that music

contained gender and racial stereotypes.

In their assessment, the authors determined that sex workers and strip clubs can

illustrate rap pornification. An example of the case is in the commercial success of the Dirty

South genre. It was their opinion that there had been changes in mainstream pornography as

per the Jensen study and constant ratcheting of the edge factor (Hunter, Margaret, and

Kathleen 4). Women are featured as men props for male's sexual pleasure by the mainstream

pornographic videos. The females in these videos give oral sex to the menfolk. They also

participate in gang bangs, receive anal and double penetration sex. The article also resolved

that mainstream pornography also shows the anger of men towards women. Males ejaculating

in the lady's face supports this view. While doing so, they call the females names such as

whore, bitch, slut, or cunt.

Variables

The study did not state clearly their variables. However, those that could be deduced

were men, women, rap music, and pornography. The independent variables are men and
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women, while the dependent ones are pornography and lap music. The study is exploring

how women are portrayed in rap music and why there are high sales when pornography is

used for marketing it.

Hypotheses

Hunter, Margaret and Kathleen failed to state their hypotheses clearly in the article.

However, reading through their work, two hypotheses can be deduced. The first can be stated

that pornography is the backbone of selling a high volume of rap music. The second can state

that women are used as men props in pornographic videos and rap music.

Research Design

Sample

The researchers used a total of 49 songs from the years 2002 and 2003 (Hunter,

Margaret, and Kathleen 4). They used Billboards Music charts to pick the top-ranking rap

singles, 25 from each year (Hunter, Margaret, and Kathleen 4). The selected music was hit

songs both in terms of sales and radio play for every year.

Research Methods

The study used the inductive approach to carry out analysis and see which themes

were coming out of them from the information. They used qualitative coding to isolate the

themes in rap music under study. They relied on critical observations to make their findings.

Conclusions

In their conclusions, Hunter, Margaret and Kathleen found out that women were

mostly described as sex workers in this rap music. Females were frequently mentioned in

references to stripping, pornography, and prostitution. In hip hop, the women's voices were

used to communicate compliance with unequal gender relations. They were also depicted as

crime partners who in the face of adversity exhibited loyalty to men. The authors called these

patterns "Bonnie and Clyde" theme. The researchers also found less diversity in the manner
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in which the women were represented; therefore, they adopted the concept of "pornographic

gaze." Latina and Black women lead more nuanced dialogue on the politics of sexuality in

rap music, race, and gender. The article also determined that rap music provided young

people with creative expressions and spoke about social problems. There are very few people

concerned about the confluence of rap music to pornography. In their findings, the study

supported the second hypothesis that women are used as men props in pornographic videos

and rap music. There is evidence in the lyrics. However, the study did not support the first

hypothesis. There is no statistical data to support the hypothesis that pornography is the

backbone of the selling high volumes of rap music.

Criticisms

The authors chose to carry out a study which most researchers evade. They made the

write conclusions and came up with interesting observations. Their major findings on women

being men's sex props were on the spot. Despite these positives, the study was too general. It

lacks clear instructions, research problems, objectives, and questions. Although there is

justification for the study, one needs to read and find it by themselves. The review of the

literature is not clear. The researcher should have considered separating the instruction and

the literature review. They could also have broken down the introduction into various

subheadings. The same could have been done to the literature review.

Their methodology is very brief, and they did not use representative data to make

generalizations. It is not clear on which statistical tools or models they used in the analysis of

the data. There is also no indication of whether they considered research ethics. In addition,

the article was reporting its findings arbitrarily. Some findings are recorded in the instruction

part, while others are found in the research methodology. Conversely, they should consider

arranging their work better to make it easier for the leader to grasp their findings easily. The
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writers should have considered developing a table of contents, but it can be seen why they did

not. They do not have enough headings and subheadings to develop one.
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Work cited

Hunter, Margaret, and Kathleen Soto. "Women of color in hip hop: The pornographic gaze."

Race, Gender & Class (2009): 170-191.