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This dissertation reports the results of a study about representations of (Black) women, sexuality, and gender relations in rap music lyrics. I explore the extent to which rap music lyrics reproduce or challenge gendered, racialized, and sexual stereotypes of African American women. I ask how men rappers differ from women rappers in depicting (Black) women and themselves. I show what qualities or practices, particularly sexual qualities and practices, are considered as feminine or womanly in rap music and hip-hop culture and how these qualities and practices are similar to or differ from mainstream gender hegemony. I examine whether and how rap music lyrics construct a hierarchical and complementary relationship between (Black) masculinity and femininity. I ask which feminine meanings and practices are treated as "pariah femininities" and point to features of hegemonic masculinity in hip-hop culture and the broader African American community. Finally, I ask whether and how gendering practices represented in rap music lyrics constitute resistant femininities and challenge White and middle-class gender hegemony. I created a database of rap songs on platinum albums with an original release date of 1984 through 2000. I randomly selected 450 songs from the sampling frame for content analysis. In general, I find that rap music both reproduces and contests prevailing gender, race, class and sexual ideologies and social structures. My analysis of rap lyrics suggests that many male rappers depict (Black) women as promiscuous sexual "freaks" and "bitches" who have sex with men for money and/or other material goods. In many lyrics, they describe their desire for and engagement in sexual activities with freaks and bitches, but they do not express respect. Some women rappers reproduce gendered and racialized stereotypes in their lyrics as well. Still, other women and men rappers challenge these negative images in their songs and offer alternatives. Instead of calling for a reserved or muted sexuality for African American women, a few women rappers depict themselves and other Black women in lyrics as sexually free, in control of their sexuality, and financially independent from men.

List of Tables ...viii
Abstract ...ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...1
Research Questions and Data ...3
An Introduction to Rap Music, Hip-Hop Culture and Scholarship ...4
My Encounters with Rap Music ...7
Women and Rap Music ...11
Gender as an Institution and the Intersections of Gender, Race, Class and Sexuality ...15
Hegemonic Masculinity and Pariah Femininities ...18
Theoretical Perspectives and Research Contributions ...27
Overview of Dissertation Chapters ...28

CHAPTER 2: PLACING RAP MUSIC AND HIP-HOP CULTURE IN CONTEXT: WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCIAL CLASS AND PATRICIA HILL COLLINS AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RACE, SOCIAL CLASS, GENDER AND SEXUALITY ...29
The Emergence of Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture in the U.S. Urban Context ...30
William Julius Wilson and the Significance of Social Class ...32
Patricia Hill Collins and the Significance of Ideologies about and Intersections of Race, Social Class, Gender and Sexuality ...39
Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music Origins ....47
Women in Early Hip-Hop Culture ...54
Gangsta Rap: Misogyny, Violence and the Young Suburban White Men Who Propelled Rap into the Mainstream ...57
Conclusions ...59

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ...61
Rap Album Population and Song Sampling Frame ...61
Coding Procedures ...63
Codes ...70
Code Frequencies, Percentages, and Intercoder Reliability ...74
Analysis Procedures ...76
Conclusions ...79

CHAPTER 4: FREAKS, PROSTITUTES, AND BITCHES IN RAP MUSIC LYRICS ...80
Analysis Aims ...80
Freaky Freaks Freak ...82
Pussy Sells: Prostitutes ...94
Sheís a Bitch ...97
Conclusions ...120

CHAPTER 5: MAMAS, DYKES, DIVAS, SISTER SAVIORS, AND EARTH MOTHERS IN RAP MUSIC LYRICS ...122
Baby Mama Drama vs. My Hard Workiní Mama:
Representations of Mothers ...122
Dykes: Heterosexism, Homophobia, and ìBulldagging
Ass Bitchesî ...133
Scripts Associated with Black Middle-Class Women ...142
The Black Lady, Modern Mammy, and ìEducated Bitchî ...143
The Diva, Sister Savior, and Earth Mother: Middle-Class
Scripts for Black Women in Rap Music Lyrics ...145
Challenging Negative Images of (Black) Women and Resistant Femininities in Rap Music Lyrics ...153
Conclusions ...156

CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIONS ...158
On Hegemonic Femininity, Pariah Femininities, and Hegemonic Masculinity in Rap Music Lyrics ...158
On the Intersection and Significance of Gender, Race, Class, and Sexual Ideologies in Rap Music Lyrics ....165
On the Commercial Interests that Drive Rap Musicís Production
and Consumption and the Declining Significance of Women in Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture ...171
Strengths, Limitations, and Implications for Future Research. ...177 Conclusions ...179

APPENDIX A: SONG SAMPLE ...181
REFERENCES. ...198
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ... 215
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Code Definitions of Images and Themes ...70
Table 3.2: Code Frequencies, Percentages, and Intercoder Reliability for Images and Themes ...75
Table 6.1: Number of Songs Containing Misogynistic Lyrics by Year...174