| created hip hop, created it as citizens of this country who are living in this country. Yes, if sexism is a problem within the larger society, of course it's going to be a problem within hip hop." There is one train of thought that draws a distinction between "pure" hip hop and the hip hop that is promoted by commercial interests. Pough feels that is an oversimplification and there is only one hip hop. "Some people like to idealize hip hop culture," Pough said. "And those are the people who try to make a dichotomy in hip hop and say things like 'This is pure hip hop. This is real hip hop. What you hear on the radio is commercial hip hop. This is underground and this is commercial.' I think one thing we know about binaries is that pretty much they are always false. I think we can talk about hip hop artists that are trying to create a different kind of hip hop. I think that has always existed in hip hop and there's always been a variety of Black music. That's the other thing too. Hip hop is the culture. Black is the music. Black music is a part of hip hop culture. So is graffiti writing. Whenever people try to say things like commercial hip hop is bad, there are parts of commercial hip hop that try to have consciousness. There are some underground rappers that have just as much sexism in their lyrics. I could probably critique them as well. So I think any kind of binary that people try to set up where they say 'This is pure and now it is no longer pure,' any kind of nostalgia for the good old days, nine out of tens, you'e going to be able to find something false about it." In Pough's opinion, young girls can be victimized by some of the messages in hip hop culture. "You do have these video images as well. And the visual images can be very detrimental to young girls' self-esteem. We're at a point now where women of color, our bodies are flooding popular culture in ways that never happened in the past. And what kind of images are these? What kind of damage might we be looking at 5-10 years down the road? Those are all influences to look at." Pough is not only a feminist critic, but she also does something positive about the images of women in popular culture. She pens romance novels under the pseudonym of Gwyneth Bolton. "I think romance novels are about falling in love, but I don't think falling in love is particularly anti-feminist," Pough observed. "A lot of feminists might say more love in the world might actually be a good thing." Sankofa: Hip Hop, Gender and Youth Empowerment Project Symposium is being held April 28, noon - 3:30 p.m. at 6191 Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park Street. It is free and open to the public. For more information, call Eric Pritchard at 263-5096 or e-mail him at edpritchard@wisc.edu. |
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| Hip Hop Revisited By Jonathan Gramling |
| Gwendolyn Pough, associate professor of women's studies and writing at Syracuse University, is a big picture thinker and a feminist. And while others may be quick to condemn hip hop as sexist and negative-- elements that Pough admits are present in hip hop culture --Pough, the keynote speaker at the Sankofa: Hip Hop, Gender and Youth Empowerment Project Symposium April 30, is quick to put the discussion about hip hop culture in the context of American society. "When we look at sexism and hip hop culture, people tend top talk about it as if it's only hip hop and hip hop created sexism when we live in a very sexist society," Pough emphasized during a telephone interview with The Capital City Hues. "No matter what Don Imus says, people are trying to blame hip hop for his statements -- the fact is he is a racist and sexist man. He's been around a lot longer than hip hop. And it's not that I'm trying to take the blame away from hip hop. But I am saying you need to look at the larger picture and try and complicate the discussion instead of trying to simplify it." And while hip hop is oftentimes billed as something different, Pough feels that it can be taken only so far. "Nothing exists in a bubble," Pough said. "Even if hip hop is trying to be different and trying to be a counter culture, it's still in the world. So the people who listen to hip hop, even the people who |
| Gwendolyn Pough, associate professor of women&'s studies and writing at Syracuse University |
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