Hip-Hop Feminism: A Look at Women, Words and Wisdom in Hip-Hop

Presenter Information

Angela Proehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU 204

Start Date

5-4-2010 10:00 AM

End Date

5-4-2010 12:00 PM

Student's Major

Gender and Women's Studies

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Helen Crump

Mentor's Department

Gender and Women's Studies

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

This study analyzed the culture of women and feminism in hip-hop with emphasis placed on independent and Minnesota-based artists. This work engages an examination of individual personalities of women, such as Dessa (spoken word and rap artist) and Dr. Rachel Raimist (filmmaker and scholar), through a variety of resources including videos, interviews, articles, and music. Using Home Girls Make Some Noise as a grounding text for establishing the link between hip-hop, women, and feminism, I engaged content analysis to examine specific artists’ works and personas as reflecting a feminist ideology, which I perceive as challenging or speaking back to mainstream, stereotypical representations of women in hip-hop. Consequently, these women’s works suggest the need for feminists to continue to expand our ideas about where and how feminism takes place.