Summary Of The Venus Hip Hop And The Pink Ghetto By Imani...

In her article â€Å"The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto: Negotiating Spaces for Women,† Imani Perry argues that the objectification of women in the music industry is normalized in our society. Her purpose is to persuade us that most feminists who fight against the objectification and exploitation of women are ultimately colonized by the sexual fantasies of men. As a law professor at Rutgers Law School, Perry structures her text in a very effective manner. Using a general-to-specific organization scheme, she begins by outlining the recurring image of sexualized women in music videos, then presenting various cases of prominent feminist figures in the music industry. Perry begins her article by addressing the presence of under-clothed women†¦show more content†¦Notwithstanding the differences, however, she notes that regardless of contrasts in standards, the appeals for body exposure and sexual satisfaction of men still resonate from society’s view of beauty. In the context of physical appearance, black woman are only featured with body parts- mainly their â€Å"large, rotund behind† (Perry 137). The presentation of the face is mainly limited to white or lighter-complexioned women. The highest idealization of women is one that possesses a â€Å"‘high-status’ face combined with a highly sexualized body read by the viewer as the body of a poor or working-class woman† (Perry 137). Perry further substantiates her claim by stating that â€Å"women are created or valued by how many fantasy elements have been pieced together in their bodies† (137). She debunks the opposition arguing that the bodies of black women are appreciated by pointing out that only a minority of black women have such attributes, and those without are pressured and struggle to achieve such proportions. Near the middle of her article, Perry argues that even though statistics show black girls having the highest self-esteem of their physical appearances, the rate will fall as they â€Å"move into adolescence and their bodies come under scrutiny† (138).