By Faith Hardy
With the rise of anti-sexual assault movements and #metoo, it’s obvious that the people of our country are trying to make strides toward fighting rape culture. And as honorable as these efforts are, there is a blatant contradiction between the message of anti-aggression and anti-abuse in the degrading lyrics we often hear.
We all love a good dance party, whether it includes current songs like ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke or a throwback from our early high school years like ‘Timber’ by Pitbull and Ke$ha. And I think it’s safe to say that we often dance and sing along to songs such as these with complete abandon, without stopping to think about the words that are coming out of our mouths. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. But what really are the messages that we’re singing along to?
“Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.” Wait, what? This song, U.E.O.N.O. by Rocky ft. Rick Ross, is just one of many that popularize rape culture by referencing rape and drugging someone. Many of the lyrics from songs put out by popular artists such as Kanye West, Eminem, Pitbull and Robin Thicke are ridden with sexist, degrading, and objectifying lyrics that put down, disrespect and silence women. And while we may be aware of some of these objectifying lyrics, I don’t think we really understand the effect they can have on us.
Misogynistic lyrics have been proven to cause woman listeners to begin to believe that their worth is solely found in their sexuality, and as a result show a lowered self-esteem and an increase in self-objectifying thoughts and beliefs. It’s not hard to conclude that because of this distorted perception of their worth, women are less likely to advocate for their own equality and value as individuals. Instead, this will lead to further insecurities as women try to “perfect” their bodies and their physical image, and will tend to present themselves as sexual objects first, instead of demanding the respect that they deserve as individuals, thereby reinforcing this culture of misogyny we are trying to fight.
Now, before you brush that off and say how you only listen to this type of music for the vibe or use the age-old excuse that it can’t affect you because you “don’t really listen to the words,” think about it. Regardless of if you know, pay attention to or agree with the lyrics being sung, your subconscious mind is still being negatively affected. Those messages filter into your mind as a listener and begin to have an impact on you, influencing you to believe what you hear.
And women aren’t the only ones affected by objectifying lyrics. Studies show that men who listen to misogynistic lyrics display an increase in the belief that women should be dominated by men, are more likely to be indifferent towards sexual violence and are more likely to have aggressive tendencies towards women than those who did not. Also, as these effects were visible after exposure to only two songs, imagine the impact on someone that constantly listening to misogynistic lyrics could have.
Regardless of how much pleasure these songs bring you, the negative effects brought about by them far outweigh any benefits or happiness felt in the moment of listening to a song. We as women have an important task to protect each other from the discrimination that these lyrics can cause. Contrary to what many of these songs say, I don’t want to be reduced to a walking vagina (sorry to break it to you, Kanye), and I’m willing to wager a guess that I’m not alone in that.
We’ve been taught our whole lives to intervene when a person is being bullied, instead of being a passive bystander. I would ask you to realize that objectifying lyrics are essentially bullying the entire female race. Girls are being reduced to nothing more than an object, something to be controlled and presented as worth nothing more than their sexuality. Regardless of the extent to which you enjoy this style of music, this is something that you simply should not stand for. I urge you to not hold a double standard for yourself, and to choose to not listen to music that degrades women, no matter how catchy the song may be. You don’t have to deprive yourself of your favorite style of music to do this either; there are many songs in these genres that are not offensive to or degrading towards women but contain the same talent and style that is so loved from these genres, such as much of Chance the Rapper’s music!
Can you, with integrity, sing lyrics calling for the sexual exploitation of women and at the same time rail against sexual injustices? The continual promotion of degradation of females through music must be stopped, and you can play a vital role in ensuring that it is.
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