Do alternative representations exist of male and/ or female roles in the hip hop genre?
Yes there are very much still alternative representations of both male and female.
There may not be as many alternative representations as there are dominant, but there are still role models and figures for both men and women, such as Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Justin Bieber, Sean Kingston, Neyo, Trey songs and more.
Alternative Female - Missy Elliot
Missy Elliot is an example of an alternative female in the hip hop genre as she’s not typically skinny, voluptuous, model like, such as Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. She’s more dominant in the way she portrays herself as she’s plus size and usually fully clothed or well covered in her music videos. She would not consider herself as a sex object, she may contain lyrics that are referenced to sex, yet she doesn’t degrade herself by showing her body and dancing seductively for men.
Also stereotypical females in hip hop usually portray themselves with a male figure who they either lust after or whom they dominant, where as Missy Elliot does not always have a lead male in her videos. In her video gossip folks She is wearing a full length tracksuit which would not be linked to or shown in any sexual way which is what stereotypically any female would try to do in her video. Although as the tracksuit is pink, it does show that she is feminine but not in any sexual objectifying way.
she also changes to a cheer leaders outfit which is usually part of the male fantasy (male gaze) for when they voyeur over women, although she doesn’t attempt to make it look sexy, she just simply uses it to connote the theme of the video. Also an interesting fact is that she still dances in her videos despite not being slim or fit as some would say. This shows her alternative side as she does break dancing and dances that would not be typical or seen as in any way seductive or alluring to men which other female hip hop artists do in their videos such as Rihanna – rude boy.
Also in her video of (Gossip Folks) she wears bling and jewellery which would usually be associated to males in hip hop, this shows her to be a role model as she is showing that females can wear jewellery and expensive items to show they too have power as well as men in hip hop. In her video ‘’pass that dutch’’ she begins the song dressed in all white connoting her innocence, and compared to how someone like lady gaga would dress, Missy Elliot doesn’t show off her body or use sex appeal to attract viewers, she instead uses powerful and meaningful lyrics. Another outfit in the video that she uses is a farmer’s outfit, which could be a male fetish for some viewers, yet she wears it in a manly and rugged way which would show her to be as dominant.
Also which is funny and ironic is in the same video She is in a car full of other plus size women who are enjoying themselves and having fun regardless of their image, and the pull in a male into the vehicle who they dominate and are portrayed to have eaten as the next shot is of them throwing out bones of a flesh. Which connotes to them being ‘’man-eaters’ and aggressive and domineering which is not what most females in hip hop would refer to themselves as.
Yes there are very much still alternative representations of both male and female.
There may not be as many alternative representations as there are dominant, but there are still role models and figures for both men and women, such as Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Justin Bieber, Sean Kingston, Neyo, Trey songs and more.
Alternative Female - Missy Elliot
Missy Elliot is an example of an alternative female in the hip hop genre as she’s not typically skinny, voluptuous, model like, such as Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. She’s more dominant in the way she portrays herself as she’s plus size and usually fully clothed or well covered in her music videos. She would not consider herself as a sex object, she may contain lyrics that are referenced to sex, yet she doesn’t degrade herself by showing her body and dancing seductively for men.
Also stereotypical females in hip hop usually portray themselves with a male figure who they either lust after or whom they dominant, where as Missy Elliot does not always have a lead male in her videos. In her video gossip folks She is wearing a full length tracksuit which would not be linked to or shown in any sexual way which is what stereotypically any female would try to do in her video. Although as the tracksuit is pink, it does show that she is feminine but not in any sexual objectifying way.
she also changes to a cheer leaders outfit which is usually part of the male fantasy (male gaze) for when they voyeur over women, although she doesn’t attempt to make it look sexy, she just simply uses it to connote the theme of the video. Also an interesting fact is that she still dances in her videos despite not being slim or fit as some would say. This shows her alternative side as she does break dancing and dances that would not be typical or seen as in any way seductive or alluring to men which other female hip hop artists do in their videos such as Rihanna – rude boy.
Also in her video of (Gossip Folks) she wears bling and jewellery which would usually be associated to males in hip hop, this shows her to be a role model as she is showing that females can wear jewellery and expensive items to show they too have power as well as men in hip hop. In her video ‘’pass that dutch’’ she begins the song dressed in all white connoting her innocence, and compared to how someone like lady gaga would dress, Missy Elliot doesn’t show off her body or use sex appeal to attract viewers, she instead uses powerful and meaningful lyrics. Another outfit in the video that she uses is a farmer’s outfit, which could be a male fetish for some viewers, yet she wears it in a manly and rugged way which would show her to be as dominant.
Also which is funny and ironic is in the same video She is in a car full of other plus size women who are enjoying themselves and having fun regardless of their image, and the pull in a male into the vehicle who they dominate and are portrayed to have eaten as the next shot is of them throwing out bones of a flesh. Which connotes to them being ‘’man-eaters’ and aggressive and domineering which is not what most females in hip hop would refer to themselves as.
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