This paper examines the prevalence of sexual violence in American media with particular focus on attitudes of sexual violence as a contribution to rape culture. Included is a content analysis of the prevalence of sexually violent lyrics in popular rap music, and a literature review of articles and studies on the effects of sexually violent media. The media discussed in the literature review includes films, television, and pornography. The relationship between the presence of sexually violent media and its impact on public opinion on sexual assault and rape proclivity are analyzed. The literature reviewed includes studies on differences in response to sexually violent media based on gender. Also included are explanation and summary of a study utilizing the excitation transfer theory and the social learning theory as they apply to the understanding of the perpetuation of rape myth acceptance based in the viewing of sexually violent media. These studies utilize the rape myth acceptance scale, the acceptance of interpersonal violence scale, and the adversarial sexual beliefs scale, among other scales of measurement to assess rape myth acceptance and rape proclivity. The high prevalence of sexual assault in the United States calls for an analysis of the acceptance of beliefs that perpetuate sexual assault and the media which support and increase the presence of these beliefs.

O trabalho objetiva articular os possíveis sentidos expressos em letras de rap do cenário paulistano e o processo de amadurecimento emocional, a partir da teoria do pediatra e psicanalista Donald Woods Winnicott. Circunscrevemos a reflexão ao contexto da população juvenil das comunidades periféricas, onde o rap está presente fortemente como gênero musical e, mais do que isso, como instrumento simbólico de expressão e representação de experiências e demandas da comunidade. Segundo essa perspectiva, foram selecionados excertos musicais de rap, alocados em três categorias de análise: a) Rap e os Processos Integrativos; b) Rap e a Socialização Juvenil; e c) A Criatividade no Rap. Comumente, as mensagens manifestadas nas canções de rap narram a realidade vivida pelos moradores das comunidades periféricas dos médios e grandes centros urbanos. São relatos críticos que denunciam os problemas das comunidades, a violência, o tráfico de drogas e as desigualdades político-sociais. Diante desse contexto, os rappers não apenas são os delatores de adversidades, mas assumem também o papel de orientadores da comunidade e da juventude desse território, no que diz respeito ao valor da cultura local e a importância da tomada de atitude para a mudança de vida. Para além dessa compreensão, as letras de rap nos proporcionam também um outro olhar sobre tais jovens, sobretudo em relação a aspectos do processo de amadurecimento emocional, segundo a concepção winnicottiana. Verificamos, com efeito, nos excertos musicais que - mesmo diante de conflitos e vivências difíceis, favorecendo um possível futuro atrelado à criminalidade - outras alternativas também podem ser lançadas a tal juventude, por meio da imersão no movimento do rap. As músicas analisadas retrataram possibilidades de se fazer uso de diversos recursos psíquicos, a fim de colocar as angústias sob domínio egoico, o que conduziria o indivíduo a uma posição ativa e transformadora de si. Com isso, tem-se a possibilidade de criar e reescrever a própria existência, acreditando em sua capacidade para desenvolver algo que ofereça um sentido à vida. O rap pode atuar, assim, como facilitador de conquistas em relação ao amadurecimento e à saúde emocional para a juventude periférica. Além de contribuir ao fortalecimento dos aspectos egoicos, ao desenvolvimento da socialização, o diálogo com os elementos culturais, assim como na sustentação da experiência de uma vida criativa e autêntica / The work aims to articulate the possible senses expressed in rap lyrics in the scenario of São Paulo and the emotional maturing process, through the theory of the pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Woods Winnicott. We circumscribe the reflection to the context of the peripheral community of youth population, where rap is strongly present as a musical genre and more than that, as a symbolic instrument of expression and representation of experiences and of community demands. According to this perspective, musical excerpts of rap were selected, placed in three categories of analysis: a) Rap and the Integrative Processes; b) Rap and the youth socialization; and c) The Creativity in Rap. Commonly, the messages manifested in the rap songs narrate the reality lived by the residents of the peripheral community in medium and big urban centers. These are critical reports that denounce the community problems, the violence, the drug trafficking and the public social inequalities. In light of this context, the rappers are not only the whistleblowers of adversities, but they also assume the role as mentors of this community and of the youth people of this territory, concerning the local cultural value and the importance for taking action to change the life. Beyond the understanding, the rap lyrics provide us another perspective on these young people, particularly concerning this aspects of the emotional maturing, according to the winnicottian conception. We verified, in fact, on the music excerpts that even in the face of conflicts and hard experiences, favouring a possible future tied to delinquency other alternatives can also be launched to these youth people, through this immersion on the rap movement. The analyzed songs described the possibilities to use the various psychic resources, in order to place the anxieties under the egoic control, what would conduct the individual to an active and transformative position of themselves. With this, theres the possibility to create and rewrite the own existence, believing in their self-ability to develop something that offers a meaning to life. The rap can act, this way, as an enabler of achievements in relation to maturing and the emotional health to the peripheral youth. As well as contributing to the strengthening of egoic aspects, to the socialization development, the dialogue with cultural elements, as well as the support of an authentic and creative life experience

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo geral: investigar as racionalidades do consumo que atravessam as práticas juvenis de escuta e produção do rap na cena porto-alegrense entre as (novas) formas de circulação midiática da música. O problema de pesquisa se materializa na seguinte pergunta: diante do atual cenário de produção musical e formas emergentes de circulação midiática da música, quais são as práticas de produção e escuta do rap entre jovens porto-alegrenses? A investigação explora empiricamente uma cena musical e compreende as práticas juvenis para o consumo de rap em uma subcultura, o hip-hop. O campo de estudo é a Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre (RMPA). Ela se organiza como um importante espaço de desenvolvimento cultural. A pesquisa identifica e descreve o público da cena, cujos interlocutores são majoritariamente jovens. Ela está vinculada aos Estudos Culturais, com base nos estudos latino-americanos de recepção e consumo cultural. A partir desse arcabouço, a abordagem teórica é desenvolvida a partir do viés sociocultural do consumo. Portanto, identificamos como as racionalidades do consumo cultural (GARCÍA CANCLINI, 1991a) estão imbricadas e se relacionam em uma proposta de análise das práticas culturais de escuta do rap. Como estratégias, realizamos um estudo de consumo cultural e midiático de rap com uso da etnografia e da cartografia, como métodos. O método cartográfico nos mostrou características culturais da cidade e nos ajudou a revelar a cena musical. A etnografia na internet complementou as ações na urbe, com observações diretas nas redes sociais, coletas de informações e levantamento de perfis dos colaboradores. Como resultado, oferecemos uma análise horizontal sobre o processo de consumo musical de rap na cultura hip-hop da região. Descrevemos e analisamos a cena musical, bem como a relação de pertencimento social e geográfico entre a juventude e a cidade. O trabalho, de natureza qualitativa, aponta como a lógica DIY (Do it yourself) está presente nas práticas juvenis para escuta e produção de rap na região. As expressões “cena rap metropolitana”, “cena rap porto-alegrense”, ou, simplesmente, “cena” são usadas como sinônimos para o âmbito das práticas estudadas na região. A partir da discussão sobre os conceitos de cultura, cultura urbana, cenas e estilos, destacamos as premissas para o estudo do consumo de música. Em resposta à fragmentação do construto, sistematizamos o conceito de consumo musical. O consumo midiático é uma especificidade do consumo cultural. A partir desse entendimento, propomos o consumo expandido como um processo que integra a produção cultural, um avanço na relação sistêmica entre a produção e o consumo e para as práticas que envolvem estes dois âmbitos para o consumo de música. / The main objective of this research is to investigate the rationalities of consumption crossing the juvenile practices of listening and producing RAP music scene in Porto Alegre, Brazil, among the (new) forms of music circulation. The research problem is materialized in the following question: in face of the current scenario of musical production and emerging forms of media circulation of music, what are the juvenile practices of RAP production and listening in Porto Alegre? The research explores empirically a music scene to understand juvenile practices for the consumption of rap in a subculture, the hip-hop. The field of study is the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre (RMPA), which is organized as an important space for cultural development. The research identifies and describes the audience of the scene, wich interlocutors are mostly youth. It is linked to Cultural Studies, based on Latin American studies of cultural reception and consumption. From this framework, the theoretical approach is developed from the sociocultural bias of consumption. Therefore, we identify how the rationalities of cultural consumption (GARCÍA CANCLINI, 1991a) are intertwined and are related as a proposal of analysis of the cultural practices of listening to RAP. As strategies, we carried out a study of cultural and media consumption of RAP using ethnography and cartography as methods. The cartographic method showed us the city's cultural characteristics and helped us to reveal the music scene. Ethnography on the internet complemented the actions in the city, with direct observations in the social networks, collection of information and survey of the profiles of the collaborators. As a result, we offer a horizontal analysis of the RAP music consumption. We describe and analyze the music scene, as well its social and geographic belonging relation between youth and the city. The work, of a qualitative nature, points out how DIY logic (Do it yourself) is present in youth practices for listening and producing RAP in the area. The expressions "metropolitan rap scene", " porto-alegrense rap scene ", or, simply, "scene" are used as synonyms of the practices studied here. From the discussion about the concepts of culture, urban culture, scenes and styles, we highlight the premises for the study of music consumption. In response to the fragmentation of the construct, we systematize the concept of musical consumption. The media consumption is an specificity of cultural consumption. From this understanding, we propose the concept of expanded consumption as a process that integrates cultural production, an advance in the systemic relation between production and consumption and for the practices that involve these two scopes for the consumption of music.

In a society consumed by ever-increasing media and technology, it is more important now than ever that public schools provide their students with the skills and tools necessary to analyze, interpret, deconstruct, and construct popular media images and messages. Consequently, it is the role of educators to engage with popular media in the classroom, not simply for the sake of student motivation, but for the purpose of supporting students in meaningful literacy practices. This study analyzes classroom dialogue and students’ written responses throughout a semester-long English elective course entitled, “Hip Hop Literature and Culture,” in a public high school in New York. This course was designed as a means to engage students in critical media literacy (CML) practices. Through this qualitative case study, the researcher sought to better understand how students are understanding and responding to the popular media that surrounds them, and how academic engagement with such media within a class context impacts their understandings of self, youth culture, popular culture and the social structures that ultimately impact their lives.

This dissertation offers an aesthetic and historical overview of crunk, a hip- hop subgenre that took form in Atlanta, Georgia during the late 1990s. Get Crunk! is an ethnography that draws heavily on methodologies from African-American studies, musicological analysis, and performance studies in order to discuss crunk as a performed response to the policing of black youth in public space in the 1990s. Crunk is a subgenre of hip-hop that emanated from party circuits in the American southeast during the 1990s, characterized by the prevalence of repeating chanted phrases, harmonically sparse beats, and moderate tempi. The music is often accompanied by images that convey psychic pain, i.e. contortions of the body and face, and a moshing dance style in which participants thrash against one another in spontaneously formed epicenters while chanting along with the music. Crunk’s ascension to prominence coincided with a moment in Atlanta’s history during which inhabitants worked diligently to redefine Atlanta for various political purposes. Some hoped to recast the city as a cosmopolitan tourist destination for the approaching new millennium, while others sought to recreate the city as a beacon of Southern gentility, an articulation of the city’s mythologized pre-Civil War existence; both of these positions impacted Atlanta’s growing hip-hop community, which had the twins goals of drawing in black youth tourism and creating and marketing an easily identifiable Southern style of hip-hop for mainstream consumption; the result was crunk. This dissertation investigates the formation and function of crunk methods of composition, performance, and listening in Southern recreational spaces, the ways in which artists and audiences negotiate identities based on notions of race, gender, and region through crunk, and various manifestations of aesthetic evaluation and moral panic surrounding crunk. The argument here is that the dynamic rituals of listening and emergent performance among crunk audiences constitute a kind of catharsis and social commentary for its primarily black youth listenership; one that lies beyond the scope of lyrical analysis and, accordingly requires analysis that incorporates a conceptualization of listening as an embodied, participatory experience expressed through gesture. The first chapter begins with a historical overview of race, segregation, and the allocation of public space in Atlanta, Georgia in order to establish the social topography upon which Atlanta hip-hop was built; it ends with a social and historical overview of yeeking, Atlanta’s first distinct hip-hop party dance style and marked precursor to crunk. The second chapter delves into essentialist constructions of Southern identity and hip-hop authenticity, from which Atlanta hip- hoppers constructed novel expressions of Southern hip-hop identity through a process akin to Dick Hebdige’s theory of bricolage. Chapter three discusses the history and sociopolitical significance of Freaknik, a large Atlanta spring break event that catered specifically to students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. At its peak, Freaknik became the focus of a moral panic, which led to increased policing of black youth in public space and ultimately the dismantling of the event due in large part to harassment; it is this moment in Atlanta’s history which gives context to the performative abandon of crunk. The fourth chapter discusses the aesthetics of crunk music and imagery, focusing on the subgenre’s embrace of Southern gangsta archetypes, timbral dissonance in compositional methodology, and crunk’s corporeal and vocal catharses illustrated by performative violent embodiment (i.e. moshing) and the centrality of screams and chants. The fifth chapter focuses on gender performativity in Southern hip-hop party spaces. The chapter begins with a discussion of gender normativity in yeeking and how insincere non-normative performances of gender are incorporated as a means of reinforcing the gender normativity; this is framed by analyses of a yeek dance move called “the sissy” and the trap era dance, the nae nae. As is argued in the latter half of this chapter, women performers in crunk engaged in the same kind of bricolage outlined in chapter two in order to transform traditionally male-centric crunk music into something specifically and performatively woman centered. Ultimately, these discussions of gender indicate a kind of performative fluidity that echoes the kind of performance-based subversion that this dissertation argues crunk represented for black youth laying claim to public space in the years following the decline of Freaknik. The conclusion holds that, while the era of the crunk subgenre has passed, many of the underlying performative political subtexts persisted in subsequent subgenres of Southern hip-hop (e.g. snap, trap, etc.), which lays the foundation for discourse on methodologies of performative resistance in other hip-hop formats.

O trabalho objetiva articular os possíveis sentidos expressos em letras de rap do cenário paulistano e o processo de amadurecimento emocional, a partir da teoria do pediatra e psicanalista Donald Woods Winnicott. Circunscrevemos a reflexão ao contexto da população juvenil das comunidades periféricas, onde o rap está presente fortemente como gênero musical e, mais do que isso, como instrumento simbólico de expressão e representação de experiências e demandas da comunidade. Segundo essa perspectiva, foram selecionados excertos musicais de rap, alocados em três categorias de análise: a) Rap e os Processos Integrativos; b) Rap e a Socialização Juvenil; e c) A Criatividade no Rap. Comumente, as mensagens manifestadas nas canções de rap narram a realidade vivida pelos moradores das comunidades periféricas dos médios e grandes centros urbanos. São relatos críticos que denunciam os problemas das comunidades, a violência, o tráfico de drogas e as desigualdades político-sociais. Diante desse contexto, os rappers não apenas são os delatores de adversidades, mas assumem também o papel de orientadores da comunidade e da juventude desse território, no que diz respeito ao valor da cultura local e a importância da tomada de atitude para a mudança de vida. Para além dessa compreensão, as letras de rap nos proporcionam também um outro olhar sobre tais jovens, sobretudo em relação a aspectos do processo de amadurecimento emocional, segundo a concepção winnicottiana. Verificamos, com efeito, nos excertos musicais que - mesmo diante de conflitos e vivências difíceis, favorecendo um possível futuro atrelado à criminalidade - outras alternativas também podem ser lançadas a tal juventude, por meio da imersão no movimento do rap. As músicas analisadas retrataram possibilidades de se fazer uso de diversos recursos psíquicos, a fim de colocar as angústias sob domínio egoico, o que conduziria o indivíduo a uma posição ativa e transformadora de si. Com isso, tem-se a possibilidade de criar e reescrever a própria existência, acreditando em sua capacidade para desenvolver algo que ofereça um sentido à vida. O rap pode atuar, assim, como facilitador de conquistas em relação ao amadurecimento e à saúde emocional para a juventude periférica. Além de contribuir ao fortalecimento dos aspectos egoicos, ao desenvolvimento da socialização, o diálogo com os elementos culturais, assim como na sustentação da experiência de uma vida criativa e autêntica / The work aims to articulate the possible senses expressed in rap lyrics in the scenario of São Paulo and the emotional maturing process, through the theory of the pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Woods Winnicott. We circumscribe the reflection to the context of the peripheral community of youth population, where rap is strongly present as a musical genre and more than that, as a symbolic instrument of expression and representation of experiences and of community demands. According to this perspective, musical excerpts of rap were selected, placed in three categories of analysis: a) Rap and the Integrative Processes; b) Rap and the youth socialization; and c) The Creativity in Rap. Commonly, the messages manifested in the rap songs narrate the reality lived by the residents of the peripheral community in medium and big urban centers. These are critical reports that denounce the community problems, the violence, the drug trafficking and the public social inequalities. In light of this context, the rappers are not only the whistleblowers of adversities, but they also assume the role as mentors of this community and of the youth people of this territory, concerning the local cultural value and the importance for taking action to change the life. Beyond the understanding, the rap lyrics provide us another perspective on these young people, particularly concerning this aspects of the emotional maturing, according to the winnicottian conception. We verified, in fact, on the music excerpts that even in the face of conflicts and hard experiences, favouring a possible future tied to delinquency other alternatives can also be launched to these youth people, through this immersion on the rap movement. The analyzed songs described the possibilities to use the various psychic resources, in order to place the anxieties under the egoic control, what would conduct the individual to an active and transformative position of themselves. With this, theres the possibility to create and rewrite the own existence, believing in their self-ability to develop something that offers a meaning to life. The rap can act, this way, as an enabler of achievements in relation to maturing and the emotional health to the peripheral youth. As well as contributing to the strengthening of egoic aspects, to the socialization development, the dialogue with cultural elements, as well as the support of an authentic and creative life experience

<p>African American Vernacular English, AAVE, is a variant of English spoken mostly by lower-class black citizens in the US. Since the most popular music genre among African Americans today is rap, this paper will describe what characterizes AAVE and rap music, and explore the use of AAVE in rap lyrics of both black and white rappers.</p><p>AAVE is different from Standard English in several respects; grammatically, phonologically and lexically. Examples of grammatical features in AAVE are invariant be, double negations and the differing use of possessive pronouns.</p><p>The hip hop industry has been, and still is, largely dominated by black performers, and white artists make up only a minority of rappers in the line of business today. Rappers being part of a larger culture, the hip hop nation, they have a language in common, and that language is AAVE. In this paper, a number of lyrics performed both by black and white rap artists have been compared and analyzed, in search of linguistic features of AAVE. This study provides evidence that AAVE is indeed used in rap lyrics, although the use of its features is often inconsistent. It is also shown that AAVE-presence in white rappers’ lyrics exists, but is sparser than in the works of their black equivalents.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal" / mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0 / mso-tstyle-colband-size:0 / mso-style-noshow:yes / mso-style-parent:"" / mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt / mso-para-margin:0in / mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt / mso-pagination:widow-orphan / font-size:10.0pt / font-family:"Times New Roman" / mso-ansi-language:#0400 / mso-fareast-language:#0400 / mso-bidi-language:#0400 / } </style> <![endif]-->This thesis explores the ways in which Cape Town rap group Prophets of da City articulate their resistance to apartheid and, in particular, the ways in which they attempted to intervene in politicians' attempts to pacify the black electorate during the build- up to South Africa's first democratic elections. Initially, I attempt to clear a space from which one could discuss POC's work as postmodern and postcolonial. I then theorise POC's use of sampling as a postmodern strategy whilst, at the same time, pointing out that rap has its origins in the African- American tradition of Signifyin(g). Through my discussion sampling, I suggest that rap, as postmodern cultural practice, challenges concepts of originality as well as uniqueness. I also discuss POC's work as part of subculture and analyse Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing in order to explore the black artist's struggle for space* within the public sphere. Finally, I contend that both Lee and POC's texts are flawed because they marginalise gender politics. I briefly discuss Queen Latifa's rap music to suggest that the discourses of race and gender are inseparable.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 452 p. : col. ill. Includes bibliographical references.