Rap music has featured an element of misogyny since the late 1900s, and when we talk about this perspective being perpetuated through rap, one name immediately comes to mind: that of Eminem. Eminem, in my opinion, is an undeniably tremendous cultural influence; a name that every young person recognizes. He is well recognized among young people as a multifaceted artist who is also a fantastic actor (where he generally portrays a heroic image of himself) and a charismatic performer who writes highly innovative rap lyrics. However, I believe he has utilized his popularity in all the wrong ways, including instilling misogyny, sexism, and hatred for women in young boys who consider themselves avid Eminem fans. How did Eminem manage to do this?
Going back in time, Eminem songs were all around me and I used to know them word to word, without ever truly thinking about what these lyrics were teaching me. I have now realized that growing up, I never recognized the depth of how troublesome his lyrics were, and I never gave it a second thought. However, things have changed drastically. You would be lying to yourself if you said that Eminem's music could go unnoticed or tolerated in today's world; his music is not the type of music that you would want to proudly consume nowadays. I also believe that people from previous generations, not just those of my generation, would prefer not to directly associate themselves with his fanbase. This predominantly shows a shift in mindsets. Previously, the rapper has managed to make it to the headlines of articles, every time he has released a song but for all the wrong reasons.
"Kim," a song named after his ex-wife Kim Scott, wonderfully embodies everything wrong with his lyrics. It is an excellent example of a highly violent and misogynist song, in which Eminem repeatedly talks about abusing and even murdering his ex-wife and children's mother. He goes too far when he mentions murdering a four-year-old child. Kim is referred to as a "bitch" throughout the song, while the rapper threatens to abuse her.
Here are some lyrics:
I should've known better when you started to act weird
We coulda.. hey, where you going? Get back here!
You can't run from me Kim! It's just us, nobody else!
You're only making this harder on yourself!
Ha-ha, got ya! Go ahead, yell!
Here, I'll scream with you! "Ah, somebody help!"
Don't you get it bitch? No one can hear you!
Now shut the fuck up and get what's coming to you!
You were supposed to love me!!
Now bleed bitch, bleed!! Bleed bitch, bleed!! Bleed!!
As is evident with these lyrics, they not only show the writer’s sexist mindset but are also proof of a severe aggression problem. This paves the way to normalize violence against women for young boys and girls who listen to Eminem's music. It is also important to acknowledge that criticizing Eminem for how he portrays women is nothing new, and the term "misogyny" is frequently used to describe the rapper. People often defend him by molding the meaning of the term but Eminem is guilty even if we interpret it to mean simply the hatred for women. He continuously denigrates women as subservient and deserving of physical assault if they cross him in the words mentioned above, which legitimize violence against them. People will also defend him by saying that its just music, and that if someone has a problem with it, they can choose not to listen to it. But what are these people missing? It is how misogynistic lyrics affect women, and what continuing and accepting them says about our society and culture as a whole.
So what exactly does the widespread acceptance of a man who makes a habit of disparaging women indicate about us? A world where the struggle towards gender equality still needs all the struggle women can muster up? Why wouldn't we tolerate marginalizing music for women if we accept inadequate political representation, the gender wage gap, attitudes toward sexual assault, sexism in the workplace, and occupational segregation? Is it disingenuous of us to object to Eminem's statements when misogyny is pervasive, or are his lyrics simply a reflection of the mindset that pervades our society?
I say, we need to put our foot down and start somewhere. There needs to be backlash against music that teaches our children to be violent towards women, and teaches them that it is normal to not give women their rights, and treat them like “bitches”. It is time to start telling our children that this is not okay, that abusing women for entertainment is not something normal men do, and most importantly that viewing women as inferiors is not something to be proud of. Eminem's dreary, constant misogyny is simply outdated and ignorant, and it is causing more harm than we would want to believe.
I think the Rap industry as a whole is misogynistic in nature and is severely male-dominated. This is evident by a lack of female rappers. Ranker.com conducted a poll with more than 6 million people voting for “The Greatest Rappers of All Time”. The results showed that only 3 of the top 100 rappers were female, indicating a clear gender gap that exists in the industry.
For the few female rappers that are popular amongst people, it is important to note that most of them have overly sexualized their bodies. This is no coincidence that successful female rappers like Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B have all adopted this method. Although there is nothing wrong in doing so…
This also reminds me of how the new crop of male musicians in Pakistan-be it Shamoon Ismail, Young Stunners etc.-always have songs that revolve around rejection, and a focus on women as "confusing" and perpetual "deceivers". In a way it's interesting to think how songs about falling in love are also thought of as "feminine", whereas "masculinized" songs are almost always about self-victimization and being disillusioned with love as a result of being led on. The song that I've attached involves this narrative of how men think that masculinity has to be performed through survival, not tenderness. The lyrics of the song also focus on how women only need expensive, material objects like "Gucci, Louis Vuitton bags", and as such…
His lyrics are problematic to say the least and I totally agree with being conscious of what we consume. I have been an avid Eminem fan, and for me his story and music were inspiring, however, more awareness has made me realize how detrimental these types of lyrics are for a young child. The real problem with content like this is that it is very readily available and whoever wants to consume them can easily consume them. Even censoring or banning is not a very efficient method due freedom of speech. Considering this, do you opt for mitigating the impact of such media outlets, or the outlets themselves, and how do you think we could go about it?
Thank you for this very informative read! Eminem has always used troops that objectify and dehumanize women and we have seen how the grammys or his listeners have actively venerated him for that. The larger conversation that should be happening in the US is about the attitudes that Eminem's music engenders where it increasingly becomes about looking at the women as the passive object, based on Mulvey's analysis, and mainstreams the male gaze.
This mainstreaming here is interesting here because Eminem also uses it to capitalize on the female body and largely uses it to make records which would appeal to his heteronormative audience. This compoundedness that is displayed between capitalism and the male gaze is interest as it festers…
I completely agree with your view that Eminem's music is misogynistic. Lyrics that invoke violence or ill treatment of varying degrees against women are recurring feature in his music. Eminem fans will go ahead and defend this by saying that he is the way that he is because his mother had been an awful parent. My question is, why not seek therapy and work on yourself instead of being a vengeful person towards other women through your music? Why produce music that dehumanizes women, knowing that the genre of music that you are producing is mostly consumed by men?
A lot of people argue that this is just how rap music is; it talks about sex, drugs and violence. Rap…