Post-Reading Questions Week Twelve

I believe that Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad” does show a good example of hip-hop that attempts to be more critically conscious, but at the same time it also supports the reasons why women would think that feminism necessary. The song “Bitch Bad” tells a story about the lives of a young girl and boy and how they use and view the word bitch. In the first act, the boy is in the car with his mother listening to her sing along to the lyrics and calling herself a “bad bitch”. In the second act, three young girls are watching a typical rap music video on a laptop and then one of the girl’s starts dancing and mimicking the moves of the video vixen. The two then grow up to have different views on the word “bitch”. The boy associates the word with his mother’s strong role as an independent woman, while the girl relates the word to her sexual appeals.

In the song Lupe says that he’s not “usin “bitch” as a lesson, but as a psychological weapon to set in your mind and really mess with your conceptions, directions, reflections, it’s clever misdirection.” In my opinion, Lupe does a great job of making us think whether the boy or the girl has the right meaning on the word “bitch”. Nowadays the word “bitch” can be misunderstood because it can be used negatively or positively. I believe that the boy has a better understanding on the word than the girl because he was taught by his mom rather than learning from rap music video. The boy was taught that a “bad bitch” was like his mom, strong and independent. The girl grew up copying the dancers from the music videos and coming to an understanding that a “bad bitch” is someone who has sex appeal.

While showing a good example of conscious hip-hop, at the same time Lupe also demonstrates that women should be set in a hierarchy when he says, “Bitch bad, women good, lady better”. After watching the music video I now understand why feminist activist would be against this song. The song makes it seem like Lupe’s understanding of the term “bitch” is exactly like the other rappers; females dressed in skin tight revealing outfits and shaking their asses. People would think this because he says a bitch is bad and also in the music video the girl calls her self a “bad bitch” while dressed in low cut “booty” shorts and looking provocative.

The word “bitch” can be used in many different ways causing confusion of whether or not Lupe Fiasco is using it in a conscious way. I believe that he is not using it in a way where female are being misrepresented, but instead he using word play to make us think under the surface.

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