Section I
Art for a long time has often been used to communicate about the social issues such as racial segregation, poverty, and even gender roles. Tupac was one of the greatest artists in the 90s, and he mostly used his music prowess to talk about various social issues that existed in that time. Among his common topics were oppression and in his music ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ he mainly talks about gender oppression and how women should have the courage to stand up for themselves. The music style is rap, or the 90s rap genre mainly practiced by black males. The target audiences of the music are mainly black women who were living the ghetto and abused by their men. In the first verse, he narrates how and why women should not let men depress them. He then shifts in the second verse and gives an example of how his mom supported him through her struggles, and the last verse ends by encouraging women to have self-esteem. Some of the lyrics in the song include, ‘And I know they like to beat you down a lot/When you come around the block, brothers clown a lot/But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up/Forgive, but don't forget, girl, keep your head up’ and ‘And I realize momma really paid the price/She nearly gave her life to raise me right’. As it can be seen from these lyrics, the tone of the music is melancholic filled with lament as well as the artists encourage women to be strong and independent. At the same time, the artist uses his lyrics to encourage the society to stand up for and with women.
Section II
As in the reading ‘How Subtle Sex Discrimination Works’ by Nijole Benokraitis (1986), the selected media relates to the sociological theory of subjective objectification which refers to subtle sex discrimination where men treat women as possession, children or even sex objects. In the music and the first verse, Tupac explicitly narrates how women are beaten by men and are also sometimes considered as nothing. This relates to the sociological theory of gender as women in the lyrics are the objects and the men are the objectifiers. As the lyrics state that first the women are beaten, and then they are convinced that they are nothing, which degrades their social stature. At the same time, Tupac tells of women being raped and hated on by the same men who get them pregnant and then abandons them with the children. This aligns with texts from class discussion stating that the effect of such objectification is that women grow to be complicated and less beautiful.
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As in the lecture on the image of black women and their oppression, Tupac addresses the role of women through his relationship with his mother when he says that his mother would easily give up her life just so that she can raise him right. Patricia Hill Collins explained that African women are portrayed as complex individuals with tremendous strength ( Hill Collins, 2008). The music lyrics connect to this idea in that African women have grown stronger and no longer need the help of men in the society to help them raise their children. According to Tupac, his mother had assumed both parental roles of protecting and taking care of the family thus relating with the discussion that it is the Black women who played the part of the success or failure of the Black children.
References
Benokraitis, N. (1986). How Subtle Sex Discrimination Works . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Hill Collins, P. (2008). Black feminist thought . London: Routledge.
