Rhetorical Analysis #2

From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos Rhetorical Analysis

                I read the essay From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos by Joan Morgan. It is about how the pervasive sexism and misogyny in the Lyrics of Hip Hop. The purpose of this essay is to not only address the issue of sexism in Hip Hop, but to understand and analyze it. She argues that by understanding what is happening in the Hip Hop culture to create such a negative view of women, we can change these bad institutions within the culture, which will result in a change in the way women are represented. Her intended audience for this essay is definitely anyone involved with the Hip Hop culture, particularly black men and women because of the terminology and her writing style.

                Writer’s Strategy 1 Purpose: The purpose of this essay was to try to understand the reason for the sexism and misogyny in Hip Hop. I believe she addresses the issue by going deep into the culture in order to understand where this negative view of women comes from. She analyses the conditions that many black and brown people live in here in America. I interpreted the essay as her saying that the attitudes that are demonstrated towards women can are translated to other aspects of the lives of black men. They treat the men around them and even themselves in similar regard as they do women. Society might have caused black people to have a negative view of themselves, as a result there is more black on black violence, substance and alcohol abuse, and sexism towards women.

                Writer’s Strategy 2 Rhetorical Appeals: Joan Morgan uses all three appeals in order to make her point, but the two appeals that are used the most are ethos and pathos. She uses ethos when she describes her experiences her friend and family had. For example she explains what happened with a family friend of hers “She was a troubled young woman with a history of substance abuse, aggravated by her son’s murder two years ago. She was found beaten and burned beyond recognition. Her murderers were not ‘skinheads,’ ‘The Man,’ or ‘the racist white power structure.’ More likely than not, they were brown men whose faces resembled her own.” (603). This example not only shows her credibility, but it also makes an emotional connection to her audience. She is effectively able to show her own experiences to the Hip Hop and black community and she appeals to them emotionally in order to drive her point.

                Writer’s Strategy 3 Style: Joan Morgan’s style of writing was specific for members of the black community that are connected to the Hip Hop culture. She used slang and terminology that seemed specific to the audience she was targeting. She would use terms such as “sistas” to refer to black women, and she referred to a black man as “a brother”. This type of language was used throughout the essay, this suggest to me that she is aiming for a very specific audience.