Independent Women in Hip-Hop

One of the best albums made by women in hip-hop was published in 1998. The album is “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” by none other than… Lauryn Hill.

Here, when you have time, put on the headphones and listen!
This is an optional activity, for your music and entertainment pleasure: 
For this discussion forum, take a look at the following article:
The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education 7(3), 54 – 72
Rap Music Literacy: A Case Study of Millennial Audience Reception to Rap Lyrics Depicting Independent Women
Mia Moody-Ramirez, Baylor University
Lakia M. Scott, Baylor University
Here’s the link to the article: rap music literacy-1.pdfDownload rap music literacy-1.pdf
For this discussion, consider the following questions.
1. Describe the theoretical framework that helped shape this research.
2. How is independence defined by the students in this study; and how does rap music address this independence for female artists?
3. Highlight and share an example of an independent woman in hip-hop or other genres of music. Provide the URL for the rest of us to enjoy what you share!

The “Typical” American Family
Sociologist Stephanie Coontz published her work, “The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap,” originally in 1992.

Based on demographic research, the typical family never resembled the Hollywood version of a two-parent heterosexual family; one at home while the other worked. This kind of household was unique to privileged, wealthy families, unlike the experience of most families who lived in cooperative, extended family households where everyone worked (often times for the wealthy and privileged), and the luxury of having one income was rare. People of color took care of their families and the families of the privileged. This phenomenon is not unique to the United States as we see historical and contemporary global patterns and trends where people of color care for children, do domestic work, while also managing their own households.
As an interesting fact, one of the oldest form of family arrangements still in existence today is polygamous families, where one man will have many wives.
Here is a short article Coontz wrote for the Republic, summarizing her research:
https://newrepublic.com/article/132001/way-neverLinks to an external site.
The Pew Research Center gives us a concise view of families and households in the U.S. You can check it out here:
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/