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`She was workin like foreal': critical literacy and discourse practices of African American females in the age of hip hop

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, USA, Richardson.486{at}osu.edu

This study explores some ways young black women negotiate stereotypical and hegemonic representations of black men and women as sexual savages in mass media, especially as they appear in rap music videos. The objective of the article is to examine how young black women make meaning of these images, in short, how they read rap texts in relation to their experiences of the world as black women. The article aims to: (1) add to the extant research literature on black discourse practices and African American female literacies; (2) demonstrate the complex language, literacy and knowledge-making capacity that exists among young black women who participate in hip hop youth culture, to inform the approaches to the resolution of these complex issues by concerned educators, community activists, and policy makers. I begin by briefly outlining relevant literature in black gender and race studies, and studies of discourse and literacy that will serve my analysis of the young women's discourse practices.

Key Words: African American female literacies • critical discourse analysis • hip hop • racism • sexism

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Discourse & Society, Vol. 18, No. 6, 789-809 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0957926507082197


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Richardson, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?