From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos, by Joan Morgan, talks about the impact that hip-hop has on black culture and what it reflects about that culture. Rap is a huge part of the culture that it comes from, as well a big part of modern pop culture. Morgan stresses the fact that so much of the subject matter of the music is hateful from black people to black people. There is lots of misogyny and degrading lyrics towards women. There is negative criticism towards black feminist women that talk negatively towards hip-hop because critics claim the female black feminist is taking sides of the white culture.
This article presents very good points about the current struggles among the black people in the United States. Morgan uses all of Aristotle’s appeals a good amount but I think that she uses Pathos the most. She brings up points about how, in order to strengthen culture among black people, the music must change so that women are not victimized anymore. A main problem is that black men don’t have a way they are socially allowed to express their feelings so they have to use violent and hateful ways such as harsh lyrics in the music. This is a unique approach to most of the previous perspectives on rap music. She is acknowledging the struggles that exist among the black culture in this country. Morgan uses Ethos when she talks about her experience as a black feminist. She tells about how her views differ from other black feminists and how she is is negatively criticized by some parts of black culture because of her unique viewpoints. There is also an introduction before her writing that talks about what she has done as an author and activist. Although Morgan doesn’t use any facts or statistics, her Logos is strong. She discusses the history of influential artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. She discusses their lyrical content and the affects it has on its listeners.
Joan writes this article to her readers in order to raise awareness and bring a new perspective to the issue of sexism in hip-hop and black culture. Many people have discussed these issues, but Morgan talks about how the black men are, “engaged in a war where the real enemies- racism and the white power structure” (604). Most arguments don’t give the black males any slack. They are generally blamed for being negative and not having respect but in this article, Morgan acknowledges that they, along with black women are victimized by the system. They constantly have ideas, ingrained in their brains by society, that tell them that they won’t succeed and that they won’t live past their twenties. Everyone needs to be able to love themselves before they can show love for others and this is the problem that exists among black men. They don’t have the opportunity to deeply feel the pain from oppression and its turns into negative energy that is portrayed in the music.
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