Hip hop has a vagina. - Brown University

It’s these ill informed understandings that
become impressed in the minds of young
women who breathe in mainstream hip hop
images like air. Fair enough, the impact of hip
hop culture on women’s psyche is as reciprocal
as women’s on the industry. There’s a huge
difference between what we see on the screen
and what goes on behind the scenes, and it
takes cultural critics like Tricia Rose and Scott
Poulson-Bryant to inform us of that gap. But for
the eight year old girl who is not precocious
enough to engage in such reading, there is
little hope. She sees booties flapping, bottles
popping, blunts blazing and music booming.
She doesn’t see a director telling the woman
to jiggle a little more; to smile a little harder and
show a little more skin. And as obvious as these
music videos should be that it’s entertainment,
it is not to her. Hell, it’s not even that obvious to
me. There is something about us as a society
these days where we aren’t able to distinguish
reality from fantasy. But I ain’t even gonna lie.
There have been times when I have danced in
the mirror naked, aspiring to be a video vixen
and have the eyes of millions on me. But where
does that come from? There is a disconnection
between the value of women and their
impact on culture. There is an even greater
disconnection between the value women
place on themselves. Women allow themselves
to be objectified. And we—women—support it
by purchasing the music. I know we’re all trying
to survive out here, but there must be a point
when integrity overshadows a $5000 check for
an appearance in Weezy’s video. Maybe after
Obama gets us out of this recession…
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