A “Man's Woman”?

Abstract

Employing content analysis of 44 songs taken from the Billboard charts between 1992 and 2000, the authors find that all female rap artists in the sample included the cornerstones of rap in their songs: braggadocio, consumption of alcohol and drugs, and “dissin” of female and male rap competitors. More important, the majority of the artists had themes of female agency and empowerment present in their music. However, the artists also had songs that were antithetical to Patricia Hill Collins' Black feminism. Indeed, a majority of the songs examined had women who self-objectified, self-exploited, and used derogatory lyrics when referring to other women. The author finds that these contradictory messages, sometimes by the same artists, nullify the empowering messages that are conveyed and only reproduce and uphold male hegemonic notions of femininity.