I've been having some conversations over the last few days about Ashley Judd and her misguided and misinformed views on Hip-Hop in her just-released memoir. At first, I dismissed it as another older white feminist movie star talking about things that she has no idea about. I respect what she has done to advocate for international maternal health, so I rolled my eyes and tried to look at it as an opportunity to talk about misogyny in commercial Hip-Hop music, and how that affects perceptions of it within larger society. But that was a surface and reactionary response, lacking deeper thought about the larger implications of her statement and what it shows about her prejudices. Here's what she said:
"YouthAIDS created hip, public service announcements for TV and radio using popular local and international celebrities and athletes and was participating in the MTV World AIDS Day 'Staying Alive' concerts," she wrote. "Along with other performers, YouthAIDS was supported by rap and hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg and P. Diddy to spread the message ... um, who? Those names were a red flag. As far as I'm concerned, most rap and hip-hop music -- with its rape culture and insanely abusive lyrics and depictions of girls and women as 'ho's' -- is the contemporary soundtrack of misogyny."During a conversation on Facebook with a feminist sisterfriend, we commented on how Ashley Judd is an outsider to the culture and knows nothing about Hip-Hop to make those statements. However, I also talked with my close friend, TastyKeish, and she was really upset and bothered by it. She opened my eyes to the severity of using "rape culture" to describe something so broad yet nuanced. I'm realizing that being caught up in academic feminist circles (of which I'm often on the periphery), I can have tunnelvision. Maybe I'm choosing gender over race...I'm not sure...I hate the idea that I even think about having to weigh the two. But I see I've become desensitized to these kinds of comments and if I am going to call myself a feminist, then I should be just as disgusted by gendered and ignorant comments about black men's sexuality and a culture that has raised me (even if it has its issues) as I am about how black women's sexuality is attacked through anti-choice billboards.
Aside from the fact that Ashley Judd has no clue about Hip-Hop as an art form and a culture, her comment shows an underlying prejudice towards black men. She says that Snoop and Diddy's participation in YouthAIDS raised a red flag for her. If she knew anything about Hip-Hop or maybe even had a conversation with either one of these men, she'd know that neither condone rape or create violent music (at least not in the last decade), both are intelligent and savvy media moguls, and both are fathers (each has a least one daughter). So why wouldn't they use their star power and influence to spread the message to young people, and especially the Hip-Hop community, about the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention? Shouldn't they be lauded? If their music is so sexually irresponsible, isn't it a good thing that they are talking about safe sex considering that HIV/AIDS transmission rates are so much higher among African-Americans?
What's particularly dangerous is the use of the phrase "rape culture" in this context. In the wake of the Cleveland, Texas rape case, we have seen how stereotypes of sexually aggressive black men spin out of control and dredge up historical beliefs of black men being rapists. This is the latest incarnation with Ashley Judd, a well-respected advocate for maternal health and women and girls, attacking Hip-Hop. Commercial Hip-Hop is misogynous. So is underground shit. Rock, metal, house, R&B, techno, etc. all have misogynous and violent content. But none is as popular, commercially viable, or controversial. There's a difference between talking about the music as being misogynous and honestly deconstructing what's behind that, and saying Hip-Hop as a whole promotes "rape culture." It shows a lack of understanding of the diversity of Hip-Hop and the commercial decisions that shape how it is sold and capitalized upon (and who makes those decisions).
I know that she is promoting a book and people think it's a publicity stunt. I don't know...maybe it is, generally speaking we as listeners and consumers of Hip-Hop (at least her definition of it) aren't her main audience. As a publicist and communications strategist, I think that's idiotic and shortsighted but I'm also not a big supporter of the idea that all publicity, even bad, is good publicity. If that's the case then mission accomplished...now people who didn't know or care about her memoir think she is a racist dumbass. Or some people think she is speaking out about negative imagery of women in Hip-Hop and pop culture. That depends on your point of view. What I do believe is that Ms. Judd wants to advance the discussion of attitudes that lead to sexual assault and rape since she experienced sexual abuse. Yet this is hardly a constructive way to do it.
I am no Hip-Hop expert. I grew up adoring Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Monie Love and MC Lyte...along with Snoop. (I'm still a fan.) As a teenager, I was offended that Biggie called women "hos" but loved Lil' Kim for spitting raw lyrics about liking to fuck. I worked in the industry and saw the best and worst treatment of women, how stereotypes can be expressed by both genders, and how the money would dry up if women were not running things behind the scenes and showing their bodies on camera giving even the lamest emcee a hope that his video will be seen. There is a spectrum of attitudes and expressions in music that is not individual to Hip-Hop, that's what creates art.
I don't want to go in on Ms. Judd because I know I've said and written things that were ill-informed and irresponsible, things I wish I had thought more about before putting into a public space. Instead since she is passionate about maternal health, I'd like her to see how Hip-Hop is raising awareness of the issue in the African continent, where she has done a lot of humanitarian work. Two powerful women (songstress Maya Azucena and filmmaker Lisa Russell) created MDGFive.com, a movement uniting artists and activists for maternal health. They just returned from Tanzania and collaborated with local artists there for the song, "Mama Creator." This is Hip-Hop. It might not sound like what's on the radio or in videos but it expresses a positive and life-affirming aspect of the culture in a way that I think Ms. Judd can relate to.
Now she has come out after the backlash and said this, exclusively to Russell Simmons via Global Grind:
“...What I’m being accused of is condemning rap and hip-hop as a whole, and the whole community and when they say community, they mean the fans, and African-Americans, it’s become so generalized. My intention was to take a stand to say the elements that are misogynistic and treat girls and women in a hyper-sexualized way are inappropriate. The male dominance that is displayed, and the reinforcement of girls' and women value and identify as primarily sexual, is not helpful in any artistic expression, in any cultural form, whether its country music or in television story lines.”
The idea of misogyny in Hip-Hop is not new but this can certainly be another opportunity to talk about how women are represented in popular culture, not just Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is an easy target but it's a lot more complicated than just saying it promotes rape culture without looking at the bigger picture. I identify as a feminist but I like "Ain't No Fun" and a whole slew of songs with shameful sexist lyrics. I know it's problematic and sometimes it's a mindfuck but I'm aware of Hip-Hop and all of its complexities. I want our community to be challenged by public condemnation of Hip-Hop and to think about what messages we are promoting globally and generationally. But I also think it's an unfortunate reminder that no matter how much success black men achieve the stereotypes about their sexuality continue to exist and persist. For feminism to move forward among all genders, we need to be cognizant of how this thinking keeps gender roles alive and inadvertently feeds a cycle of violence...one that has nothing to do with Hip-Hop.
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