Violence in the Media, Violence in Our Lives Panel

If art reflects reality, then the lyrics to today’s popular songs are more informative than we think. Our reality is this: one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. One in six women has experienced an attempted or completed rape. In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Between Friends, Rape Victims Advocates, YWCA, and the Center on Halsted organized a panel on Wednesday, October 26 at The Hideout in Chicago. The event featured both a discussion and music performances, dedicated to creating a dialogue and promoting action around homophobia and violence against women in music. Dialogue about this issue began at Pitchfork 2011 when Odd Future was scheduled to attend and these organizations provided a counterpoint to their misogynist and homophobic lyrics. This event continues that discussion.

Erin Gloria Ryan, writer and contributor to Jezebel, moderated a panel discussion among hip hop artist Tim’m T. West, the Inclusion Director for Girls Rock! Chicago, Cyndi Torres, Miles Raymer of the Chicago Reader, as well as Lucy and E. Nina Jay of POW-WOW, Inc. Following the panel, Tim’m, Lucy and E. Nina Jay performed following the discussion, and Stephen Adler, aka DJ The Tornado and a Prevention & Education Specialist at Rape Victim Advocates, played an all-female producer/MC set as everyone arrived. Perhaps most powerful was a selection of poetry performed by Lucy, in which she juxtaposed common female names with beatings and rapes committed against women, punctuating that a crime against one is a crime against all.

While mainstream hip hop music is often noted and criticized for offensive lyrics, Tim’m observed that “hip hop reflects society,” rather than the other way around. He also noted that capitalism rewards this type of violent imagery; rappers are almost forced to adopt misogyny and homophobia as part of their persona in order to become financially successful.

Miles Raymer asserted that shock value and transgression are an active part of pop culture. Often, any attention is good attention for people in the public eye. More attention means more money. According to Lucy, Jay-Z ultimately chose to do “gangsta rap” because it would sell more records and he would make more money. Even further, these hateful messages are beautifully presented through innovative beats and creative lyrics, purposefully appealing to a broad range of consumers.

If the misogynistic and homophobic attitudes and violence in hip hop is so pervasive, how do we combat that imagery on a music-based and societal level? E. Nina Jay pointed to the complacency in silence. Simply ignoring this music and refusing to acknowledge its presence and power prohibits us from participating in the larger conversation. She also asserted that we should instead be engaging listeners to critically analyze and discuss these images and messages.

Cyndi Torres highlighted the need for a separate space and voice for women and members of the LGBTQ community. Rather than simply critiquing the art that exists, we should empower young people and give them the tools to create their own art, making way for a more diverse and tolerant artistic spectrum, making way for a more diverse and tolerant artistic spectrum, as is done at Girls Rock! Chicago.

Erin Gloria Ryan posed the question about when this conversation ends; when do we know that we have reached a conclusion, a turning point in violence against women and the LGBTQ community? Poignantly, Lucy stated that we will discuss it until real progress is made, until she is no longer called “big,” “fat,” “lesbian,” or any other term in a slew of derogatory epithets, but rather, she is simply referred to as “Lucy.”