The New Gaze in Hip Hop
“A woman’s presence expresses her own attitude to herself, and defines what can and cannot be done to her. Her presence is manifest in her gestures, voice, opinions, expressions, clothes, chosen surroundings, taste – indeed there is nothing she can do which does not contribute to her presence.” (Berger, 46)
According to Berger, woman’s presence in art is always a matter of women themselves but not so much their relation to the outside world. Therefore, the quote suggests that woman’s presence is about what can be done to her but not by her. This leads Berger to state that women constantly survey themselves while being surveyed by others which turns them into an “object of vision: a sight” (46-47). However, is Berger’s analysis of mainly European art masterpieces still relevant in today’s pop culture?
Cardi B
Recently, I have been especially interested in female rappers as I think they are a great source of women empowerment. Not only they embrace their sexuality and body but also, they shift the stereotypes of typically male-dominated hip-hop scene. One of the emerging artists that risen to the top is Cardi B, a former stripper from the Bronx, who is now at the top of US charts in combination with two Grammy nominations. Her past is often thrown at her and used to define her, which places Cardi B into a position of being a voyeuristic spectacle. However, she doesn’t care – she is proud of her present because that is what matters now. In her texts, she depicts men as weak, soft, and easily manipulated (MacPherson 2017). This can be linked to Griselda Pollock’s essay What’s Wrong with Images of Women as there she describes how the use of male/female reversals can be useful in denaturalizing the meanings of masculinity and femininity (137-138). Cardi B especially blurs the notion of sexual difference as she as an artist creates “an alternative imagery outside existing ideological forms” (142).
For instance, in her video clip, Bodak Yellow the opening scene in the desert creates an Orientalist vibe - Cardi B in abaya dress sits on a camel and is accompanied by seven guards who protect her in the desert. She is always in the center of the composition of the frame and is portrayed with objects of power as for instance - a cheetah, diamonds, and expensive cars. Even though Berger might interpret her presence in this video as a definition of what can or cannot be done to her, I have to disagree. I think her presence here can be also taken from a different perspective because she already reversed the typical roles of hip-hop music video where we would probably imagine a male rapper surrounded by a harem of women in this type of Orientalist scenario. By doing that, Cardi B is not only conscious of her being observed but she works within this reality and thanks to the already-mentioned reversals she is able to act outside the domain of mere video clip. We as voyeurs become shocked by this reversal and we either accept it or deny it which also connects to the statistics of her fandom which from 95% consists of females (MacPherson 2017). Therefore, we might see a positive shift in popular culture where different strategies can be adopted by women artists in order to avoid the typical representation of women as passive objects of gaze and desire.
Tatarka
Another example where women empowerment might function as an active strategy in hip-hop culture is Tatarka’s work. Tatarka is from Tatarstan and she became particularly popular for her Tatar or English tracks Altyn and Pussy Power. Her latest track Pussy Power was rapped in English and was said to be a feminist project which had an international interest (The Calvert Journal 2017). The video shows Tatarka with a group of women in 90s suits which according to her were meant to represent power and feminism (The Clavert Journal 2017). The video clip does not show any men which is very rare in the music industry. Furthermore, all the women in the video are always standing or moving in a masculine and powerful way – the women face us up front. By the end of the video, it almost seems arrogant and intimidating but when we again do the male/female reversal, it suddenly alarms us how normal the video would be if only men were there and acting in the same way. It is this confusion that some work was actually done for the female observer that makes us realize how the male point of view is so naturalized in our society. To conclude, I have to say that there are certainly many examples where Berger’s insights are still applicable, however, via this blog entry I have tried to outline examples that actually show the opposite and might lead to a more positive view of the future that can possibly depict women in a non-stereotypical and active manner which might alter the way how they are seen.
Works Cited
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
Griselda Pollock, “What’s Wrong with ‘Images of Women’?’
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