BRAVO to essence...

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At last, women lash out at hip hop's abuses


The most successful black women's magazine, Essence, is in the middle of a campaign that could have monumental cultural significance.

Essence is taking on the slut images and verbal abuse projected onto black women by hip hop lyrics and videos.

The magazine is the first powerful presence in the black media with the courage to examine the cultural pollution that is too often excused because of the wealth it brings to knuckleheads and amoral executives.

This anything-goes-if-sells attitude comes at a cost. The elevation of pimps and pimp attitudes creates a sadomasochistic relationship with female fans. They support a popular idiom that consistently showers them with contempt. We are in a crisis, and Essence knows it.

When asked how the magazine decided to take a stand, the editor, Diane Weathers said, "We started looking at the media war on young girls, the hypersexualization that keeps pushing them in sexual directions at younger and younger ages."

Things got deeper, she says, because, "We started talking at the office about all this hatred in rap song after rap song, and once we started, the subject kept coming up because women were incapable of getting it off their minds."

click here for the rest of Stanley Crouch's article:


Originally published on January 3, 2005

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taken from http://www.essence.com/essence/themix/takebackthemusic/

Entertainment insiders, thinkers and consumers candidly discuss hip-hop’s outlook on Black women’s sexuality


We are mothers, sisters, daughters and lovers of hip-hop. We’ve emulated the sexy confidence of Salt-N-Pepa and the toughness of MC Lyte. We’ve wept over Tupac Shakur’s visceral poetry and marveled at the lyrical dexterity of Notorious B.I.G. When Nas said, "The World Is Yours," we believed him. And today we stand at the forefront of popular culture: independent, talented and comfortable with the skin we’re in. We are really feeling ourselves. Perhaps that’s why we’re so alarmed at the imbalance in the depiction of our sexuality and character in music.

link to the rest of the article:

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check out some of the responses to the article in the "What's Really Going On" section: http://www.essence.com/essence/themix/takebackthemusic/sb_whatsreallygoingon.html

Thank you. I have been having conversations for months about the sad state of urban music. I am 32 years of age and can remember when women were sexy, sassy, smart and serving it up... MC Lyte, Latifah, Salt-n-Pepa, Moni Lov, EnVogue, Zhane...Oh, do you remember the times?

What I see on tv makes me sad. I took cable out of my home over a year ago and I can see the difference in my two sons. My oldest idolized the rappers and performers. He danced to the videos and seemed mesmerized by the beats and the women gyrating in front of the camera. He even turned to me and said that I was not a girl because I did not have the long weave, face full of make-up and skintight clothes. I looked him in his eyes and said you are right, I am not a girl. I am all woman. Woman enough to carry you and birth all 9 lbs. of you. I still wear my hair short and my clothes are professional attire more than anything else. Since the videos are gone, my sons both look at me and tell me what a beautiful woman I (the rest of her comments were cut off)
-SonniAliAmani

I see that Destiny's Child, one of the biggest female acts in pop music at present, is signed on to perform at the Essence Music Festival in 2005. My question: Will Destiny's Child be performing their hit song "Soldier"? If Essence is serious about taking back the music, Essence should consider promoting artists whose lyrics and videos support the values of the Take Back the Music campaign. In short, are4 you taking it back or talking smack?
-Paul

IF A FEMALE SUBJECTS HERSELF TO BE PUBLICLY VIEWED AS A TRICK OR A HO THEN THAT'S THE CHOICE SHE MAKES, BUT DON'T HATE ON THE ARTIST BECAUSE THAT IS HOW HE CHOOSES TO EXPRESS HIMSELF JUST AS FEMALES WHO ARE AGAINST SEEING THEIR GENDER MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE FREEDOM TO PORTRAY YOURSELF AS YOU WISH.
-NA -NA

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