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<\/a><\/p>\nIs Feminism a dirty word in our culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n Brown Sugar is written Angie C. @abitofbrownsuga\u00a0 abitofbrownsugar@gmail.com<\/p>\n Hip Hop has long worn the crown of misogyny incarnate. Is this still the case, was it ever? Can I be a hip hop lover and a feminist? Can a man who loves songs filled with the word Bi*&h and Hoe truly love me on an intimate human level? I hope so. I think it\u2019s possible to have someone who chooses not to belittle the woman in their life based on archaic thinking. However when social media conversations about feminism occur, the voice of male hip hop lovers becomes a whisper. No replys, no RTs, nada. And the female voice is barely above a whisper in these social media conversations. It really makes me wonder if brown feminists are in the minority especially in Hip Hop.<\/p>\n When I hear feminist I think- Women have rights, they have intelligence, and they deserve to be treated equally and with respect. I look back at American culture from Anti bellum slavery to the 1950\u2019s and the enduring women\u2019s history movement that has made it possible for me to have many of the rights I deserve. I think of all the women and men who have fought literally and figuratively to knock down walls based on gender bias, that\u2019s what I think when I hear feminism\/feminists.\u00a0 When I hear misogyny- I think of the demeaning of women based on purely on gender. A misogynist treats a woman as less than, as an animal even, in the way he speaks about and to her, the way he thinks, and the way he treats her. Misogyny is defined by Webster as \u201chatred of women\u201d, earliest usage? 1656. So yeah the idea of hating women and expressing in the culture isn\u2019t new. BUT I digress.<\/p>\n When I listen to an album like Watch The Throne I hear two rappers who have matured A LOT, and the traces of misogyny are all but gone in many of Jay Z\u2019s lyrics, Kanye is a work in progress though lol The point being I LOVE this album but I still listen out for lyrics that offend \/demean me. And when I find them, I listen once or twice then I ffwd passed them, I choose not to deal with it. They have a song \u201cThat\u2019s My Bitch\u201d, beat wise it\u2019s sick. They are in essence trying to give props to beautiful women of color and our exclusion from art and culture but to do so we are refereed to as Bithches? Damn\u2026 Then in the track list Niggas in Paris is bleeped out as Ni**as but it\u2019s okay to spell out Bi**h? ? That bothers me, and I feel like it should bother any sensible person.\u00a0 I\u2019m an academic and a music lover so to me lyrics matter, I believe we absorb the words we hear and read. I believe that the lyrics we hear become apart of our collective thinking.\u00a0 I love Hip Hop culture but sometimes that means pushing fast forward, or having an awkward convo with a twitter follower or two. Some people will swear I\u2019m being too deep but I disagree. I think lyrics and intent matter. In 2013 there are still people who believe that women are a lesser gender and I believe culture and music play a part in condoning these archaic ideas. True feminism shouldn\u2019t threaten you as a man. I\u2019m not coming for \u201cyour\u2019 spot, I\u2019m just existing in my rightful place, next to you, not behind you. Hopefully this non-traditional hip hop loving feminist can find my \u201cperfect verse over a tight beat\u201d\u2026 We\u2019ll see \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n![\"thCAB1XJMU\"](\"http:\/\/itsfreshradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/thCAB1XJMU.jpg\")
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