Advance Search

Global hip-hop culture and the scopophilic spectacle of women in South African hip-hop music videos

Ntebaleng Mpetsi
University of Limpopo
Toks Oyedemi
University of Limpopo
Keywords:
Copyright and Licensing:
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Share:

How to Cite

Global hip-hop culture and the scopophilic spectacle of women in South African hip-hop music videos. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 37(2), 92-106. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v37i2.1555
  • Articles
  • Submited: October 9, 2022
  • Published: October 11, 2022

Abstract

In many hip-hop music videos, women’s value is reduced to sensuous display of sexuality. As
a result visual pleasure is created through the representation of women as eager and willing
sexual objects. This article assesses the techniques and ways women are sexualised in South
African hip-hop music videos, and how their representation attempts to create visual pleasure
for those that consume these videos. Four critical elements are adopted from Laura Mulvey’s
seminal theoretical discourse about the positioning of women in narrative cinema, to study the
gender representation and sexual presentation of women in two popular South African hip-hop
music videos. The analysis reveals that appealing to the male gaze, processes of objectification,
gender division of labour and camera techniques are ways of presenting a sexualised spectacle
of women for the visual pleasure of male characters and audiences of the videos.

pdf
pdf

Article Metrics Graph

Article Views | PDF Downloads
Chart Graph | Range Graph

References

  1. Aubrey, J.S., Hopper, K.M & Mbure, W.G. (2011). Check that body! The effects of sexually objectifying music videos on college men's sexual beliefs. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 55(3): 360-379.
  2. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2011.597469
  3. Baszile, D.T. (2009). Deal with it we must: Education, social justice, and the curriculum of hip-hop culture. Equity & Excellence in Education, 42: 6-19.
  4. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680802594576
  5. Blose, M. (2012). Pornographic objectification of women through Kwaito lyrics. Agenda, 26(3): 50-60.
  6. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2012.729384
  7. Brown, J.D. (2000). Adolescents' sexual media diets. Journal of Adolescent Health, 27: 35-40.
  8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(00)00141-5
  9. Clark, J., Glover, K., McClain, D., Steele, M., Jemison, D., Brantley, A., Brockton, M., Goins, J., Flanigan, A., Mitchell, T.A. & Wilcox, J. (2016). An analysis of violent and sexual content in hip hop music videos. Journal of Undergraduate Ethnic Minority Psychology, 1: 14-20.
  10. Davis, S. & Tucker-Brown, A. (2013). Effects of black sexual stereotypes on sexual decision making among African American women. Journal of Pan-African Studies, 5(9): 111-128.
  11. Debord, G. (2012). Society of the spectacle. London: Bread and Circuses Publishing.
  12. Hansen, C.H. & Hansen, R.D. (1990). The influence of sex and violence on the appeal of rock music videos. Communication Research, 17: 212-234.
  13. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365090017002004
  14. Henry, W.J., West, N.M. & Jackson, A. (2010). Hip-hop's influence on the identity development of Black female college students: A literature review. Journal of College Student Development, 51(3): 237-251.
  15. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0135
  16. Kaplan, E.A. (1987). Rocking around the clock: Music television, postmodernism and consumer culture. New York: Methuen.
  17. Kellner, D. (1995). Media culture. Cultural studies, identity and politics between the modern and the postmodern. London: Routledge.
  18. Kellner, D. (2004). Media culture and the triumph of the spectacle. Razón y palabra, 39.
  19. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203166383
  20. Kistler, M.E. & Lee, M.J. (2010). Does exposure to sexual hip-hop music videos influence the sexual attitudes of college students? Mass Communication and Society, 13(1): 67-86.
  21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205430902865336
  22. Kitwana, B. (2005). Why white kids love hip-hop: Wanstas, wiggers, wannabes, and the new reality of race in America. New York: Basic Books.
  23. Kitwana, B. (2002). The hip hop generation: Young Blacks and the crisis in African American culture. New York: Basic Books.
  24. MacKinnon, C.A. (1989). Toward a feminist theory of the state. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  25. McClane-Bunn, A.S. (2010). Sex in the hillbilly field: Objectification of women in country music videos. Media Report to Women, 38(4): 6-21.
  26. Miller-Young, M. (2007). Hip-hop honeys and da hustlaz: Black sexualities in the new hip-hop pornography. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 8(1): 261-292.
  27. https://doi.org/10.2979/MER.2007.8.1.261
  28. Morgan, M. & Bennett, D. (2011). Hip-hop and the global imprint of a black cultural form. Daedalus Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 140(2): 176-196.
  29. https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00086
  30. Motley, C.M, Henderson, G.R. (2007). The global hip-hop diaspora: Understanding the culture. Journal of Business Research, doi:10.1016/j. jbusres.2007.06.020
  31. Muller, M, Hodge, D.W, Coleman, J.B. & Chaney, C.D. (2014). The hip in hip-hop: Towards a discipline of hip-hop studies. Journal of Hip-Hop Studies, 6-12.
  32. Mulvey, L. (1999). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Film theory and criticism: Introductory readings. New York: Oxford University Press.
  33. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474473224-009
  34. Oikelome, A.O. (2013). "Are real women just bad porn?": Women in Nigerian hip-hop culture. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 5(9): 83-98.
  35. Price, E.G. (2006). Hip hop culture. New York: ABC-CLIO.
  36. Romero, E. (2017). The butt remix: Beauty, pop culture, hip hop, and the commodification of the black booty. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, 4(3): 190-194.
  37. https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.4.3.0190
  38. Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and Black culture in contemporary America. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
  39. Schoppmeier, (2015). 'Hottentot Barbie' as a multicultural star: The commodification of race in Nicki Minaj's music videos. Aspeer, 8: 49-70.
  40. Seidman, S.A. (1992). An investigation of sex-role stereotyping in music videos. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 36(2): 209-216.
  41. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838159209364168
  42. Sherman, B. L. & Dominick, J. R. (1986). Violence and sex in music videos: TV and rock 'n' roll. Journal of Communication, 36: 79-92.
  43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1986.tb03040.x
  44. Smith, S.L. & Boyson, A.R. (2002). Violence in music videos: Examining the prevalence and context of physical aggression. Journal of Communication, 52: 61-83.
  45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02533.x
  46. Sulé, V.T. (2016). Hip-hop is the healer: Sense of belonging and diversity among hip-hop collegians.vJournal of College Student Development, 57(2): 181-196.
  47. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2016.0022
  48. Tuulikki, P. (2017). The discursive creation of a subculture by conscious rap adherents in South Africa. Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society, 42(2): 25-42.
  49. Van Zoonen, L. (1994). Feminist media studies (Vol. 9). London: Sage.
  50. Watkins, L. (2012). A genre coming of age: Transformation, difference, and authenticity in the rap music and hip-hop culture of South Africa. In Eric Charry (ed.). Hip hop Africa: New African music in a globalizing world. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  51. Wallis, C. (2011). Performing gender: A content analysis of gender display in music videos. Sex Roles, 64(3/4): 160-172.
  52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9814-2
  53. Williams, Q.E. (2016). Youth multilingualism in South Africa's hip-hop culture: A metapragmatic analysis. Sociolinguistic Studies, 10(1/2): 109.
  54. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v10i1-2.27797
How to Cite
Global hip-hop culture and the scopophilic spectacle of women in South African hip-hop music videos. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 37(2), 92-106. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v37i2.1555

Send mail to Author

Send Cancel

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Custom technologies based on your needs

  • ORCID
  • Crossref
  • PubMed
    • Clarivate