“Unladylike Divas”: Language, Gender,and Female Gangsta Rappers

1. “Unladylike Divas”:
Language, Gender,
and Female Gangsta Rappers
Jason D. Hauge
Presentation by Patrick McClellan & Cj
Lee

2. • Considered a male dominated genre.
– Heavy uses of derogatory discourse for
women, whereas men are put in a position of
power.
– “bitches and hoes, etc. vs. pimps and hustlers, etc”
– Emergence of female rappers in 80s and
90s, promoted black feminist empowerment but
do they retain femininity?

3. Gender Identities
• 3 examples - Mia X, Lil’ Kim, and the Lady of
Rage.
• alternative femininities that are
counterhegemonic in American society &
gangsta culture.

4. • Typical ways for women to speak, consider
volume, pitch and appropriate topics.
– Rap defies this. Taboo subjects. Profanity.
– untraditional feminine discourses

5. Gangsta Narratives
• Tell stories, normally true? Or not.
• The imagery of gangsta rap includes the selling
and using of illegal drugs; 5 firearms and their use
on other people; various sorts of crime (murder,
armed robbery, pimping, etc.)
• Mia X and Lil’ Kim are no exception. Openly refer
to themselves as gangsta rappers.
• The performances of these narratives help to
construct coherency in the life stories of these
female gangsta rappers

6. • What is normal for a woman? Society driven.
• Un-ladylike, unlady-like, and/or surprisingly
ladylike. Different.
• Mia X “Unladylike Diva.”
• Lady of Rage calls herself ‘lady’, but doesn’t
conform to hegemonic trends.
• Demonstrated in lyrics.

7. Mixed signals
• In “I’ll Take Ya Man’97,” Mia X refers to herself as
“the better bitch, the clever bitch.” This implies
that Mia X and the addressee are “bitches.”
However, crucially, Mia X asserts that she is
better and more clever than the
addressee, ranking herself relatively higher on a
continuum of bitch-ness.
• It’s good to be a bitch?
• Male word to refer to women in Gangsta rap.
Used ironically?

8. • “the flouting of hegemonic norms highlights
those norms, and can create new ones”
• Being truly ladylike is impossible in gangsta
rap because of its nature.
• “Researchers of women entering other
traditionally masculine domains, such as
police work and the US Marine
Corps…common assumption that these
women are, or fear by these women that they
might be perceived as, lesbians”

9. Conclusion
• Women are successfully competing in a
market that has traditionally been dominated
by men.
• “That these rappers choose to be, and can
be, so audacious and skilful is indicative of
their verbal and, in the many diverse
communities where this verbal art is
valued, social power.”