Women in Music: The Dancers: Hip Hop

I enjoy hip hop dancing...watching it, that is. The closest I come to dancing of this nature is clumsily moving along to an aerobics DVD.

I like the bright, colorful costumes worn by the dancers in this video. Some might think me an old fuddy-duddy, but I prefer costumes of this nature to scantily-clad "babes."

Granted, in this video they are using ordinary people rather than professional dancers. In many ways, I like it better. I grant that people should have agency to wear whatever they want, but at that juncture women and girls weren't being encouraged to dress as revealingly as possible. This doesn't mean the era wasn't without problems where women were concerned. Notice that there are very few female break dancers, and none of the musicians are women.

 

Rosie Perez' pop-lock style is downright exhausting to watch. It's more athletic than sexual. She looks like she could kill anyone who messed with her.

Warning: this video is extremely explicit. Most videos don't go this far. The women in this video are nothing but objects, and the lyrics are degrading. You might find yourself wondering if I decided to embed porn.

Of course some clever soul trotted out the old "sex sells" chestnut. He also told the commenter who decried the sexism in the video to "go die with your eleven cats." (This explains the eleven cats statement in my response.)

My response:

Sex is one thing, sexism is another. I don't see any of the men in the video stripping down to next to nothing and shaking their asses while allowing themselves to be groped. These women are not being presented as human beings, even as human beings involved in sexual acts. They are being presented as objects for the pleasure of the men. They are given about as much respect as blow-up dolls.

The whole "sex sells" mantra actually translates to misogyny sells.

When men are constantly encouraged to present themselves as sex objects as well, then we can talk about how "sex sells."

I am a mother, and I raised my son never to treat women this way or to view women as objects rather than people. My "eleven cats" have more respect for women than these so-called men display.

Nelly is not a stupid person and he is not a thug. He is a very shrewd businessman. I doubt he treats women this way in day to day life. However, his talent and business acumen do not excuse his ignorance in this case. The way a well-known hip-hop icon treats women in his videos makes a statement to teenage boys watching the video regarding how women should be viewed and treated, and the statement is not a positive one.

Granted, I have focused on hip-hop in this post. This doesn't mean that other genres don't have problems with sexism in their lyrics and videos as well.

I love hip-hop and I love music in general. I don't get bent out of shape when something is a little suggestive, or even a lot suggestive. However, I do think that it is necessary to treat others with respect, including and perhaps especially in sexualized situations.

~DJ Carrie~

Favorite Musicians of the Netherworld: Bon Scott

9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980

I was just 15 years old when Bon Scott died. It devastated me. AC/DC was my favorite band, and let me confess a little something to you. I loved Bon. Yeah, I know how cheesy that sounds, but I did.

Talk about a match that never would have worked out in reality, that would have been it. But I loved him anyway. I had always been a good Catholic girl, but when I hit my teens, I started to go a little wild.

I wasn't wild with boys, contrary to popular rumors that I had eight abortions by the time I was fourteen. No, seriously, that was a rumor spreading around about me. I don't know how it started, because I was incredibly naïve about sex. I thought a blow job was blowing in someone's ear, and I wondered why the hell anyone would find that activity enjoyable.

I knew how babies were made, but I was scared to death of doing the act that made babies. I didn't want a baby, and I had heard that it hurt like hell to have sex the first time. (At this point I still believed that pain with sex for women was because of Eve and the original sin, and I hated the bitch for it. What I didn't admit was that I was also pissed off at God for being such a douchebag as to do this to women because of Eve being an asshole. Believe me, I was very indoctrinated.) Nonetheless, I did daydream about doing said act with Bon Scott, and I figured I was going to hell, but I liked him (and AC/DC's music) so much that I figured my immortal soul was a small price to pay.

When I found out that Bon had died, I walked through the little Peyton Place town that was home to me and my misery, feeling terribly lost. Nobody in that town understood me. My parents didn't understand me either. I felt like I was an alien who had been lost from another planet and ended up in this fucking miserable place. I was very bullied and very lonely, and I felt like I'd just lost the love of my life. Well, I had, though he didn't know he was.

Bon was known as a nice guy, even if he was a bit of a randy sort. I would dream about him sometimes. I like to think that maybe he felt a little sympathy for a silly, unhappy girl who had a huge crush on him. Maybe he wanted to show me that I had a friend after all. Who knows. The older I get, the less I know.

Though Brian Johnson is fabulous and I can't imagine anyone else filling Bon's shoes, there will never be another Bon Scott. He was one of those people that just can't be imitated. I think one reason Brian worked out so well is because he wasn't trying to imitate Bon. He was just trying to do the best damn job he could.

Brian believes that Bon came to him one night in spirit and stayed for about an hour, helping him finish the songs he was struggling to write. He has said that he doesn't like to talk about this much, because people think he's crazy when he tells this tale. I don't. But I am kinda crazy.

So today, if we'll have a moment of silence for...

Nah, that's not the way we do it in the Netherworld!

If we'll turn it up to 666 and drive down the Highway to Hell, that's the way to honor Bon Scott in a fitting way!

Ronald Belford Scott: Never imitated, never forgotten. Rock in peace!

Baby Bash Playlist

Unfortunately the embedding has been disabled, at least on the first song in the playlist. Click here to access it.

The children's and youth programs coordinator at the church I attended when my son was born said that her father always told her that if you keep doing new things, you won't grow old as fast. That's why I like to check out new music. I discover a lot of stuff that's pure shit, but then sometimes I discover people like this young R&B and hip hop artist, Baby Bash.

I really like his style. He transitions from the R&B and hip hop genres with ease. His song "Sugar Sugar" has appeal both for younger generations and for people my age. The best music is timeless, and this song has all the elements of timelessness.

Some of his songs, such as "Cyclone," obviously have a younger vibe. But hell, an old broad like me can still get up and dance! Maybe there's a middle aged dude out there looking for a good old gal, and he's the kind of guy who can see that I've got it going on in spirit, even though my boobs sag and I've got buns of Jello! Of course, he'd also have to be prepared to deal with my psych issues (not like I'm going to stab him in the night or anything, but I do get suicidally depressed sometime) but that's another story.

Love (and that includes sexuality) is for folks of every age, not just the young and "hot" set.

My Gay Marriage Does Not Hurt Your Straight Marriage

My fiancé and I just spent a good part of  the morning destroying countless heterosexual marriages and causing churches and bibles to burst into flames as we tore up the bedroom having awesome, consensual, monogamous, ragingly gay butt sex. Sorry, guess we still haven't been able to pray the gay away!