Today in small groups and as individuals students discussed the essay: Dyson & Hurt in groups: Identified 5 key arguments numbered them & the evidence. Developed 5 thesis sentences. Wrote a 3-4 paragrpagh essay--incorporated 1 paraphrase, 1 direct quote, 1 block quote (in that order) and post here on the blog.
This is homework now due by sundown (7:30 PM)--if you have to post it later, that's fine. Get it in before Friday evening.
List the names of the group, so everyone can get credit for the assignment. Students need to come to class with the reading completed in advance, the article annotated.
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Jermaine Hughes
Amy Quiton
Erica Williams
Jose Vasquez
In Byron Hurt’s interview with Michael Eric Dyson in his book “Know
What I Mean?” Dyson addresses hip hop’s social issues head on.
Equipped with all the arguments for and against hip hop music, speaks on behalf of men and women, gay and straight, oppressor and oppressed. Violence, misogyny and homophobia receive strong blows releasing a tension that has been withheld for too long.
Regarding the violence in hip hop Music, guns have become central to not only “dope rhymes” but black masculinity. Dyson says,
“And what you hear a lot in the lyrics of gangster and hardcore rappers are descriptions of the physical effects of gun violence on the larger community-from the viewpoint of the perpetrators and the victims. The gun is at once the merchandise of manhood and the means of its destruction (Dyson)".
The American male’s rites of passage in virtually through the barrel of a
Gun. Hip hop only turns up the volume on the song played around the country. The gun is an unfortunate means of communication between men for their right to be called men. As men another way to assert their masculinity is to express dominance over the woman.
Black male violence and violence in American culture is riddled with degrading undertones many toward women. In hip hop lyrics the terms
“bitch” and “ho” are used loosely to describe women, in turn placing them all in one category. Their lifestyle, consisting of promiscuity, gold digging and subsequent shopping, leads them to be as welcomed as they are thwarted. Their power is placed in their sexuality and, thus, undermined as complete women, deserving respect and careful treatment. This disrespect is perpetuated by women’s complicity in music videos and adlibs wherein they play the sex-desperate roles hip hop mandates them to. Women in pursuit and possession of recognition as equal human beings find themselves highly esteemed and unsatisfied.
Women in pursuit of their total recognition as equal human beings find
themselves highly esteemed and underprivileged. The woman in hip hop, given the two choices of being a “good sista” or a “ho” leaves them pierced by a double edged sword. Both, the good sista and the ho, fail to be accepted for the total persons that they are. The good sista, on one hand, is placed on such a pedestal that she can hardly receive the sexual attention she needs. While the ho can hardly get the intellection stimulation she needs. They both only get a detached sense of oneness in a relationship with a man and, thus, are left wanting. Hip hop has managed to place them on opposite sides, opposing one another, when in reality they make one person that is large part neglected. Along with women, the gays and lesbians find themselves downtrodden and overlooked.
Having...in American, especially hip hop. The female population finds itself
out rightly opposed as lyrics continue to proliferate words like “bitch
niggas” to describe weak males. With the words fagot and gay thrown into
the oppressive pot of scandalizing vocabulary, homosexuals can be located under the bus along with women. There is a frequent firing of words that disallow homosexuals to feel included in the group of”real” people hip hop esteems. Michael Dyson fires back bringing up homoeroticism, saying that it is present throughout hip hop music and its videos; that the half naked men, all greased up make no effort to push away homosexual attention. In that homosexuals are recognized as present, Dyson suggests that hip hop and America validate their existence with more accepting language.
Hip hop with its many flaws does not make it under the Dyson’s radar in the
chapter entitled, “Close Your Eyes As I Describe A Scene So Violent”
Hip hop artists can run, but can’t hide their writings on the walls of
Society. While Dyson can't single-handedly paint over their acts social
vandalism, he brings to light their lack of respect for their listeners and
their to need paint them in a better light.
Had to do work cited seperatly for Amy's group because it was too many characters.
Dyson, Michael Eric. “Track 4. “Cover Your Eyes As I Describe A Scene So Violent” Know What I Mean?. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007.
Itzel Diaz / Derek Pang
English 1B
“Cover Your Eyes as I Describe a Scene so Violent” is an interesting conversation between Byron Hurt and Michael Eric Dyson; Dyson and Hurt talked about the violence, sexism, and homophobia portray by Hip-hop music. During their conversation, Dyson and Hurt go over different issues that have hunted hip-hop for decades; one of the first topics that came up to the conversation was violence and how hip-hop promotes it. The second topic was hyper masculinity, and along with hyper masculinity came sexism and homophobia; Dyson explains with different examples how Hip-hop has help put woman down, by portraying them as toys or entertainment meant only to give men sexual satisfaction. Hip-hop promotes sexism by teaching young man that the only way to be “real men” is to denigrate woman.
Hip-hop is helping society to keep women down by using music videos and lyrics to promote hyper masculinity and sexism as a way to give man more power over woman. Hurt and Dyson are talking about the negative influence that Hip-hop has over black and Latino men; Dyson explains, “Society is teaching many young man and women to believe that the only way to be an authentic man is to dominate woman.” (98) Society’s lessons could easily be ignored by young people, but when these lessons are put into lyrics along with a good “beet” young people are more likely to listen to them and also to live by them.
Younger generations of men are learning that to be a “real” or “tough” man; they have to treat women inappropriately. There are many reasons for this, young man look up to artists and they want to be more like them. There are many negative things that artists do or express with their lyrics; Hip-hop artist Nelly is a good example of it. Nelly has a music video named “Tip Drill” which shows very explicit scenes where women are dancing inappropriately. Dyson said,
The moral outrage and feminist ire sparked by Nelly’s ‘Tip Drill’ video uncovered a powerful example of such a narrative. I suppose ‘tip drill’ suggests either a female with a nice body but an unattractive face, or a male with a lot of money but an unattractive face. (It also refers to a basketball drill where each player tips the ball off the backboard.) The term also suggests an orgy, or a “train,” where several men have sex with a single female. In the video, a young man swipes a credit card through a young woman’s gluteus maximus. (98-99)
Dyson demonstrates how male hip-hop artists use sexism in their music videos to derive the image of a “real man” into the minds of the younger generation, doing so degenerate women because it shows that they are not equal to men. Dyson also portrays that these artists are a bad image to young people. Many rappers give false impressions on how they make money and live the high life and when regular man try to live their lives based on hip-hop music videos they find themselves trapped in a nightmare fantasy that does not aloud them to be themselves.
Male Hip-hop artists are influencing more negative stereotypes to younger individuals. Their stereotype degenerates women by exploiting their sexuality and uses them for eye candy instead of treating them like human beings or giving them the respect they deserved. Dyson also said that the artists sell women on the “auction block.” This may seem unimportant to the younger generations because they will not remember after many years later. People will not care and forget about these degenerated women. This shows that artists try to characterize themselves as “real men”. They prove their masculinity by disrespecting women and exploiting them as objects instead of humans.
Works Cited:
Dyson, Michael Eric. “Track 4. ‘Cover your eyes as I describe a scene so violent’” Know what I mean?. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007.
Jessica Farnlacher
Llene lee
In the article “Cover Your Eyes as I Describe a Scene So Violent”, Byron Hurt interviews Michael Eric Dyson about the controversial social issues surrounding the hip hop entertainment industry. Dyson discusses significant aspects of hip hop culture and his perception of masculinity portrayed in the eyes of artists. The ideas of violence, objectification and social priorities unravel into a world where men are focused on seeming dominant and superior over other male counterparts.
The hyper-masculinity surrounding hip hop culture perpetuates the oppression of women by objectifying their bodies. Ideas of masculinity and male dominance are often expressed through graphic lyrics and sexualized portrayals of female roles within society. These key examples of objectification prolong the ongoing oppression males have over women within the dominant culture. Dyson makes an interesting observation by comparing objectification to the historical significance with African-American female oppression; stating that “isolating body parts like that represents a sexualized fetish tied to racial subjugation of black bodies by white supremacists” (99). By using vulgar subjects and context within hip hop music, artists fail to realize their own impact towards the injustice created for women. Male artists gain a sense of control and power by demeaning their female counterparts. Doing so, many are unintentionally promoting the behavior similar to the accounts during the African slave trade. The dominant culture establishes a fictional idea of what women should be like and these expected qualities create even bigger problems with the way men treat women. These false ideas of a women’s identity contributes to the disillusion of masculinity for men. Dyson specifically points out the inescapable social problem “to be a man; you’re socialized into that…gender roles are not innate; they’re assigned based on what society tells us is good and bad” (105). In a society where men do not give respect to women or appreciate and understand their existence, it is hard for women to demand a resolution to their inevitable perpetuation.
In the hip hop culture, guns and violence are seen as symbols of dominance and masculinity. Male figures use guns and violence to gain a superior status within their communities. It's like a chain effect; one man will get shot at for a misconception and lose his masculine status, and in return will shoot back at the people who shot at him to regain his status. Not only is he the one welding the gun, his friends will also back him up with violence and shooting as well. The use of violence and weaponry becomes the alternative release of anger that empties the hot fuel of African Americans who reside ghetto-hip hop communities. Guns and the idea of violence represent the obsession over superiority, and promote hyper masculinity.
The relationship between men and woman has always been hard to distinguish because males are often either ashamed to express their feeling for that woman without their “boys” giving them a problem or being called a name that they do not want to be called, so instead of forgetting what their friends have to say about them spending time with a girl, they confide in the men. For example, men have a saying called M.O.B. (money over bitches) which clearly states money is more important over the woman and many men really stick with this saying. According to Michael Dyson, “placing “homies” above the woman because men make money with me--or take money from them. “The male relation becomes a fetish in hip hop circles: hanging with “my boys,” kicking it with “my crew,” hustling with “my mens and them,” and dying for “my niggas.” There is an unapologetic intensity of devotion that surely evokes at some level homoerotic union” (120). This goes to show that the social priorities of the men favor their male relationships rather than their female companions.
Works Cited
Dyson, Michael Eric. “Track 4. “Cover Your Eyes As I Describe A Scene So Violent” Know What I Mean?. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007.
Ms. sabiris this our work cited for the group Mar'Queshia Wilkerson, Jeesica Farnlacher and Llene Lee.
Dexter English
9/11/09
Inner City Violence
Every child dreams of that special day when they reach manhood, despite the horrid stage of puberty. If I could only go back in time and relive, cherish, those moments that made me innocent; life was simple, life was easy, life was good. Times have changed to say the least and couldn’t be harder to be a teen or minority male in that case. In an age filled with violent outside influences, from films, politics, and music even the average inner city male status seems to be measured by the extension of his gun.
It comes a time where every teen feels the need to flex his muscles, poke his chest out a bit, and in inner city towns where space is limited and poverty surrounds you, almost suffocating you, its no telling what a deprived teen will turn to. Byron Hurt writes in his essay “Violence, Machismo, Sexism, and Homophobia”: “Too many young black and brown men view their sense of strength, and industry, and machismo, and manhood through the lens – and sometimes literally through the scope – of a gun.” But what influences cause this violent, savage behavior? It’s hard to ignore our nation as the prime culprit; a nation that likes to bully and throw our weight around because we have the manpower, and the bigger guns. We are deemed un patriotic and our manhood comes into question if we refuse to fight and defined our nations stars and stripes.
We can’t overlook the electronics we use daily as a major contributor in the on going violence argument; movies, video games, and music. One of the most successful video games ever made, Grand Theft Auto, prides itself on violence, gaining points through rubbery, and murdering anyone in your path with weapons of your choice. Is it ironic that these are the same types of movies that we run to see in theaters? A child can learn how to properly use a fire arm from YouTube for Christ sake. When your favorite rapper is glorified and praised ever city he steps foot in for lyrics explaining how he murders and made it to the top from a life of crime, why wouldn’t a desperate teen think it’s an easy outlet? Byron Hurt goes on to write: “The gun is at once the merchandise of manhood and the means of its destruction. The gun is the most lethal means of undermining the masculine stability that many rappers desperately seek…..Some young hip hop artists zero in on the use of the gun as the paraphernalia of American masculinity, as the symbol of real manhood.”
In an age where we see death, hear death and can control death in the palm of our hands its clear we have become numb to the reality of death and use the gun as a way of gaining respect. Sure it looks like an easy way out for inner city males whose backs are against the wall, but life is about breaks and creating your own luck, sure if you’re a teen in the “hood” you can’t be lucky all the time; but you can be smart every day.
Dexter English
9/11/09
Inner City Violence
Every child dreams of that special day when they reach manhood, despite the horrid stage of puberty. If I could only go back in time and relive, cherish, those moments that made me innocent; life was simple, life was easy, life was good. Times have changed to say the least and couldn’t be harder to be a teen or minority male in that case. In an age filled with violent outside influences, from films, politics, and music even the average inner city male status seems to be measured by the extension of his gun.
It comes a time where every teen feels the need to flex his muscles, poke his chest out a bit, and in inner city towns where space is limited and poverty surrounds you, almost suffocating you, its no telling what a deprived teen will turn to. Byron Hurt writes in his essay “Violence, Machismo, Sexism, and Homophobia”: “Too many young black and brown men view their sense of strength, and industry, and machismo, and manhood through the lens – and sometimes literally through the scope – of a gun.” But what influences cause this violent, savage behavior? It’s hard to ignore our nation as the prime culprit; a nation that likes to bully and throw our weight around because we have the manpower, and the bigger guns. We are deemed un patriotic and our manhood comes into question if we refuse to fight and defined our nations stars and stripes.
We can’t overlook the electronics we use daily as a major contributor in the on going violence argument; movies, video games, and music. One of the most successful video games ever made, Grand Theft Auto, prides itself on violence, gaining points through rubbery, and murdering anyone in your path with weapons of your choice. Is it ironic that these are the same types of movies that we run to see in theaters? A child can learn how to properly use a fire arm from YouTube for Christ sake. When your favorite rapper is glorified and praised ever city he steps foot in for lyrics explaining how he murders and made it to the top from a life of crime, why wouldn’t a desperate teen think it’s an easy outlet? Byron Hurt goes on to write: “The gun is at once the merchandise of manhood and the means of its destruction. The gun is the most lethal means of undermining the masculine stability that many rappers desperately seek…..Some young hip hop artists zero in on the use of the gun as the paraphernalia of American masculinity, as the symbol of real manhood.”
In an age where we see death, hear death and can control death in the palm of our hands its clear we have become numb to the reality of death and use the gun as a way of gaining respect. Sure it looks like an easy way out for inner city males whose backs are against the wall, but life is about breaks and creating your own luck, sure if you’re a teen in the “hood” you can’t be lucky all the time; but you can be smart every day.
Kwan, Eugene
English 1B
Sept 14, 2009
Hip-hop has split into two directions. The first direction is an art movement that addressed people living in overcrowded urban communities, while the second is a trend where artist compete in a popularity contest. The latter goal has become a major issue because it promotes violence, hyper-masculinity, misogyny, and homophobia. The ignorance to the afore mentioned issues is rooted in the money being made from ignoring it.
The potential money and fame that can be made causes hip-hop as an art movement to turn into a industry for business men to cash out on. Artists are lured into a record deal by proving to be a crowd pleaser. The more shocking, explicit, and sexual their lyrics the better. This corrupt goal causes the promotion of violence, hyper-masculinity, misogyny, and homophobia.
Violence has always been a crowd pleaser because of the American culture’s obsession with violence, from brutal beatings to gun fights, it is painfully conspicuous from ubiquity in Hollywood to the ad campaigns for the National Rifle Association (Dyson 92). Violence also portrays an immature definition to power in people. The youth are the ones most affected by this distorted perception to power because hip-hop becomes a role model for them to learn from. I’m familiar with this issue because it was daunting for me to proactively discovering how to live life successfully in becoming a powerful leader. Rather that being mature about my decisions I found it was much more exciting to imitate my favorite gangster who was hyper-masculine and had it all.
One of the underlying messages of hip-hop is then hyper-masculinity. Its message is to be the most powerful in lyrics, image, strength, violence, material goods, intelligence, and sex. The object to show off which embodies all of the above is the ability to have multiple beautiful young women. This type of goal typically leads to fantasies of misogyny rather than “real-life relations between young men and women” which “are often trapped in fictional narratives of masculine dominance that hamper the growth of alternative models of healthy male-female relationships” (Dyson 98).
The effective actions against sexism and misogyny occurred at Spelman College when Nelly’s “Tip Drill” video marked a tipping point in sufferance and the following quote will illustrate why.
(block quote)
I suppose “tip drill” suggests either a female with a nice body but an unattractive face, or a male with a lot of money but an unattractive face. (it also refers to a basket ball drill where each player tips the ball off the backboard.) The term also suggests an orgy, or a “train,” where several men have sex with a single female. In the video, a young man swipes a credit card through a young woman’s gluteus maximus. (Dyson 98)
(block quote)
The women of Spelman demonstrated and demanded a face to face forum discussion of demeaning messages of women in his video after his planned charity convention. Nelly’s ultimately refusal to sit down and cooperate with the community is a disappointment for fans like myself because it reflects his inability to man up to his work that I use to admire artistically. Nelly’s attitude towards the Spelman demonstration is also homophobic because he was unable to put aside his hyper-masculine persona, and instead open up his feelings of why he’s a proponent to hyper-sexism by being vulnerable.
Great responses. Preview your posts before posting. Make sure the formating is clear and clean. It is hard to read otherwise.
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