Sexism in Tucson hip-hop (repost)

Reposted from my old blog, originally posted Nov. 26:

Today, I saw a video from the YouTubes of local MC Grimey L. It was footage of a rap battle between him and Xnoxie, another local (female) rapper who participates in Voicebox Battles. The hip-hop scene in Tucson (and probably everywhere else) is largely male-dominated. Xnoxie is the first woman to ever participate in a Voicebox Battle, and the video I saw was of that event.

(NOTE: there is a 1:05 video intro at the beginning if want to skip it.)



Xnoxie got her ass (and vagina -- don't forget to mention her vagina 18 times) handed to her. It was the most demeaning load of shit I've ever listened to.

My initial thought was: He does realize that women aren't just walking pussies, right? ..Right?

I get that the point of rap battles is to insult the hell out of your competitor, but there are a million things he could have used. He chose to punch below the belt, talking solely about screwing her, dominating her, driving the point home that he thinks sex is supposed to be a humiliating experience for the person getting fucked. Something to be ashamed of and embarrassed by.

Her sexuality shouldn't be a fucking handicap. There is a difference between clever insults and dehumanizing language.

Would he have pulled the same shit and used the same lines on another male rapper? Hell no.

So why does he have to treat her "like a bitch," as these assholes would say?

One guy at the end of the clip seemed somewhat concerned by Grimey's performance, and felt strongly enough to comment (at 7:02): "There's too much sexism in hip-hop … Sometimes men are more bitches than bitches."

..Really? If you're going to step up to "say somethin'" about how sexism is a problem, you should probably talk about women like they're people, not props.

I've heard guys involved in the Tucson hip-hop scene talk about how male-dominated it is, and how it would be great if more women got involved.

If Tucson rappers are wondering why people of certain demographics are scarce in their scene, maybe they should re-examine the way they view and treat them, and try to make them feel a little more welcome.

Shit like this -- low blows like Grimey's performance at the VoiceBox battle -- is not going to encourage involvement from the women who stand by, watching from the sidelines.