Group: The Regulators

Members: Adam K. Strelinski

Michael L. Steinhofer

Kristi L. Brown

Edward Perry

Sampriya Chandra

Course: Comm. 110A

Speech Final Outline

Date: May 6, 2007

General Purpose: To Inform

Specific Purpose: To discuss how Rap music affects adolescents, women, and teens in

America

Speech Title: How Rap music affects adolescents, women, teens, and black males.

Introduction

  1. Attention Getter:
  2. Thesis Statement: Rap music effects our youth tremendously; it determines the clothes they wear, the words they use, and the actions that they take.

Transition: “On average, America youth listen to music and watch music videos four to five hours a day, which is more time than they spend with their friends outside of school or watching television.” (Source: Toole, Kathleen O’)

Body

  1. General Effects
  1. Rap videos influence emotional and physical health. Rap music has been accusedto have unpleasant effects on people who enjoy it. The rap lyrics have been found to promote aggression, bigotry, deviant sexual activity, suicide, violence, drug use, and homicide and other evil effects on people.
  2. Rap reflects today’s inner-city culture.

(Source: “Effects of Rap & Heavy Metal Music Lyrics on Adolescent Behaviors”)

  1. Effects on Black Males
  1. Connection between plight of young black males who love gangsta rap and criminality.
  2. California alone- 40% of Black males in their 20s are under criminal supervision, meaning they are either in prison, on parole, or probation
  3. On a national level, 33% of young Black men are under criminal supervision.
  4. Today’s rap music reflects life in the city for many Blacks. “Music only reflects what they hear, what they see, what they live.”
  5. “Rap music has a big effect on many young people because they don’t have a role model within their family to guide them all the way.”
  6. Moreover it was found that exposure to rap music increased “males stereotyping on sex roles inventories” and their negative attitude toward women. Men listening to the lyrics should protest against degrading representations of women since they would not accept similar degrading representations of men.

(Source: Waldron, Clarence)

  1. Effects on Children
  1. Rap Music can have extremely negative effects on children.
  2. It has been experimentally found that children, in their immature mind who became obsessed with rap music “may unconsciously adopt the themes in this music as their lens for viewing the world.”

(Source: Eckholm, Erik)

  1. Effects on Teenage
  1. The AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics declares that lyrics in rap music might threaten the health and well being of adolescents. These might result in pregnancy, drug use, sexually transmitted diseases, accidents, and suicide.
  2. Adolescence is a difficult period in our lifetime because of the biological and psychological changes that occur. People develop their moral values through their perceptions of adult standards and behaviors to a large extent at this point of time.
  3. Music containing explicit lyrics is likely to misrepresent the realities of the outside world thus leading the adolescent minds towards rebellion autonomy, suicide and aggression.
  4. Attractive to most youths, Gangsta rap has become extremely popular owing to its rebellious and anti-establishment attitudes. It praises the bad qualities of the person. “For those who are involved in drugs, crime, and killing, these raps are… the expression of their lives.” A recent assault charge leveled against Tupac Shakur has also been associated with gangsta rap.

(Source: Poltrok, Gina p. 1)

  1. Teenagers who are more likely to spend larger amount of time enjoying the sex and violence portrayed in the “reel” life of “gangsta” rap music videos have tendency to practice these behaviors in real life.

(Source: Kirchheimer, Sid)

  1. Effects of Rap on Adolescent Behaviors
  1. Lyrics have effect on mood, suicidal ideation, aggression, and stereotyping
  2. Music lyrics have been blamed for increase in adolescent suicide and aggression.
  3. Rap lyrics promote aggression, bigotry, deviant sexual activity, suicide, violence, drug use and homicide.
  4. It is a threat to the health and well being of adolescents.
  5. Emotional and mental health: explicit lyrics can skew and misrepresent the realities of the outside world.
  6. Students who listen to rap music that promotes homicide, suicide, or satanic practices were more likely to have remarried or unmarried parents and more likely to be white males in urban public schools. Students also have below average grades, behavioral problems, sexual activity, drug and alcohol use, and arrests.
  7. Students also possess a higher tendency towards verbal aggression than the subjects in a non-lyric group and a non-music control group.
  8. Relationship between behavior and music: Race of the audience and the race of the singer or group is a strong factor in stereotyping.

(Source: “Effects of Rap and Heavy Metal Music Lyrics on Adolescent Behaviors”)

  1. Effect on women
  1. The representation of women in gangsta rap music is completely unacceptable where women are portrayed in sexually subordinate roles. This affects perceptions and attitudes towards women in society and brings down the general social standards.
  2. EmoryUniversity’s Rollins School of Public Health, in his research work published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health, focused on young, African American women, a population that is very vulnerable to bad practices. His research involving sexually active black girls living in Birmingham, Ala. viewed for various types of rap videos; gangsta rap was by far the most popular among the girls practicing these destructive behaviors. In most of rap videos, men dominate women resulting in subservience of the later. The women in most of the videos find it impressive to hang around with powerful, affluent men, going to nice clubs and wearing nice clothes.
  3. 522 black girls between the ages of 14 and 18 from non-urban, lower socioeconomic backgrounds was studied and it was found that comparing girls who never or rarely watched rap videos to those who viewed these gangsta videos for at least 14 hours per week tend towards practicing various destructive behaviors. Studying them over one year, it was found that they were:
  • three times more likely to hit a teacher
  • over 2.5 times more likely to get arrested
  • Twice as likely to have multiple sex partners
  • 1.5 times more likely to get a sexually transmitted disease, use drugs, or drink alcohol.

(Source: Kirchheimer, Sid)

  1. Rap music glorifies violence, sex, drugs and disrespect for Black women.
  2. Gangsta rap contains profanity and openly glorifies behavior such as drug abuse, gang rap and murder.

(Source: Waldron, Clarence)

  1. Differential Gender effects of exposure to rap music on adolescents’ acceptance of teen dating violence against women.
  • 25 % of the high school females in her sample reported experiences of sexual and/or physical violence in their dating relationships.
  • Over 30 % of their respondents use physical tactics to resolve disputes with their dating partner.
  • Younger respondents (18 – 21) are more likely to engage in such tactics than older respondents (22 yrs and older).
  • Negative depictions and treatment of women in “rap music” lyrics and videos affects the attitudes and behavior regarding the use of violence, especially violence against women.
  • Women are merely objects of male sexual satisfaction.
  • National Black Women’s Political Caucus is a group seeking legislation to control the access to rap music.
  1. Who takes the Rap?
  1. Music is a connecting thread running through today’s youth culture. Rap music touches each of our lives.
  2. Rap music can harm society by lumping together and dismissing it as incomprehensible noise. Society is composed of individuals linked by the relations of daily actions.
  3. Rap music, “a form of protest,” is a form of discussing those things that one does not discuss in polite society. It is a connection that exists in the evolution of the musical form and in the similarity of the subject matter: difficulties with the police, housing, and male/female relationships.
  4. Rap music is an effective tool for forging connections with young people. Recent media coverage of the problems of and with youth cultureis violence and drug abuse.
  5. Economic and historical factors that have led to groups of young people becoming at risk for dropping out of school, being unemployed or underemployed, poor health, residing in sub-standard housing, and becoming victims of violence in communities.

(Source: Fitting, Miriam)

Transition: Rap does have some undesirable effects on listeners, but the effects depend upon the particular genre or gender of the listener. “Exposure to violent and misogynistic rap music, compared with popular music, led to more unconscious mental associations with prejudicial stereotypes” (Rudman & Lee, 2002).

(Source: Morreale P.433)

Conclusion: Rap music affects the lives of women, teens, and children. Rap influences physical and emotional health as well as promoting aggression, bigotry, deviant sexual activity, suicide, violence, drug use, and homicide. Also, rap can be linked to the effects of women, teens, and children withpregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, behavioral problems, alcohol use, and disrespect. Rap music has an effect on people’s behavior and showing an impact it has in America’s society.

Work Cited

Eckholm, Erik. "Fan Asks Hard Questions About Rap Music." The New York Times. 24

Dec. 2006. 25 Apr. 2007

<

"Effects of Rap and Heavy Metal Music Lyrics on Adolescent Behaviors." National

Undergraduate Research Clearing House. 4 Jan. 2002. MissouriWesternState

University. 25 Apr. 2007

<

Fitting, Miriam. "Who Takes the Rap?" Research & Creative Activity XIX (1997). 25

Apr. 2007 <

Kirchheimer, Sid. "Does Rap Put Teens At Risk?" WebMD. 3 Mar. 2003. WebMD

Medical News. 25 Apr. 2007 <

Morreale, Sherwyn P., Brian H. Spitzberg, and J. K. Barge. Human Communication. 2nd

ed. Belmont, CA.: Holly J. Allen. 433.

Poltrok, Gina. "Much More to Rap Music Than What Meets the Ear." 13 (1994): 1. 25

Apr. 2007 <

Toole, Kathleen O', ed. "Pop Music at the Core of Youth Culture, Says a Soon-to-Be-

Released Book." Stanford News. 23 Oct. 97. 25 April 2007

<

Waldron, Clarence. "Effects of Rap Music on Today's Young Black Men." Ebscohost.

June 96. 25 Apr. 2007

<