Hip Hop Culture - Misogynistic Lyrics and Objectification of Females - Discourse Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory

2104 Words9 Pages
Hip Hop Culture The objective of this essay is to analyse the lyricism and its intention conveyed within the Hip Hop culture. Originating in African-American and Latino-American communities during the 1970s in New York City, Hip Hop culture has gained global attention in the mainstream. The Hip Hop culture consists of four elements: rapping, hip hop dance, graffiti and Djing. Throughout its short history, Hip Hop has been subject to criticism due to the nature of its lyrical content. Majority of the lyricism depicted in Hip Hop is about emphasizing the “thug life”. In particular, misogynistic lyrics are prevalent in the Hip Hop community. It has become a norm within the community to demean and objectify women as this glorifies the ability of a male to control and exploit them. This phenomenon will be analysed with the Discourse Theory and the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. The Discourse Theory is the study of language, and the meaning assigned to language. “Discourse in the broad sense includes ‘talk,’ ‘writing,’ and ‘discussion.’” (Bohman. 2004) This theory will be used to analyse how artists convey and consolidate their authenticity through their lyrics. This theory is often used by social scientists to analyse how people talk about social issues, politics, and other shared ideals. The Cognitive Dissonance Theory is used to describe two or more cognitions that conflict with one another held by an individual. For e.g. “I know drink-driving is against the law, but I’ve only had a couple beers”. This theory will be used to analyse how Hip Hop artists rationalize with themselves to produce such discriminatory, sexist, and defaming lyrical content. This theory will also be used to identify how listeners use cognitive dissonance to compromise with themselves to look beyond the demeaning lyricism. Lyricism in Hip Hop has almost always told a story of an

More about Hip Hop Culture - Misogynistic Lyrics and Objectification of Females - Discourse Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Open Document