GRAMMY'S RANT...

am I too harsh? Watching the Grammy’s is one of the last things on my list of things to do. I just can’t make peace with myself if I support that show…the music business is a misogynistic club…and women play the pawns. Are there any record labels (in history) that have women in positions of power? I have never even heard of a woman producer, let alone an executive...women are left to answer phones, and go on coffee runs.

I remember when women (in music, at least) used to be known for their music…their incredible lyrics and melodies. They didn’t have to be naked..or put tassles on their nipples and do a pole dance in order to get noticed. Ever heard of Joni Mitchell? Are men in music similarly wearing less and less clothes? I don’t see it. Now, it is mostly about skin…Adele and Taylor Swift are so talented that they have been able to stand on talent alone…but most of the rest of you will have to show serious skin….pose naked on your album (Selena), wear see through clothing to awards shows (Rihanna), be totally sexualized with every step (Beyonce’). When was the last time you saw Beyonce’ perform without wearing something that resembled a bikini bottom? Did you ever see Billie Holliday like this? Music is sold mostly via sex...it is packaged in a sexual package, whenever possible. 

But, what is worse…much worse....is how we have all just “stood down”…and surrendered. If you would have told me 30 years ago that the Grammy’s in 2016 would be showcasing and granting awards to rappers who wrote incredibly sexist, violent, and crude lyrics about women and girls...I would have said you were crazy. I would have said that our society, and most of all, women…..would not tolerate an entire genre of music dedicated to controlling and objectifying women. It is a dereliction of duty for women to allow this to go unchecked...it is shameful that men allow it to go unchecked, but men are part of the problem...

Think about it…you probably couldn’t get away with lyrics that spoke about animals the way rappers speak about women. If you did…you would have PETA down your throats…they would be protesting the Grammys…relentlessly. The same is true if you had an entire genre of music that centered around the humiliation of the LGBT community. They would shut you down, literally! Same could be said if you denigrated Jews in music lyrics…just try making a music genre based in large part on anti-semitism. You wouldn’t last 15 minutes. You would be surrounded by people holding torches…..

But, depict women as whores and “bitches”, talk about what you are going to do to them sexually..and you are mainstream. We have let this get so out of hand that we are totally desensitized to the depiction of girls as female dogs. And, this is just the outer coating…this is the tame stuff…Kylie Jenner has a Rap star boyfriend who wrote a Rap song about her….Google the lyrics to that song if you want to see where things are...now. It is not going to get better...I can guarantee it....we dropped that ball...civility lost. We are back living in caves.

No women are out picketing, or boycotting…no high profile women are speaking out in the media (save Emma Watson)……you are much more likely to hear your daughters singing these objectifying and degrading lyrics at the top of their lungs as they drive to the beach with the windows down. Please be my guest to pull out some Chris Brown lyrics next time you visit Google. You will be shocked…yes, even you.

And yet we are surprised that many recent and credible studies have shown that 1 in 4 women will be raped in their lifetimes…..it’s not so hard to connect the dots.

Wake up…or live with the consequences…

Food for Thought….