Popular Culture Review 30.1 • Winter 2019
Respectez-nous as We Feminize the Rapped Rhyme : Women Rappers and Gender Empowerment in French Hip-Hop
by Scooter Pégram
ABSTRACT
French women have long been in a subordinate position as compared to men , and females are underrepresented in nearly every sector in France ( including in pop culture ). Moreover , this sort of gender discrimination is even worse for women of color in France , as they are nearly invisible aside from the menial service jobs that they usually occupy . Owing to their lack of a voice in France , one of the only outlets available for women of color to express their frustration , communicate with one another , or uplift themselves is the medium of hiphop music . This paper introduces readers to the subject of female-led resistance to gender inequality in France via the contemporary medium of French-language hip-hop . This paper analyses lyrical educational empowerment by women in French “ rap ” by discussing a few examples of this ever-evolving thematic concept of positive resistance via the rhyme as we briefly deconstruct a few popular songs released by the four major female rap artists in France over the past 20 years .
Keywords : French women , Female rappers , Female empowerment , Women of color in France , Hip-hop education , Racism in France , Music as protest , French hip-hop , Lyrical resistance , Rap as protest
53 doi : 10.18278 / pcr . 30.1.5