Acceptance of Sex

Acceptance of Sex 

      Sexuality has always been a topic of discussion when it comes to hip hop culture. During the 1990’s in hip hop sexual orientation was limited to being heterosexual. If you were anything outside of that it was not really known or not spoken about. Some sexual minorities of hip hop would include homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, etc. Hip hop has change over time; sexual orientation is something that is still looking for acceptance. Different hip hop artist has always been open with their sexual orientation whereas some hip hop artists have hid their sexual orientation. Once a hip hop artist tells what their sexual orientation is, if it doesn’t fit into the norm of what genre want then it is frown upon. Even though hip hop is supposed to be a genre for expression, people sexual orientation can make message irrelevant.

     The article “Like an Old Soul Record/Black Feminism, Queer Sexuality, and the Hip-Hop Generation” by Andreana Clay (2008), explores hip-hop’s bisexual, independent poster child, Me’Shell Ndegeocello. Clay examined a number of topics in this a reading such as the “emergence and popularity mark an important political and ideological moment for queer Black women in the post-civil rights era” and other topics as well. (Clay, 2008) Ndegeocello has written so many songs to show how the people society is homophobic and how they discriminate against African American gay women. Clay used an example of how Ellen and her girlfriend, Portia de Rossi is accepted in society. Clay (2008) stated, “While mainstream media contains images of white lesbians, black lesbians in popular culture are virtually nonexistent, or remain closeted” (Clay, 2008). This image that hip hop has made it almost impossible to be comfortable to be with the same partner.

     Selected hip hop artist has made it clear that being gay is not accepted. Hip hop has taken homophobia out of context in so many ways. According to Joshua R. Brown (2011), “The phrase no homo arose in hip-hop lyrics of the 1990s as a discourse interjection to negate supposed sexual and gender transgressions. Today the phrase has gained currency beyond hip-hop…..right homophobia” (Brown, 2011).This notion of the term “no homo” has effected people everywhere. Hip hop has had a big influence on the way, people use this term.  Brown (2011) also stated, “They realize that a lyric, which is “inadvertently gay,” is fodder for another’s verbal attack on their masculinity within hip-hop culture. In an attempt to divert their own demasculinization, musicians presuppose those attacks at their masculinity” (Brown, 2011). People within the hip hop genre have a stigma the saying no homo into their everyday life. Hip hop artists recently have not only embraced masculinity but have also shown feminine qualities as well.

     Hip hop has taken the rights away from people to love whomever they choose to be with. It is easier for hip hop artists to stay in the closet and not discuss their sexual orientation if they are not heterosexual. Even though the law gives everyone the right to love and married to whomever, hip hop still has the laws in the genre.

 Work Cited

Brown, J. R. (2011). No Homo. Journal of Homosexuality, 58(3), 299-314. doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.546721

Clay, A. (2008). Like an Old Soul Record: Black Feminism, Queer Sexuality, and the Hip-Hop Generation. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 8(1), 53-73

McCarthy, M. (2014). Why Is Blood Donation Still Incredibly Homophobic? Retrieved March 20, 2016, from http://regressing.deadspin.com/why-is-blood-donation-still-incredibly-homophobic-1570366560