Should hiphop be banned because the culture degrades women?

Question

Lioness I'm sorry I meant gangsta rap not hiphop. I didn't mean to offend you.

Answer 1

Are you referring to the hiphop culture or are you referring to gangsta rap? Hiphop is a cultural movement that's been around longer than I have been alive, how can you possibly put yourself together and ask whether or not it should be banned? Do you think we need to ban breakdancing, beatboxing, hiphop movies, hiphop newsletters/magazines, hiphop fashion too? LOL I know I asked you this before, but are you serious? And speaking of the music specifically, you know there are different variations and styles to hiphop, right? Have you ever listened to Common, Most Def or Lauren hill? Should they be banned too? I suggest you do pull up a few lyrics and tell me who you find being degraded?

If you're referring to the lyrics of gangsta rap, yes, I do have a problem with lyrics that glorify violence, drugs, the thug life and misogyny--I have more problem with the way Blacks are portrayed than I do with the way women are portrayed. Everybody has been around women, but not everybody has been around Blacks, so some people assume the portrayal in gangsta rap to be a representation of all Blacks (criminals). The youth now (Asian, Mexican, White, Black etc) thinks it's OK to call each other the N-word everywhere like nothing is wrong--they never lived through the civil rights era, so they have no understanding of the offensiveness of the word. Similarly, it has made it as socially acceptable to call women b!tches and h0es. As long as we, the people, buy the records, the will lyrics will be produced. I don't believe in the government stepping in to clean up for parents who can't teach their children right from wrong. We simply need more educated and responsible parents. I see so many girls claiming to like "thugs" when they have, what-so-ever, no understanding of what it really means. They never even bothered to look it up in the dictionary, yet they glorify it. Women, themselves buy records that call them b1tches and h0es, maybe we need to start from our own homes before we ban anything.

Millionaire gangsta rappers glorify crime, drugs, sex and violence to put millions in their own pockets and billions in the pockets of the white label-owners at the expense of the decent, hard-working class. It is the job of those who are being degraded to demand more respect and quit supporting this kind of culture. I know this is difficult because our generation doesn't have much identity to stand on, but little by little we can change the tone, NOT banning it.

It's hard to demand respect when we don't even respect ourselves.

EDIT: NP. I'm not offended, you just tested the wrong nerve.

Answer 2

Not all hip hop is degrading to women .

Besides like it or not sex sells . We have to be realistic about it . As much as there is both a demand for sexy provocative material and women who want to be sexy there will be controversial genres out there .

Remember that what is offensive to you and what you think might be offensive to any and all woman are not the same .

Many women who are sex objects get paid big bucks .

I guess the point is we always assume there is a victim .

Now i dont agree with calling women ridiculus names and curse words .

We also need to know that if we start banning stuff where does the banning stop ?

Maybe something you do offends some religious person and wants to ban your behavior ? ( i do not like it when religious types dictate things to people )

So be careful about wanting to ban something it might just come back to bite you in the @ss if someone finds something you do offensive .

"your right to shake your fist ends at the tip of my nose "-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Answer 3

But there is the sense of autonomy which is important. It's like choosing to follow the wrong ideals or being forced to follow them. Force is completely unacceptable under any circumstances. Nobody can judge who's right and who's wrong. How would we like it if people forced us to do what is "right" according to them? The Eastern Culture is no less objectifying of women. The Mukhtaran Mai case is just one of many. Prostitution and trafficking of women is rampant in Iran and Afghanistan as well, but here women are forced into it. The Indian subcontinent (Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka) has the highest population of AIDS infected patients, almost all of them transferred sexually. This is inspite of prostitution being illegal in these countries! Imagine if it were legal?

Answer 4

No. Censorship is not cool. But neither is MUCH of the hip-hop culture.

(BTW, how to you ban a culture? You can ban a song or a style of dress, but a culture?)

People need to speak out against it and encourage others not to spend their money on this cr4p.

As a black man, I especially tell my friends they shouldn't give money to some guy calling women names when if a white man called their mothers those same names, he'd earn himself a cap in his ***.


EDIT

Dino, that's wrongly attributed to Holmes. Helvetius said it before Holmes was born.

And we're not talking about women in revealing clothing (where what's demeaning may be debated). We're talking about using slurs directed wholesale at women in general.

Answer 5

Hiphop is a culture, and as such it should be respected. After all, what artist is writing and performing is his / her IMPRESSION / OPINION of the world around them. If you do not agree with what they are saying, do switch your station. It is a free country we are living in, where everyone has a freedom of speech.

Answer 6

No speech should be banned. Women who let their men know what they think of anything that degrades women have the ability to be very persuasive to their men.

Answer 7

no it shoudn't. it degrades men as much as women. feminists look pat "let's kill HIM" "pop a cap in HIS ***" "MEN running from police".. it goes both ways.. and hip hop artists like Eve do exactly the same thing to men. Pop degrades men, because girls sing about we're going to make you pay for breaking up with us, your the one in the wrong. awww what? you didn't see that did you? to all the feminists take a closer look for goodness sake

Answer 8

Absolutely not. There shouldn't be a ban on any form of artistic expression. People should either ignore it or encourage those who are involved in it to change their ways.

Answer 9

I don't like censorship of any kind even for this kind of music. I think people who have problems with it should practice a form of self censorship. That is, don't buy it or even listen to it.

Answer 10

Wow!! You've created consensus with your question. No one on here is a censor.