Voices of Empowerment: Unraveling Racial Dynamics in Female Hip Hop Experiences

Abstract

Female Hip Hop artists' place in popular culture is currently at an all-time high. However, while some people argue that these women are leading the downfall of this generation, this thesis details how female Hip Hop artists are actually empowering women to speak up for themselves, reclaim their sexuality, and, overall, refuse to be restrained by hetero-patriarchal norms. Through ethnographically examining the varied experiences of women with female Hip Hop music, often differing depending on how they identify racially, this thesis draws attention to female Hip Hop spaces as an important academic site for more deeply understanding gendered and racial sociopolitical issues pertaining to women in the United States. It will also claim that by engaging with female Hip Hop artists and understanding how their music and performances resist the status quo, one can more easily adopt an anthropological lens that questions societal norms in favor of a more positive future for women.