The Blessings of Hip-Hop By Jesse http://slicer69.tripod.com/ Hip-hop is angry. Hip-hop is a negative culture that thrives off of hate and competition. Hip-hop is loud, in your face and has no redeeming qualities. Or does it? It's true that the hip-hop culture is an aggressive and angry one. It has evolved out of a sub-culture of despair and violence. That's not to say that it's all bad. I would like to take some time to point out some this sub-culture's benefits and how it's explosion into our lives has had a positive impact. The first and most obvious benefit, I think, is the sense of competition. In our culture, those that fight and compete to get ahead are viewed with a certain amount of respect. Effort leads to success, or at least it's suppose to. Hip-hop pushes the idea of one-up-man-ship. Competition reigns supreme in a culture that makes an effort to crush weakness. An evolution of sorts may form here, elevating the strong, the smart and the fast over the rest. Any capitalist should stand drooling over the idea of a country dominated by hip-hop. Deep down, the idea of the strong rising to the top and the weak being...discarded has strong roots with our current society. I think one of the greatest contributions of hip-hop to our society is the gift of communication. The lingo that hip-hop brings to the table opens a whole new range of possibilities. This must be Orwell's nightmare, greater communication. This is especially evident among young men. We, young men, often have difficulties when it comes to expressing our feelings. Hip-hop to the rescue! It can be so much easier to say, "I was trippin'," compared to "I'm sorry. I was such a jerk." Or think about how hard it can be to say, "Do you know how I'm feeling?" compared to "You feelin' me?" I think that while hip-hop is often viewed as a cold, unfeeling society, its words can speak volumes. Someday I would love to hear the Queen of England say "What up?" rather than "How do you do?". Imagine it. See what I mean? The language of the hip-hop culture is brief, to the point and can speak depths while avoiding emotional commitment. Last, but not least, is hip-hop's ability to counter-balance feminization. Our culture, recently, has fallen prey to the feminist movement. Not that I have anything against women, but there are two points that our culture has missed by a long shot. Women being equal to men is not the same as men being the same as women. Second, feminism was originally about women becoming equal to men, not surpassing us. Hip-hop usually has a male dominating effect. Women are seen as trophies, sex toys and objects. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that this is a positive way to view women. However....Here it comes...We do need some balance to help men feel good about being strong, fast and, well, masculine. How many TV shows, radio programs and magazines (men's and women's) try to mold men into a submissive, touchy-feely role. It just ain't right, yo. Society suffers as a whole when standards in the fire department, police force and military are lowered just so women can have an easier ride. Hey, if you want to save people and serve your country, maybe you should be able to perform the same tasks as everyone else in the service. Otherwise we end up with anger, resentment and a weaker protection service. You don't see me signing up to be a fire fighter. It isn't because of my freakin' gender, it's because I can't carry two hundred pounds down a ladder. Two wrongs do not make a right. So hip-hop's view of women isn't any better, in my mind, than society's view of men. But somewhere in the middle there might be a balance. A equal, but not the same, view of men and women. For now, however, while things are messed up, hip-hop helps give men their place. We've been given so many mixed signals about whether or not to open doors, who pays for the date and renaming everything that we're lost. Hip-hop points to an image and says "This is who you should be." It's nice to have direction. Being cold, indifferent and masculine aren't our goal, it's our defence.