R.A #2

Title: From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hoes

Author: Joan Morgan

Date: 1995

Topic: This essay is about the connection of rap music to the treatment of women.

Exigence: Her passion for rap music and the influence it has on the African American culture; specifically the treatment of African American women by African American men.

Intended Audience: rappers, black women, feminists, and listeners of rap music.

Purpose: to expose the negative lyrics rappers rap towards women and to change the behaviors of both men and women to stop the name calling of women such as bitches and hoes.

Claim:  The hurtful words used in rap music are affecting the ways black communities peacefully coexist together.

Main Evidence: In Joan Morgan’s essay, she states that the leading causes of death of young black men is homicide which is usually committed by the same race. This entitles that this issue of violence is not done by a different race but of the same race. Rap music for African Americans is a way to express the feelings they  go through. Morgan writes that “the seemingly impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask African Americans often wear both to hide and express the pain”(603). It is evident in the rap music of Snoop Dog and B.I.G. in which the lyrics victimize women because they are saying that women are only good for sex and no other positive qualities that they have to offer. Women can change the bad words that rappers use against them by not participating in the dehumanizing behaviors they act out in music videos.

Writer’s Strategy 1: Joan Morgan uses the appeal of pathos to tell her side of view. She reveals one of her family friend’s death to the visible pattern of murders committed by black males. Another personal experience she writes about is that of her friend’s husband leaving their newborn baby with the mother to take care of.

Reader Effect 1: The reader feels sympathy for the writer because of the personal experience she writes about. The reader might have an experience or know someone with an experience similar to one of her friends who had the father of the newborn baby leave and withdraw all responsibilities of the baby. The mother has to figure out how to raise the child all by herself which is a really hard job to do.

Writer’s Strategy 2: A second appeal Morgan uses in her essay is logos. She uses facts about homicides against black males and the number of black to black relationships in America.

Reader’s Effect 2: These facts give evidence to what she is arguing which makes her arguments stronger and more credible.

Writer’s Strategy 3: The third appeal Morgan uses is ethos. She is credible because she has passion for rap music and isn’t biased about who the rappers are. She is a musician, a feminist, and a writer.

Reader’s Effect 3: She is truthful and forthcoming about her opinions which make the reader agree or disagree with her opinions.  

My Response: I agree with the stance she takes against rappers and their usage of bad words towards women. Rappers do this to express their feelings of hard times growing up or their current struggles of drugs and alcohol.  They might not see their word calling towards women offensive because they are surrounded by that kind of atmosphere all the time. I agree that women can stop their behavior that allow men to dehumanize them and call them names. If both men and women can change their behaviors, they can peaceful coexist together.