How to Prevent and Avoid Misogynistic Music

By Liliana Cannizzaro 

Introduction 

It’s inevitable that you have heard some form of sexist music in your life, either on the internet or from your annoying sibling’s phones. Unfortunately, my favourite genre, rap music, is the biggest culprit of this epidemic. Did you know that around 22% to 37% of rap lyrics are misogynistic? This crisis is affecting young children/teenagers and is increasing the risk of assault or abuse towards women. The question is, how can we prevent this? 

How this is affecting our everyday lives as women 

Before I get into how to avoid music like this, I’m going to expand on how this affects us as women, in our everyday lives. Music like this is popular amongst boys, which can (and will) spread like wildfire. The lyrics are normalizing sexism and misogyny and it is affecting young children and teenagers, who are very impressionable. This could make them believe that acting like this and talking like this in front of women is okay and that this behavior is good and speaking this way makes them cool because they copied their favorite rapper. 

Reasons that so many people find misogynistic music to be ear candy 

There are countless rap lyrics that feature assault and abuse directed to women and yet many people still listen in. Why? Well, the unfortunate (yet unsurprising truth) is that they sugarcoat it by covering it with heavy beats. Have you ever heard a Kanye West song? I’m sure you have. Unsurprisingly, he believes that misogyny is a healthy coping mechanism and his influence on the rap community is much more than memorable. For example, his song Famous refers to women disrespectfully with derogatory terms. Because so many rappers have such influence on the rap community, and such catchy beats, people tend to go with whatever they say, like remote controlled robots. 

What we can do to avoid and prevent misogynistic music 

A common solution, one that I’m sure you’ve heard before, is actually really effective in this scenario. It’s simple: speaking up! If a misogynistic, ‘alpha’ male can promote sexism, then you, a strong, powerful go-getter can absolutely persuade people to stay away from sexism! Now, I’m not saying to never listen to rap again, but I am telling you that if you happen to come across a song with a bad message about women in it, say it! Speak up and speak clear! Another method is to keep an eye on your siblings, friends and even, unfortunately, parents. If you hear misogynistic music blasting from their phone, headphones, devices or tv, make sure to call them out on it! Tell them that sexist music is inappropriate and makes a bad impression. Let’s play a little game; if there’s someone next to you right now, turn to them, and make them repeat this oath. “I solemnly swear with my whole heart, that I will not listen to misogynistic music ever.”. No, I’m just kidding, you don’t have to do that. The point is that sexist music is a big problem, and the solutions are quite simple. Are you up to the challenge of standing up for yourself and every other woman in the world? 

Conclusion 

To conclude, I need to make something clear. Not all rap music is bad. There are rap artists who promote steering clear of misogyny (e.g. Lupe Fiasco, Noname) but some artists you might want to be cautious of. Just make sure that no matter what happens, you stick up for your friends and yourself by standing up to the harshly normalised misogyny, and you’ll be fine. Stay safe, girls! 

Sources 

Hafsa Lodi (The Guardian Article) 

Karen Attiah (The Washington Post) 

Wordpress.com 

Journals.sagepub.com 

Los Angeles Times (image) 

Famous (Kanye West, album The Life of Pablo) 

The Guardian Article 

Northumbria University Research Portal