MARK ANTHONY NEAL COMMENTARY: Hip Hop's Gender Problem

Commentary (Africana.com)

Mr. Neal says there's been a lot of talk about the problems with how women are represented in hip hop, but very little about the source of the influences for these images and ideas. He asserts that we should look at the influences - U.S. society in general - instead of the performers themselves.

While we agree that sexism exists in U.S. society, Mr. Neal is an apologist for misogynist rappers. Don't change the topic! Black critics wanna know what black folks are gonna do about most hip hoppers' (and we'd add, R&B's) crassness, since its videos are particularly heinous within the music industry. We're concerned about how black kids internalize harmful (and colorist) lyrics and images of black women and its nihilistic version of black masculinity, and its repercussions for social relations within our communities. How about far more hip hoppers taking responsibility for their output? Especially since their action network blah blahs about how hip hop is a catalyst for change? More parents, regardless of race, must hold crass hip hoppers accountable and monitor their kids' music.