Obscenity law and sexually explicit rap music: Understanding the effects of sex, attitudes, and beliefs

Dixon, Travis L.; Linz, Daniel

doi:10.1080/00909889709365477

Cited by 27 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…It is plausible that images in these videos (including female body images) may vary in order to appropriately reflect the particular theme. For example, because women are often objectified in videos that focus on sexual themes and pleasure (e.g., Dixon and Linz 1997), thin ideals may be more likely to occur in such contexts. On the other hand, in videos that focus on political themes, rap music may serve as a vehicle to challenge oppressive conditions, and to practice Black activism by resisting white supremacy and sexual stereotypes.…”

Section: Rap Music Videos and Themes In Rap Musicmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Rap music was born out of slave spirituals, blues, jazz and "soul" as a musical expression of African American traditions (Rose 1994;Zillmann et al 1995). According to Dixon and Linz (1997), this tradition has been passed down to contemporary African American youth and contains cultural elements such as "toasting," "signifying," and "playing the dozens. "…”

Section: Rap Music Videos and Themes In Rap Musicmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Female Body Image as a Function of Themes in Rap Music Videos: A Content Analysis

2009

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A content analysis of rap music videos taken from the end of year countdowns aired on U.S. cable outlets (i.e. BET, MTV, and VH1) was undertaken. The analysis examined the body images of 258 female characters (87.6% Black, 5.8% White, 6.6% other) as a function of the thematic content in the videos (e.g., violence, sex). It was found that, overall, "thin" females were overrepresented in the videos. More interestingly, the body sizes of the female characters varied by three of the four video themes. When the music videos were high in sex, or high in materialism, women were more likely to have smaller body sizes. In contrast, when the videos were high in political awareness, women were more likely to have larger body sizes.

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Section: Rap Music Videos and Themes In Rap Musicmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Rap Music Videos and Themes In Rap Musicmentioning

confidence: 98%

Female Body Image as a Function of Themes in Rap Music Videos: A Content Analysis

2009

Self Cite

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“…Johnson and his colleagues note their results "suggest a unique vulnerability of Blacks" (p. 248), wherein Blacks respond in stereotypic ways to media portrayals of Blacks as much as Whites do. Similarly, Dixon and Linz (1997) found that a racially mixed group of college students interpreted a highly sexually explicit Rap song as more patently offensive than an equally sexually explicit non-Rap song. SCT's social prompting effects together with the aforementioned studies suggest stereotypical gender roles in Rap music support and reinforce beliefs about a demonized Black sexuality (Dixon and Linz 1997) already common in the U.S.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Sex and the Spectacle of Music Videos: An Examination of the Portrayal of Race and Sexuality in Music Videos

Turner

2010

Sex Roles

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This content analysis used two studies to examine sexual behaviors and sex role portrayals in music videos televised in the United States. The first study included 120 videos recorded from MTV, MTV2, VH-1, BET, and CMT and revealed African American videos were significantly more likely to portray sexual content and female characters in provocative clothing than White videos. The second study analyzed 20 videos from BET's late-night program, Un:Cut. Results revealed Un:Cut videos depicted seven times as many sexual acts and featured significantly more discouraged sexual behaviors than videos from the five major music video channels. Findings from these studies clarify that race is an important factor when gender roles and sexual content are examined in music videos.

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“…Perhaps the most comprehensive review of work on rock music content can be found in Christensen and Robert's [16] compendium, It's not only rock and roll, which provides a good starting point for review (and critique) of empirical evidence, one that can help determine whether the high burden for government regulation [18] has been met. The main points of that volume were aptly summarized in Robert's [19] testimony before Congress:…”

Section: Rock Music Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, Dixon and Linz [18] examined the impact of rap music on sex, attitudes and beliefs. Utilizing an experimental design (n = 172 college students), the authors discovered a significant positive correlation (r = 0.3) between exposure to rap and antisocial attitudes.…”

Section: Rock Music Uses and Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Social Concerns Over the Impact of Popular Music and Music Video: A Review of Scholarly Research

Atkin¹,

Abelman²

2009

TOSSCIJ

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For over a half century, the evolution of rock music has been marked by controversy over its social influence. Arguments by the pro-and anti-regulation/censorship camps echo those encountered in debates over the effects of media violence and pornography generally [1]. The present study reviews empirical work on the content and effects of violence in rock music and music videos. In evaluating whether the research meets the high burden for regulatory intervention, we must first establish (1) whether the content of these popular arts is, in fact, providing an increasingly graphic content environment, and (2) whether such contents actually influence audience attitudes and behaviors. A narrative review of the literature suggests that critics of popular music have needed to "fill in the blanks" of their empirical arguments with selective citations to the voluminous literature on general media effects (e.g., with TV violence). The literature on popular music and music videos provides little in the way of longitudinal, externally valid findings that can establish a "smoking gun" with media influences as potent causal agents with human behavior. Implications for media regulation are discussed.

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Obscenity law and sexually explicit rap music: Understanding the effects of sex, attitudes, and beliefs

Cited by 27 publications

References 39 publications

Female Body Image as a Function of Themes in Rap Music Videos: A Content Analysis

Female Body Image as a Function of Themes in Rap Music Videos: A Content Analysis

Sex and the Spectacle of Music Videos: An Examination of the Portrayal of Race and Sexuality in Music Videos

Assessing Social Concerns Over the Impact of Popular Music and Music Video: A Review of Scholarly Research

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