Historical Overview of Music

Rap, rock, and pop music have all changed a lot over the past years in terms of sex and gender portrayal, especially within the last decade. The origins of rap seem to come from New York, and was a way for people to express their thoughts on how they lived, namely poverty and violence in the neighborhood. In the last decade, though, rappers such as 50 Cent, Notorious BIG, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne, and all the others only talk about having sex, degrading women, violence, or killing people. For example, Lil Jon's song "Get Low" is obviously about sex and getting women, but it is (or was) played during high school dances, showing how accepted it now is to brag about something negative. Women in rap music videos are now acting like "hos" to get famous or just to make money. The women who are involved in the performing hip hop culture are diverse, though. Stars such as Beyonce and Ciara still dress "sexy," but their lyrics say otherwise, which is hopefully a positive model for girls in the future.






Rock music can be traced back to being popularized by Elvis in the 1950s. Back in the day, it was obscene to see Elvis dancing on TV, and cameras would cut off at his hips. In the 1960's and 70's, sex became more talked about with the free love hippie movements and the sexual revolution. In the 80's, MTV was introduced, spreading pop culture such as Madonna and Michael Jackson to teens all across America. In the 90's, grunge took over with bands such as Nirvana, then went on to the boy band crazes in the late 90's. The boy band/Britney Spears fad greatly influenced the way teens are today because after them, it was ok to dress provocatively or be pretty boys. Now, rock and pop music has spread out to include more popularized bands in indie, grind, metal, emo, and scene genres. In all of these music scenes, gender is interpreted differently. One emerging artist known as Jeffree Star, is changing the scene because he is a male who dresses as a female. He is adored by scene kids nationwide, which will hopefully lead to the acceptance of transgendered people in a later generation. Who knows what will come about in the next decade?