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Women and Hip-Hop

Lesson 7: Love & Relationships

Objectives:

  • To engage the group in talking about male/female relationships

Materials:

Procedure

Videos & Discussions

Video 1: Lauryn Hill – "That Thing" (music video)

Handout: Lauryn Hill – "That Thing" (lyrics)

Play video (4:18 min).

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is the song talking about? What is “That Thing” (sex)
  2. What is sex?
  3. When is sex ok?
  4. What is wanted and unwanted sex?
  5. What is the difference b/w sex and making love?

Video 2: Dead Prez – "Mind Sex" (music video)

Handout: Dead Prez – "Mind Sex" (lyrics)

Play video (4:35 min).

Definition of Love

Ask the whole group: What is love?

Definition

Love: any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my boyfriend"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.

As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love[2] to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.[3] Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

- en.wikipedia.org

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is the difference between being in love and loving somebody?
  2. What is the result of having sex without love?

Videos & Discussions

Video 3: 2Pac – "Brenda's Got A Baby" (music video)

Handout: 2Pac – "Brenda's Got A Baby" (lyrics)

Play video (3:56 min).

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why was Brenda in this situation?
  2. Was this the result of her not having any love?
  3. What would’ve made Brenda’s situation better? (What would’ve prevented this situation? i.e. having loving parents, being older, having a loving boyfriend etc.)

Video 4: Common feat. Lauryn Hill – "Retrospect for Life" (music video)

Handout: Lauryn Hill – "Retrospect for Life" (lyrics)

Play video (5:03 min).

Talking about Abortion:

  1. Do you think Abortion is right?
  2. Do you think it should be against the law?
  3. Who’s responsibility is it in these kinds of situations? (school? parents? society?)
  4. What kind of responsibility do you take on when you are in relationships or having sex? (Individual responsibility, take care of your partner/child, have a responsible)

Question & Answer (Informal Evaluation)

Time for participants to ask questions, give comments and feedback about anything they found interesting from the workshop.

Lesson 8: Different Women in Hip-Hop

Objectives:

  • To engage the group in talking about male/female relationships.

Materials:

Procedure

Spoken Word (guest facilitator: Sun)


Sun – "Hip-Hop woman" (live performance)

Debrief Questions:

  1. What are the different types of women that you picked out of the poem? (6 video girl, hard, loud and self-absorbed, homegirl, hip-hop head, revolutionary)
  2. Can you think of any other kinds of women that were not mentioned? (mother)
  3. What do you think these lines mean?
    • "She wonders why must I be reduced and be put on a shelf?"
    • "Why do you ignore my beauty and capitalize off of it in the same bottom line?"
    • "When will we be able to shed these roles painted on us by Patriarchy?"

Definitions and Discussions

What are the different types of women that you see in Hip-Hop? Name different women in Hip-Hop

Definitions

Patriarchy: Patriarchy is a hierarchical system of social organization whereby men hold positions of power over women. Patriarchy, as understood in feminism, is the ideal that gender relations be structured on a principle of male responsibility and authority, corresponding to female protection and submission.

Gender Roles: the pattern of behavior expected of males and females in a society.

- www.worldlingo.com

Discussion Points:

  1. Where women/men belong
  2. How we interact with each other
  3. Double standards
  4. Talk about the experience of being a female in Hip-Hop

Definitions

Objectification: Treating someone like an object with little or no regard for his/her personality, feelings or thoughts.

Objectification of Women: Formulation of fantasies about women as opposed to building relationships based on respect and equality.

- en.wikipedia.org & en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectification_of_women

Video and Discussion

Video 1: 50 Cent - "Candy Shop feat Olivia" (music video)

Handout: 50 Cent - "Candy Shop feat Olivia" (lyrics)

Play video (4:11 min).

Writing Exercise (collective class poem)

:

  1. Step 1: class will collectively come up with four sets of rhyming couplets (words that have to do with Women in Hip-Hop).
  2. Step 2: The words will be placed at the end of each line in the poem.
  3. Step 3: Class will collectively fill in the rest of the line before the rhyming word.

Question & Answer (Informal Evaluation)

Time for participants to ask questions, give comments and feedback about anything they found interesting from the workshop.

Lesson 9: Objectification vs. Empowerment

Objectives:

  • To engage the participants in breaking down the difference between objectification and empowerment of women in Hip-Hop.

Materials:

Procedure

Definitions and Discussions

Ask the whole group:

  • What is the definition of empowerment?

Put up the definition of empowerment for the class to see. Explain and break-down complex ideas or vocabulary.

Definitions

Empowerment: Increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing heightened capacities and confidence in their own capacities.

- en.wikipedia.org

Discussion Question Are women in Hip-Hop being empowered?

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you think how women are portrayed in Hip-Hop in the mainstream (video girl) is empowering?
  2. What to you is being sexy?
  3. Does feeling sexy bring up your confidence?
  4. Why?
  5. Is this empowerment?
  6. Is being masculine really empowerment?

Video and Discussion

Video 1: Lady Of Rage - "Afro Puffs (Extended Version)" (music video)

Play video (EXPLICIT 8:08 min).

Video 2: Bahamadia - "3 The Hard Way" (music video)

Play video (4:07 min).

Video 3: Heather B. - "All Glocks Down" (music video)

Play video (4:12 min).

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is “true” empowerment?
  2. Besides sex being empowerment? what other kinds of empowerment is there for women? What other things are empowering for women. (e.g. being a mother)
  3. Do you think there is a double standard in the way we treat mothers vs. daughter vs. sister vs. other women?
Video 4: 2pac - "Keep Ya Head Up" (music video)

Handout: 2pac - "Keep Ya Head Up" (lyrics)

Play video (4:27 min).

Video 5: 2pac - "Dear Mama" (music video)

Handout: 2pac - "Dear Mama" (lyrics)

Play video (4:34 min).

Discussion:

  1. Look at and debrief key lyrics.

Question & Answer (Informal Evaluation)

Time for participants to ask questions, give comments and feedback about anything they found interesting from the workshop.

 



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