The article fly girls, hoes and bitches by Jon Morgan is a study into how African American men display their feminist ideologies through hip hop music. Besides the numerous challenges that the black woman faces simply because of her race, black women are further subjected to feminism by their fellow black men. Women are alienating themselves from the abusive nature of men as the number of marriages between blacks reduce from 70 percent to 38 percent within the last 30 years. Sexism is on the rise with black men targeting their fellow black women. As women become more involved with vital issues in the society, they seem to be losing the war with their male counterparts. The media and popular culture have been used by men to express their perceptions and constructions of women, while feminists fail to recognize the reasons behind these social constructions, and the role women have played towards these constructions.
While women continue to blame men for their woes, it is important that women take part of the blame. Women have failed to support each other and are often heard throwing the B-word around on many occasions, and sometimes it is with good reason. Women have also made it a tendency to use their sexuality to get what they want from men and as a result, their male counterparts perceive them as cheap commodities which can be easily purchased. The media plays a major role in the construction of ideologies on women, especially through popular culture. Whatever the media popularizes becomes the new culture, and both men and women abide by these social constructions. Men in the society and the media are only popular if they engage in highly incriminating behavior or are ex-convicts. These men have a tendency of refereeing to these men as niggas as a sign of the little amount of love these men have for themselves. As a result, these men have failed to love themselves. I partly understand the many woes that the black man has been forced to endure over the years and if they feel a little hatred to themselves. However, I fail to understand why women should be used as punching bags by these men. Men have constantly used women to redirect their issues with the society, and women have readily accepted these responsibilities. These constructions had existed in the society before the industrialization error when women were expected to stay home and perform domestic chores while men were breadwinners for their families. Men were also considered as the heads of their families, and their word was absolute.
Gender-based violence is another issue that affects many women and girls in the society today. GBV presents itself in the form of sexual assaults or physical abuse by their male counterparts. Of the many rape cases in the world, most go unreported, and even those are reported the responsible bodies take little action. Most men blame women for their woes ranging from dress code and their placement at the time of the incidence. Domestic violence is prevalent with many men beating up their wives when they fail to abide by their demands. Most women have led themselves to believe that these are social norms. Statistics have revealed that one out of three women has experienced GBV once in their lives. Women continue to remain in these abusive relationships while studies prove that intimate partners perform most women murders.
Inequality at the workplace has also remained prevalent in the society for a long time. Over the years, the roles of women have expanded, with women performing both domestic chores and also contributing to the financial income of the family. Women are forced to manage effectively between their roles at work and the roles at the workplace.
Feminism has continued to dominate the society with women being offered positions that are less important as compared to their male counterparts. Stereotypes have been constructed to deem the woman as the weaker sex. As a result, most women are unable to make advancements in their careers. Women are denied a fair chance to climb the professional ladder. The society fails to offer women a fair chance with biological factors such as childbearing and child rearing being used as reasons to deny women fair opportunities for promotions.
Male patriarchy is one of the many issues that continued to persist in the society for a long time. Men are perceived as the heads, and their word is often perceived as the final word in many societies. Men have been given so much power in some societies that men can even sentence women to death. Most of these women are subjected to such punishments for crimes related to infidelity, while these men are allowed to have as many women as they see fit.
Men have continued to place women as the least of their priorities. The needs of their male counterparts have continued to take the front line while the needs of women continue to take the back seat in the society. Most women have been forced to remain in oppressive relationships or remain single. Women are continually disrespected by their fellow men while women continue to allow these men to continue to oppress them. Women are brought up by their mothers to be tolerant of their male counterparts and take them for who they are, and not whom they wish them to be. I believe that love is not sincere if one cannot be honest with the other person. If women are forced to accept the behavior of their male counterparts without truthfully speaking up for themselves, then love between the two genders will never be fully achieved.
The struggle by women to ensnare themselves from feminism is a battle that goes beyond theoretical representations of woes that women have to go through on a daily basis. Some of these rappers are sincere enough in admitting that they only disrespect women because the majority of them are only interested in material things. Women need to take more practical actions to change how men perceive them. Men are partly justified in their perceptions of women and how they view them. The culture of pop music depicts the struggles men are forced to endure at the hands of overly materialistic women, among other hardships, especially for the black men. Hip hop gives women a platform to identify the root cause of their problems with their male counterparts from where the healing process can begin.
In conclusion, social constructions on gender issues are greatly attributed to media and popular culture, while women play a big role on how their male counterparts perceive them. Most women are in the habit of exchanging sexual favors with their male counterparts, leading to feelings of animosity from their male counterparts. The media plays a major role in the construction of gender roles in the society, while most feminists ignore the root cause to why their male counterparts treat them with disrespect. Women ought to come up with a more realistic approach and change how they perceive themselves so that men can respond in kind and treat them with respect.
Works cited
Morgan, Joan. "Fly-Girls, Bitches, And Hoes: Notes of A Hip-Hop Feminist". Social Text 45 (1995): 151-157. Web.
