It was during my training to become a state-certified rape crisis counselor that I understood that my cultural revolution had turned on me.If female is an essential part of the definition of slurs that appear on the majority of hip-hop albums,then those MCs are definitely talking about me.Women exist in hip-hop as objects of lust or objects of scorn.I feel either inadequate or insulted.I don't feel included or represented.

::::::::

Editorial: Misogyny | 25 Sep

Download the podcast: Editorial: Misogyny.mp3

In the late 80's of my childhood and the early '90's of my adolescence, the rebellion of hip-hop, the fearlessness of riot grrrl and the anger of both converged to make one Nikki Patin. The upcoming Congressional hearing on the degradation of women in hip-hop lyrics, titled 'From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degradation,' and scheduled for Sept. 25, has gotten me thinking about how a hip-hop loving, black feminist feels about misogyny in hip-hop.

Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Nikki Patin. I'm a writer, performer, educator and activist who helped run a small hip-hop label a few years ago.

Hip-hop is an unflinching reflection of experience lived through black and brown skin. Hip-hop (and all Black music) reshapes the world in its own vision. It takes a world filled with ugliness and pain and for a few precious moments, turns that negativity into syncopated relief, melodic respite.

Hip-hop is rebellion on wax and is a call to action for many young brothers and sisters. Like all music borne of oppression, it gives voice to the voiceless.

Hip-hop has been called dangerous, especially those lyrics that call for radical action and razor-sharp analysis.

Russell Simmons states that hip-hop artists are "inspired by the things they see about America. They are the poets who see violence and homophobia and sexism and racism and materialism, and they express that. They are holding up a mirror to America, and we don't like what we see." ( USAToday.com, 3-907)

My question to Mr. Simmons is when we're going to put down that mirror and start creating our own vision of the world?

I remember the day that my entire 5th grade class, spontaneously and in unison, rhymed the first verse of "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. I was a nerd in school. My single Mom could not afford Air Jordans, which made me an immediate social outcast. My lack of cool, though, didn't matter in that moment. What mattered was that I could rhyme along with them, keeping pace with a cultural revolution that made us feel like we had a special secret that only we could unravel with our tongues.

As I got older, it became harder to rhyme along. Once I hit my early 20's, I began to notice slurs against Black women in music. I justified my love for hip-hop by saying that those MCs weren't talking about me or that they didn't mean what they said…they were just trying to sell records. I was just trying to nod my head.

It was during my training to become a state-certified rape crisis counselor that I understood that my cultural revolution had turned on me. If female is an essential part of the definition of slurs that appear on the majority of hip-hop albums, then those MCs are definitely talking about me. Women exist in hip-hop as objects of lust or objects of scorn. I feel either inadequate or insulted. I don't feel included or represented.

As a sexual assault prevention educator, I was responsible for teaching young women and men how to protect and educate themselves. I'd print out hip-hop lyrics and ask my classes to read them aloud. They were shocked by what they saw in print and admitted that the lyrics didn't sound like that with the beat. The young women were particularly frustrated with the double standard that hip-hop seemed to stress: men can say and do whatever they want. Women can't.

From "P.I.M.P" by 50 Cent:
Man this hoe you can have her, when I'm done I ain't gon' keep her.
Man, bitches come and go, every nigga pimpin' know.
You saying it's a secret, but you ain't gotta keep it on the low.
Bitch, choose with me, I'll have you stripping in the street.

This message is reinforced by anyone who raps or sings along with these lyrics, with few adults stepping in to educate young men and women about the danger of defining women in such narrow terms.

Hip-hop has become a modern-day auction block, where Black women's body parts are detailed for value. The highest bidder's chains are made of platinum, instead of iron.

Hip-hop executives who green light concepts, artists, PR campaigns, videos and LYRICS aren't saying anything, either. The Congressional hearing today
will be the first time that many of them have to face the people who are helping their industry profit: Black women.

Black Congressman Bobby Rush, who represents Illinois' first district, led the charge on the hearings.

After the story broke about the hearing, I started seeing comments from young black men on Chuck D's website, allhiphop.com, about their perception of what's going on.

None of them could understand why Congress is holding a hearing on the degradation of women in hip-hop when so many families from Hurricane Katrina are still displaced and when the war in Iraq still rages on, among many other crises happening in the US and abroad.

I, for one, am just as confused as they are. Abortion continues to be debated, even though Roe v. Wade happened over 20 years ago. Rape still isn't considered a hate crime, in most cases, even though using a word like "whore" during a sexual assault would legally make it a hate crimes case, at least in Illinois. Congress hasn't shown much attention, nor much empathy when it comes to women.

I think that hip-hop is being used as a wedge to divide the Black community among gender, sexuality and class lines. Black men, especially those with economic power, have the ability to acknowledge the power that Black women have. I actually think that they have a spiritual, ethical and moral responsibility to do so, especially if the Black community wishes to move forward towards our own determination and especially if we do not wish to emulate how this society treats anyone who doesn't fit into the mainstream paradigm. There's sex and violence everywhere…hip-hop's just really in your face about it.

Byron Hurt directed an excellent documentary entitled, "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" that explores black masculinity in hip-hop. In a crucial scene, Hurt shows a circle (known as a cipher in the hip-hop world) of free-styling MCs. They're all mostly talking about the same thing: guns, sex, drugs, revenge, etc. Hurt asks them why they all rhyme about the same thing.

The answer: this is what record executives want to hear. One man in the film spits a beautiful, positive rhyme just to show the scope of his talent and intellect. If he's showing that and he hasn't "made" it, what does that say about the hip-hop artists who have?

In a nation shaped by oppression, today's hearing is a showdown between our two favorite American pastimes: racism and sexism.

When I talk about my anger towards this cultural conundrum with my friends, I get the same advice: boycott. Don't buy their albums.

But how do I boycott a culture that forms an essential part of my identity and my community?

When hip-hop demands our silence along with our dollars, think of what we're asked to do. We have to weigh what matters more: our gender or our race. We have to split the difference of discrimination between the 1 in 4 chance that we'll be raped because we're women or the 1 in 4 chance that we'll live in poverty because we're Black. Much of mainstream hip-hop tells us that our value lies in our bodies. When that value is exploited in an effort to transcend the poverty that many of us are facing, then we're told we're worthless.

The truth is that Black women (and other women, too) are getting ripped to proverbial shreds in the majority of mainstream hip-hop. It's dangerous because we're not given equal voice to counter-act these attacks AND because any notion of protecting or valuing women is suddenly Republican or CONSERVATIVE.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

Stop the presses. I have never been nor will I ever be a Republican. Or Conservative. Or a Democrat. Or an Independent. The majority of pampered assholes who make up those parties don't even come close to representing my multi-identified, never categorized, BLAK, PHAT, KWEER GRRRL ASS.

So how is defending my right to resist anything that seeks to oppress me Republican or Conservative, exactly?

I don't want to control what anyone says or the art they create. I fully recognize that the First Amendment is what allows me to speak out against this issue.

I just want solutions to counteract hip-hop's negative effects on Black women, but I can't justify boycotting a culture that's made me proud of everything that I am, both beautifully Black and fiercely female.

I think that record labels that promote misogynist artists should donate a portion of their profits to domestic violence shelters and sexual assault organizations, just like tobacco companies who invest in helping smokers quit. In business, if there is negative fall-out from a product sold, then the consequence is offsetting that fall-out with whatever it costs to balance the damage. I don't think hip-hop is any different. I also think they should sponsor and organize community forums where impact of degrading lyrics can be discussed honestly.

Also, music executives need to promote female Black MC's like male artists in the mainstream. Strong, female MCs are out there and their perspective on where they come from and what they've been through is just as valid as any male MC's perspective.

The Black community needs to start promoting and supporting independent art and building independent art businesses. We need to get to the top of music industry food chain by owning venues and production facilities. We need to become more business-savvy and less dependent on executives who do not share our community interests. We also need to stop reflecting and start creating our own view and voice in the world. Emulating the society around us, which was built on racism and so many other forms of oppression, is not the pathway to freedom or equality.

The sad truth is that, if nothing changes, Black women lose out. We're the only ones in this struggle being asked to choose between our sex and our race, our color and our gender. We're the only voices getting drowned out, while our bodies boost ratings and record sales.

I hope record executives can recognize the power that they have to stop pitting Black men against Black women. I hope the Black male artists and CEOs can recognize Black women are still holding them down, even while we're suffocating beneath hatred and lack of acknowledgment. I hope they can recognize that we need their support and protection, not their contempt.

In case no one recognizes me, allow me to re-introduce myself…my name is Nikki Patin and I'm a broken-hearted fan of hip-hop.

www.nikpatin.com

Authors Bio:
Nikki Patin has been writing for close to 22 years. She has taught dozens of workshops at various high schools, colleges and universities on performance poetry, body image, sexual assault prevention and LGBT issues. In 2004, Nikki was featured on the fourth season of HBO's Def Poetry Jam and in 2006, took the gold medal in the Gay Games International LGBT poetry slam. Nikki resides in Chicago and is a freelance writer, performer and educator.