Since its origins in the 1970s, rap “has been a heavily male-dominated genre”(Asare, 2021 see also Tyree and Jones, 2015; Sachdeva, 2020). In the rap scene, the presence of women has been scarce (Asare, 2021) and mostly devoted to the role of ‘poster girls’ who exhibit their femininity exclusively by showing off their bodies and (over)using their sexuality (Asare, 2021): they appear provocative, dressed in very sexy clothes, smoking cigarettes, dancing sensually and offensively referred as ‘bitches’ (Sachdeva, 2020). This view of women nourishes a misogynistic and sexist sentiment and the idea that “a woman’s value within the genre is limited to her being a sexual object” (Asare, 2021). However, in more recent years, the presence of women in the rap scene has increased. This change does not necessarily mean that gender stereotypes have disappeared since female rappers can empower themselves and other women through their lyrics but, at the same time, they can also reiterate sexism (Oware, 2009). This case-study focuses on the Italian rapper Madame and the Egyptian rapper Felukah. The main aim of the research is to investigate whether these rappers embrace the typical woman stereotype in rap, or conversely, whether they get away from this imagery using rap as a vehicle to empower themselves and fight against the oversexualisation and objectification (Asare, 2021) of women. In order to answer these questions, Madame’s and Felukah’s photos – retrieved on their Instagram pages – as well as some parts of their songs’ lyrics, will be analysed through a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis approach (Machin and Mayr, 2012) paying particular attention to visual and textual semiotic choices.

Challenging gender stereotypes in rap music: Madame and Felukah

Di Silvestro Ester
;
La Causa Lucia
2022-01-01

Abstract

Since its origins in the 1970s, rap “has been a heavily male-dominated genre”(Asare, 2021 see also Tyree and Jones, 2015; Sachdeva, 2020). In the rap scene, the presence of women has been scarce (Asare, 2021) and mostly devoted to the role of ‘poster girls’ who exhibit their femininity exclusively by showing off their bodies and (over)using their sexuality (Asare, 2021): they appear provocative, dressed in very sexy clothes, smoking cigarettes, dancing sensually and offensively referred as ‘bitches’ (Sachdeva, 2020). This view of women nourishes a misogynistic and sexist sentiment and the idea that “a woman’s value within the genre is limited to her being a sexual object” (Asare, 2021). However, in more recent years, the presence of women in the rap scene has increased. This change does not necessarily mean that gender stereotypes have disappeared since female rappers can empower themselves and other women through their lyrics but, at the same time, they can also reiterate sexism (Oware, 2009). This case-study focuses on the Italian rapper Madame and the Egyptian rapper Felukah. The main aim of the research is to investigate whether these rappers embrace the typical woman stereotype in rap, or conversely, whether they get away from this imagery using rap as a vehicle to empower themselves and fight against the oversexualisation and objectification (Asare, 2021) of women. In order to answer these questions, Madame’s and Felukah’s photos – retrieved on their Instagram pages – as well as some parts of their songs’ lyrics, will be analysed through a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis approach (Machin and Mayr, 2012) paying particular attention to visual and textual semiotic choices.
2022
CDA, Felukah, gender stereotypes, Instagram, Madame, MCDA, rap
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/659049
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