Final Draft, Final Polish

December 9, 2012

Hip-Hop Culture and Gender Roles

Dear Hip-Hop Fans and Listeners,

In a time when more and more rappers are taking over our radio and internet streams with their unproven talents and misogynistic raps, we as a society have grown to adapt ourselves to characteristics of said genre. Filled with pervasive sexism and gender discrimination, these lyrics have had a profound impact on how our civilization acts. The most unfortunate part of this crisis is the fact that it is affecting everyone without most of them realizing it. As an avid hip-hop fan and unofficial expert of the genre for the past 7 years, I have an undeniable love for the music, but it is not an unforgiving one. We must be aware of the hatred and objectification towards women that our current state of hip-hop is influencing, and use this as the first step towards healing the pain that it expresses. By analyzing and comparing lyrics from different generations of hip-hop, as well as detailing the resulting statistics and standard occurrences, we can better comprehend the negative effects that today’s rap music inflict. It is time for us to act like responsible citizens and understand how the current state of hip-hop influences negative gender roles on society.

Back when hip-hop was just called hip-hop and the song lyrics were not all harsh and stinging words directed towards male dominance and female objectification, rappers actually spoke about more good things than bad. Hardships growing up in impoverished conditions as well as more positive notes toward life were common themes of hip-hop songs back in the day. Influential groups like A Tribe Called Quest told stories through their rhymes and took the listener through bright and imaginative narratives, a trait today’s rappers are lacking. One of the group’s most popular songs, “Can I Kick It,” has member Q-Tip reciting positive attitudes and feelings through rhyme: “Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz, Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug, If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug, Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug.” The rapper is inviting listeners to bring their feel good dancing mood onto the metaphorical “rhythm rug,” and if they feel at all down, there is always someone there to give them a warm hug to brighten their spirits. Q-Tip’s rhymes are intelligent, artistic, and take a more playful lyrical approach than most of today’s rappers. At the the peak of the group’s popularity in the early 1990’s, one could easily say that the level of hyper-masculinity and objectification of woman were not as severe as they are today. Listeners of 90’s era hip-hop took to heart the words spoken by those rappers, and embodied those qualities and approaches into their own lifestyle, resulting in little gender-based issues. Rappers didn’t convey the image of men always out looking for some person to bang, and as a result, most women did not have to dress slutty in order to grasp the attentions of other men. This effectively resulted in society not demanding such ridiculousness in terms of gender inequality, with men not forced to flaunt their extreme power and masculinity, as well as women not being forced to throw their bodies out as pure sexual instruments in order to keep up with what society believed to be the norm.

Unfortunately, things have changed over the past 10 years. More and more incompetent rappers are releasing their music to the public that contain no skilled form of song-writing. The main message in today’s raps are essentially, “I make a lot of money, I get a lot of women, and I do a ton of drugs and drinking.” Surely artists rapping these messages are not the best type of role models when it comes to our youth. This is especially true since the most prevalent aspect of their raps contain endless rhymes of being the macho-man who have sex with countless women daily, something men think they must accomplish now in order to be “normal,” which, in the process, results in society almost degrading women into mere “sex-portals,” and nothing else. For example, we have rappers like Lil’ Wayne who write rhymes such as “Shawty wanna thug, Bottles in the club, Shawty wanna hump, And oh I like to touch ya lovely lady lumps, She wanna lick the rapper.” First and more obviously, any person can obviously detect the amount of talent and skill needed to produce such lyrics, which really takes away from the quality of today’s music. Secondly, when our generation’s most influential rapper only raps about the sexual desire of men wanting to “grind” on women in the club and having the ladies “lick [their] rapper,” the approach here is far less intelligent and imaginative. Not only does this type of lyricism transcend on to the males of society, but the females’ standards and overall moral beliefs lower significantly in order to meet the needs and expectations of those rappers and other various males who now take on these female-degrading and masculine-favoring manners.

Another epidemic that is a direct result from the current era of rappers is the idea and experimentation of video vixens and dancers for live performances. Video vixens are essentially females who wear little-to-no clothes and are placed into rap videos as props throughout the background. They are volunteers who do not look for any sort of pay, just the self-gratifying feeling that they were able to literally donate their body to a famous rapper’s sexually themed video. Joan Morgan, a music writer and hip-hop magazine editor, talks about how no one is addressing what is wrong with these vixens. Morgan questions our morality towards them, asking, “wouldn’t it be more productive to address the failing self-esteem of the 150 or so half naked woman who were willing, unpaid participants?” (Morgan 447). Morgan’s point is extremely valid and brings up the fact that no one calls into question the service of these volunteers who will do anything to be in these rap star’s music videos. I have a friend of mine who is attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and was jumping for virtual joy when she posted on her Facebook that she had been “casted” to be one of 20 vixens to appear in a music video for   popular rapper ASAP Rocky. She ended her announcement by saying, “See you on MTV [expletive]s!” The joy and self-fulfillment women get from being chosen to flaunt their naked bodies in these rapper’s music video is not right, and should not bring them this amount of happiness. This also further proves the fact the most women will do anything, even if it is to make a fool of themselves in public, in order to bring any type of attention upon them, all a direct result of what women believe rappers want out of them.

On top of this, we have women dancers and entertainers who are similar to video vixens but perform their duties on stage during concerts while also receiving pay. Fittingly and unsurprisingly, these women are dressed in tight-fitting, revealing clothing, accentuating the typical lady assets: legs, breasts, and ass. These ladies perform grotesque and overly-sexual actions towards the rapper on stage, all to the “awe” of the audience. During a Lil’ Wayne performance for the aforementioned song “Lollipop,” women dancers would come on stage to grope Lil Wayne, sometimes kneeling on either side of him to pull on his belt in a suggestive manner. The lesson? Lil Wayne has droves of sexy women at his disposal, illustrating his masculinity through the command of female bodies, thus further proving the distorted field of gender equality. While the women's expression of sexuality is completely their own business, it is still evident that it is not a personal expression, but rather an expression that is for the heterosexual male gaze, uplifting Lil Wayne's own expression of masculinity in such a way that it completely overshadows the women's obvious talent as singers and dancers beyond the scope of their sexual parts.

Beyond this, mainstream rap has solidified the role of woman as a recipient of male domination and insult through lyrics, music videos, and commercial radio. As noted above, these music videos relegate women to adornments to the male artist. The young people who are repeatedly exposed to these sounds and images tend to habitually act them out in their own social situations. The American Medical Association estimates that almost four million men severely assault their intimate female partners or spouses each year. The leading cause of injury for women is also caused by men’s violence against their female partners, as it also results in at least 35 percent of all emergency room visits. The derogatory and misogynistic overtones in today’s mainstream rap music truly cloud our youth’s judgement and self-esteem, and as a result has our future generations being led in the wrong direction. All of these messages put out by today’s rap stars continue to promote gender inequality.

It is easy to see how all these factors from today’s mainstream rap contribute to the growing sexism and overall negative gender roles that have been conceived. But some people want to discredit the hip-hop industry of being the main culprit towards gender inequality by saying that the rappers aren't necessarily telling the listeners to mirror what they are saying. While this may be true, it is hard for our youth to try not to emulate their favorite idols, as it is almost inevitable that the listeners will try to reflect the words of their favorite rappers. So by contrasting the lyrics of artists from two different generations of hip-hop music, we can get a better idea of how much the genre has changed and how the change has shifted our society’s idea of masculinity, female objectification, and overall gender roles. And with more and more females believing that they will be publicly accepted and appreciated by becoming video vixens or live dancers for today's rappers, it becomes apparent how this perception is caused by mainstream rap. By also understanding how the rise in domestic violence is correlated to the rise in popularity of mainstream rap, we can finally begin to correct the issue at hand. We want our future generations to embody a type of character that we all would be proud of. It would be difficult to see our kids grow up to become something we are all ashamed of. We must be educated on the issue, correct the issue, and bring hip-hop back to the roots it was founded on!

Sincerely yours,




Iman Shahmiri

Annotated Bibliography

Dove-Viebahn, Aviva. "Future of Feminism: Hip Hop Critiques Gender." Ms. Magazine. Liberty Media for Women, LLC, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2012. <http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/03/26/future-of-feminism-hip-hop-critiques-gender/>.

This electronically published magazine article attempts to explain how the genre of hip hop music has absolutely no relationship with with the idea of feminism, and how the genre essentially plays the role of the ultimate villain to the feminist culture. The author, Aviva Dove-Viebahn, is an avid writer and blogger for feminist magazines and recently received her PhD from the Program in Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester with a Graduate Certificate in Gender and Women's Studies from the Susan B. Anthony Institute. The article does a great job showing the reader how today's mainstream rap shares a central theme of promoting negative gender roles. This article was helpful for my research because the writer provided song lyrics that directly showed her claim and allowed me to better understand the claim to my own research.

Morgan, Joan. "From Fly-Girls To Bitches and Hos." When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My  Life as a Hip-hop Feminist. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. N. pag. Print.

This excerpt from Joan Morgan's book was written to help people confront and understand, and not simply condemn, the hatred and objectification of women from hip-hop today as well as the disconnection of the black community. Overall, Morgan did an effective job persuading the reader to understand her claim as a critical crisis in the world today that must be faced and amended. Morgan uses many verified statistics as well as various lyrics from popular hip-hop songs. This work is extremely applicable to my research, as it is my main source on the topic of feminism and its place in hip hop, as well as a great starting point on the division of the male role throughout the black community.

Phillips, Brittinee. "Gender Roles in Hip Hop Music." Daily 49er. N.p., 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.daily49er.com/news/gender-roles-in-hip-hop-music-1.1724115>.

This article published on the Daily 49er by Brittinee Phillips touches on the dismemberment of hip hop as well as examines images of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music. The author questions how representations of masculinity in hip-hop shapes the way men represent their respective creative areas of dance and writing. Phillips attends an event that was attempting to raise awareness during Sexual Assault Awareness Month and gained many valuable quotes from noted speakers and guests. The author does a great job addressing and backing up her claim with substantial evidence. This reading was a great resource for my paper as it provided a lot of insight on the topic at hand.  

*Note: Blogger would not allow me to properly format my annotated bibliography.

Final Draft

December 3, 2012
Hip-Hop Culture and Gender Roles

Dear Hip-Hop Fans and Listeners,

In a time when more and more rappers are taking over our radio and internet streams with their unproven talents and misogynistic raps, our society has grown to adapt the characteristics from the pervasive sexism and gender discrimination that is present in the lyrics of said musicians. As an avid hip-hop fan and unofficial expert of the genre for the past 7 years, I have an undeniable love for the music, but it’s not an unforgiving one. We must be aware of the hatred and objectification towards women, as well as the disconnection of the male black community, that our current state of hip-hop is influencing, and use this as the first step towards healing the pain that it expresses. The most unfortunate part of this crisis is the fact that it is affecting everyone without most of us realizing it. By analyzing and comparing lyrics from different generations of hip-hop, as well as detailing the resulting statistics and standard occurrences, we can better comprehend the negative effects that today’s rap music inflict. It is time for us to act like responsible citizens and understand how the current state of hip-hop influences negative gender roles on society.

Back when hip-hop was just called hip-hop and the song lyrics were not all harsh and stinging words directed towards male dominance and female objectification, rappers actually spoke about more good things than bad. Hardships growing up in impoverished conditions as well as more positive notes toward life were common themes of hip-hop songs back in the day. Influential groups like A Tribe Called Quest told stories through their rhymes and took the listener through bright and imaginative narratives, a trait today’s rappers are lacking. One of the group’s most popular songs, “Can I Kick It,” has member Q-Tip reciting positive attitudes and feelings through rhyme: “Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz, Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug, If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug, Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug.” The rapper is inviting listeners to bring their feel good dancing mood onto the metaphorical “rhythm rug,” and if they feel at all down, there is always someone there to give them a warm hug to brighten their spirits. Q-Tip’s rhymes are intelligent, artistic, and take a more playful lyrical approach than most of today’s rappers. At the the peak of the group’s popularity in the early 1990’s, one could easily say that the level of hyper-masculinity and objectification of woman were not as severe as they are today. Listeners of 90’s era hip-hop took to heart the words spoken by those rappers, and embodied those qualities and approaches into their own lifestyle, resulting in little gender-based issues. Rappers didn’t convey the image of men always out looking for some person to bang, and as a result, most women did not have to dress slutty in order to grasp the attentions of other men. This effectively resulted in society not demanding such ridiculousness in terms of gender inequality, with men not forced to flaunt their extreme power and masculinity, as well as women not being forced to throw their bodies out as pure sexual instruments in order to keep up with what society believed to be the norm.

Unfortunately, things have changed over the past 10 years. More and more incompetent rappers are releasing their music to the public that contain no skilled form of song-writing. The main message in today’s raps are essentially, “I make a lot of money, I get a lot of women, and I do a ton of drugs and drinking.” Surely artists rapping these messages are not the best type of role models when it comes to our youth. This is especially true since the most prevalent aspect of their raps contain endless rhymes of being the macho-man who have sex with countless women daily, something men think they must accomplish now in order to be “normal,” which, in the process, results in society almost degrading women into mere “sex-portals,” and nothing else. For example, we have rappers like Lil’ Wayne who write rhymes such as “Shawty wanna thug, Bottles in the club, Shawty wanna hump, And oh I like to touch ya lovely lady lumps, She wanna lick the rapper.” First and more obviously, any person can obviously detect the amount of talent and skill needed to produce such lyrics, which really takes away from the quality of today’s music. Secondly, when our generation’s most influential rapper only raps about the sexual desire of men wanting to “grind” on women in the club and having the ladies “lick [their] rapper,” the approach here is far less intelligent and imaginative. Not only does this type of lyricism transcend on to the males of society, but the females’ standards and overall moral beliefs lower significantly in order to meet the needs and expectations of those rappers and other various males who now take on these female-degrading and masculine-favoring manners.

Another epidemic that is a direct result from the current era of rappers is the idea and experimentation of video vixens and dancers for live performances. Video vixens are essentially females who wear little-to-no clothes and are placed into rap videos as props throughout the background. They are volunteers who do not look for any sort of pay, just the self-gratifying feeling that they were able to literally donate their body to a famous rapper’s sexually themed video. Joan Morgan, a music writer and hip-hop magazine editor, talks about how no one is addressing what is wrong with these vixens. Morgan questions our morality towards them, asking, “wouldn’t it be more productive to address the failing self-esteem of the 150 or so half naked woman who were willing, unpaid participants?” (447). Morgan’s point is extremely valid and brings up the fact that no one calls into question the service of these volunteers who will do anything to be in these rap star’s music videos. I have a friend of mine who is attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and was jumping for virtual joy when she posted on her Facebook that she had been “casted” to be one of 20 vixens to appear in a music video for   popular rapper ASAP Rocky. She ended her announcement by saying, “See you on MTV [expletive]s!” The joy and self-fulfillment women get from being chosen to flaunt their naked bodies in these rapper’s music video is not right, and should not bring them this amount of happiness. This also further proves the fact the most women will do anything, even if it is to make a fool of themselves in public, in order to bring any type of attention upon them, all a direct result of what women believe rappers want out of them.

On top of this, we have women dancers and entertainers who are similar to video vixens but perform their duties on stage during concerts while also receiving pay. Fittingly and unsurprisingly, these women are dressed in tight-fitting, revealing clothing, accentuating the typical lady assets: legs, breasts, and ass. These ladies perform grotesque and overly-sexual actions towards the rapper on stage, all to the “awe” of the audience. During a Lil’ Wayne performance for the aforementioned song “Lollipop,” women dancers would come on stage to grope Lil Wayne, sometimes kneeling on either side of him to pull on his belt in a suggestive manner. The lesson? Lil Wayne has droves of sexy women at his disposal, illustrating his masculinity through the command of female bodies, thus further proving the distorted field of gender equality. While the women's expression of sexuality is completely their own business, it is still evident that it is not a personal expression, but rather an expression that is for the heterosexual male gaze, uplifting Lil Wayne's own expression of masculinity in such a way that it completely overshadows the women's obvious talent as singers and dancers beyond the scope of their sexual parts.

Beyond this, mainstream rap has solidified the role of woman as a recipient of male domination and insult through lyrics, music videos, and commercial radio. As noted above, these music videos relegate women to adornments to the male artist. The young people who are repeatedly exposed to these sounds and images tend to habitually act them out in their own social situations. The American Medical Association estimates that almost four million men severely assault their intimate female partners or spouses each year. The leading cause of injury for women is also caused by men’s violence against their female partners, as it also results in at least 35 percent of all emergency room visits. The derogatory and misogynistic overtones in today’s mainstream rap music truly cloud our youth’s judgement and self-esteem, and as a result has our future generations being led in the wrong direction. All of these messages put out by today’s rap stars continue to promote gender inequality.

It is easy to see how all these factors from today’s mainstream rap contribute to the growing sexism and overall negative gender roles that have been conceived. But some people want to discredit the hip-hop industry of being the main culprit towards gender inequality by saying that the rappers aren't necessarily telling the listeners to mirror what they are saying. While this may be true, it is hard for our youth to try not to emulate their favorite idols, as it is almost inevitable that the listeners will try to reflect the words of their favorite rappers. So by contrasting the lyrics of artists from two different generations of hip-hop music, we can get a better idea of how much the genre has changed and how the change has shifted our society’s idea of masculinity, female objectification, and overall gender roles. And with more and more females believing that they will be publicly accepted and appreciated by becoming video vixens or live dancers for today's rappers, it becomes apparent how this perception is caused by mainstream rap. By also understanding how the rise in domestic violence is correlated to the rise in popularity of mainstream rap, we can finally begin to correct the issue at hand. We want our future generations to embody a type of character that we all would be proud of. It would be difficult to see our kids grow up to become something we are all ashamed of. We must be educated on the issue, correct the issue, and bring hip-hop back to the roots it was founded on!




Sincerely yours,


Iman Shahmiri

Rough Draft

November 30, 2012
Hip-Hop Culture and Gender Roles

Dear Hip-Hop Fans and Listeners,

In a time when more and more rappers are taking over our radio and internet streams with their unproven talents and misogynistic raps, our society has grown to adapt the characteristics from the pervasive sexism and gender discrimination that is present in the lyrics of said musicians. As an avid hip-hop fan and unofficial expert of the genre for the past 7 years, I have an undeniable love for the music, but it’s not an unforgiving one. We must be aware of the hatred and objectification towards women, as well as the disconnection of the male black community, that our current state of hip-hop is influencing, and use this as the first step towards healing the pain that it expresses. The most unfortunate part of this crisis is the fact that it is affecting everyone without most of us realizing it. By analyzing and comparing lyrics from different generations of hip-hop, as well as detailing the resulting statistics and standard occurrences, we can better comprehend the negative effects that today’s rap music inflict. It is time for us to act like responsible citizens and understand how the current state of hip-hop influences negative gender roles on society.

Back when hip-hop was just called hip-hop and the song lyrics were not all harsh and stinging words directed towards male dominance and female objectification, rappers actually spoke about hardships growing up in impoverished conditions as well as more positive notes toward life. Influential groups like A Tribe Called Quest told stories through their rhymes and took the listener through bright and imaginative narratives, a trait today’s rappers are lacking. One of the group’s most popular songs, “Can I Kick It,” has member Q-Tip reciting positive attitudes and feelings through rhyme: “Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz, Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug, If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug, Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug.” The rapper is inviting listeners to bring their feel good dancing mood onto the metaphorical “rhythm rug,” and if they feel at all down, there is always someone there to give them a warm hug to brighten their spirits. Q-Tip’s rhymes are intelligent, artistic, and take a more playful lyrical approach than most of today’s rappers. At the the peak of the group’s popularity in the early 1990’s, one could easily say that the level of hyper-masculinity and objectification of woman were not as severe as they are today. Listeners of 90’s era hip-hop took to heart the words spoken by those rappers, and embodied those qualities and approaches into their own lifestyle, resulting in little gender-based issues. Rappers didn’t convey the image of men always out looking for some person to bang, and as a result, most women did not have to dress slutty in order to grasp the attentions of other men. This effectively resulted in society not demanding such ridiculousness in terms of gender inequality, with men not forced to flaunt their extreme power and masculinity, as well as women not being forced to throw their bodies out as pure sexual instruments in order to keep up with what society believed to be the norm.

Unfortunately, things have changed over the past 10 years. More and more incompetent rappers are releasing their music to the public that contain no skilled form of song-writing. The main message in today’s raps are essentially, “I make a lot of money, I get a lot of women, and I do a ton of drugs and drinking.” Surely artists rapping these messages are not the best type of role models when it comes to our youth. This is especially true since the most prevalent aspect of their raps contain endless rhymes of being the macho-man who have sex with countless women daily, something men think they must accomplish now in order to be “normal,” which, in the process, results in society almost degrading women into mere “sex-portals,” and nothing else. For example, we have rappers like Lil’ Wayne who write rhymes such as “Shawty wanna thug, Bottles in the club, Shawty wanna hump, And oh I like to touch ya lovely lady lumps, She wanna lick the rapper.” First and more obviously, any person can obviously detect the amount of talent and skill needed to produce such lyrics, which really takes away from the quality of today’s music. Secondly, when our generation’s most influential rapper only raps about the sexual desire of men wanting to “grind” on women in the club and having the ladies “lick [their] rapper,” the approach here is far less intelligent and imaginative. Not only does this type of lyricism transcend on to the males of society, but the females’ standards and overall moral beliefs lower significantly in order to meet the needs and expectations of those rappers and other various males who now take on these female-degrading and masculine-favoring manners.

Another epidemic that is a direct result from the current era of rappers is the idea and experimentation of video vixens and dancers for live performances. Video vixens are essentially females who wear little-to-no clothes and are placed into rap videos as props throughout the background. They are volunteers who do not look for any sort of pay, just the self-gratifying feeling that they were able to literally donate their body to a famous rapper’s sexually themed video. Joan Morgan, a music writer and hip-hop magazine editor, talks about how no one is addressing what is wrong with these vixens. Morgan questions our morality towards them, asking, “wouldn’t it be more productive to address the failing self-esteem of the 150 or so half naked woman who were willing, unpaid participants?” (447). Morgan’s point is extremely valid and brings up the fact that no one calls into question the service of these volunteers who will do anything to be in these rap star’s music videos. I have a friend of mine who is attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and was jumping for virtual joy when she posted on her Facebook that she had been “casted” to be one of 20 vixens to appear in a music video for   popular rapper ASAP Rocky. She ended her announcement by saying, “See you on MTV [expletive]s!” The joy and self-fulfillment women get from being chosen to flaunt their naked bodies in these rapper’s music video is not right, and should not bring them this amount of happiness. This also further proves the fact the most women will do anything, even if it is to make a fool of themselves in public, in order to bring any type of attention upon them, all a direct result of what women believe rappers want out of them.

On top of this, we have women dancers and entertainers who are similar to video vixens but perform their duties on stage during concerts while also receiving pay. Fittingly and unsurprisingly, these women are dressed in tight-fitting, revealing clothing, accentuating the typical lady assets: legs, breasts, and ass. These ladies perform grotesque and overly-sexual actions towards the rapper on stage, all to the “awe” of the audience. During a Lil’ Wayne performance for the aforementioned song “Lollipop,” women dancers would come on stage to grope Lil Wayne, sometimes kneeling on either side of him to pull on his belt in a suggestive manner. The lesson? Lil Wayne has droves of sexy women at his disposal, illustrating his masculinity through the command of female bodies, thus further proving the distorted field of gender equality. While the women's expression of sexuality is completely their own business, it is still evident that it is not a personal expression, but rather an expression that is for the heterosexual male gaze, uplifting Lil Wayne's own expression of masculinity in such a way that it completely overshadows the women's obvious talent as singers and dancers beyond the scope of their sexual parts.

Beyond this, mainstream rap has solidified the role of woman as a recipient of male domination and insult through lyrics, music videos, and commercial radio. As noted above, these music videos relegate women to adornments to the male artist. The young people who are repeatedly exposed to these sounds and images tend to habitually act them out in their own social situations. The American Medical Association estimates that almost four million men severely assault their intimate female partners or spouses each year. The leading cause of injury for women is also caused by men’s violence against their female partners, as it also results in at least 35 percent of all emergency room visits. The derogatory and misogynistic overtones in today’s mainstream rap music truly cloud our youth’s judgement and self-esteem, and as a result has our future generations being led in the wrong direction. All of these messages put out by today’s rap stars continue to promote gender inequality.

It is easy to see how all these factors from today’s mainstream rap contribute to the growing sexism and overall negative gender roles that have been conceived. But some people want to discredit the hip-hop industry of being the main culprit towards gender inequality by saying that the rappers aren't necessarily telling the listeners to mirror what they are saying. While this may be true, it is hard for our youth to try not to emulate their favorite idols, as it is almost inevitable that the listeners will try to reflect the words of their favorite rappers. So by contrasting the lyrics of artists from two different generations of hip-hop music, we can get a better idea of how much the genre has changed and how the change has shifted our society’s idea of masculinity, female objectification, and overall gender roles. And with more and more females believing that they will be publicly accepted and appreciated by becoming video vixens or live dancers for today's rappers, it becomes apparent how this perception is caused by mainstream rap. By also understanding how the rise in domestic violence is correlated to the rise in popularity of mainstream rap, we can finally begin to correct the issue at hand. We want our future generations to embody a type of character that we all would be proud of. It would be difficult to see our kids grow up to become something we are all ashamed of. We must be educated on the issue, correct the issue, and bring hip-hop back to the roots it was founded on!




Sincerely yours,


Iman Shahmiri

Proposal #2

Proposal

Title:  Hip-Hop Culture and Gender Roles
Author: I am an 18 year old first year student at Cabrillo College, and I am an avid hip hop listener and unofficial “expert.”
Date: Written during the fall of 2012, a time when more and more rappers are taking over our radio and internet streams with their unproven talents and misogynistic raps.
Topic: The industry of hip-hop and the negative gender roles it inflicts on society.

Exigence: The current state of rap and hip hop today, and how it has been affecting everyone without them actually realizing it.
Intended Audience: All hip-hop fans and listeners.
Purpose: To inform fans of hip-hop of the hatred and objectification of women, as well as the disconnection of the black community (mainly between the males), and use this as the first step towards healing the pain that it expresses.
Claim(s): The misogyny of rap is a symptom of crisis and division between genders of all races.

Ethos: As a self-proclaimed hip-hop expert and a member of the generation of people who account for the highest percentage of the genre’s listeners, I can easily say that I see and hear lyrics from the music day after day. I have been listening to the music for over five years now, and the countless rap songs I've heard that incorporate lyrics promoting gender inequality is extremely substantial. I've also researched the topic by reading short essays, articles, and books from authors who have the credentials to write on the topic, including hip hop magazine editors and music writers.

Pathos: Hip-Hop has also influenced the way men believe they must act in order to exert power and dominance over females as well as other men. This unfortunately sets a strange standard for our generation in terms of how they fell they must treat their significant other. Women also believe that their so called “reputation” increases with every sexual encounter they they have with rappers and anyone of that level in pop culture, lowering their standards significantly. Video vixens are also a problem to address, saying that ‘it would be more productive to address the failing self-esteem of the 150 or so half-naked young women who [are] willing, unpaid participants[.]” Unfortunately it has come to this point where women of society have dropped to an all-time low, craving attention from rappers, the media, and the general public, and being more than willing to display their naked bodies free of charge.

Logos:  Various data, facts, and statistics from credible sources, including figures such as the number of black two-parent households having decreased from 74 percent to 48 percent since 1960 (U.S. Census Bureau). Also, the leading cause of death among black men ages of fifteen to twenty-four is homicide, and that the majority of them will die at the hands of other black men. Numerous rap lyrics from several prominent hip hop artists also show how the rapper’s own words, both purposely and inadvertently, portray the overlooked aspect of gender discrimination.

Annotated Bibliography #2

Morgan, Joan. "From Fly-Girls To Bitches and Hos." When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-hop Feminist. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. N. pag. Print.

This excerpt from Joan Morgan's book was written to help people confront and understand, and not simply condemn, the hatred and objectification of women from hip-hop today as well as the disconnection of the black community. Overall, Morgan did an effective job persuading the reader to understand her claim as a critical crisis in the world today that must be faced and amended. Morgan uses many verified statistics as well as various lyrics from popular hip-hop songs. This work is extremely applicable to my research, as it is my main source on the topic of feminism and its place in hip hop, as well as a great starting point on the division of the male role throughout the black community.

Phillips, Brittinee. "Gender Roles in Hip Hop Music." Daily 49er. N.p., 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.daily49er.com/news/gender-roles-in-hip-hop-music-1.1724115>.

This article published on the Daily 49er by Brittinee Phillips touches on the dismemberment of hip hop as well as examines images of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music. The author questions how representations of masculinity in hip-hop shapes the way men represent their respective creative areas of dance and writing. Phillips attends an event that was attempting to raise awareness during Sexual Assault Awareness Month and gained many valuable quotes from noted speakers and guests. The author does a great job addressing and backing up her claim with substantial evidence. This reading was a great resource for my paper as it provided a lot of insight on the topic at hand.

RA #3

Title: From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos
Author: Joan Morgan, music journalist (has written for publications such as Essence, The Village Voice, Vibe, Ms., and Spin)
Date: 1999
Topic: The pervasive sexism in lyrics from today's hip hop, as well as the mindset of the men behind those lyrics.

Exigence: The damage that today's rap and hip hop inflict on women, as well as the underlying effect it has on the men who express it.
Intended Audience: Men and women of the world, especially those who enjoy hip hop and other related types of music.
Purpose: To help people confront and understand, not simply condemn, the hatred and objectification of women, as well as the disconnection of the black community, and use this as the first step towards healing the pain that it expresses.
Claim(s): The misogyny of rap is a symptom of crisis and division in the black community. 

Main Evidence: At the beginning of Morgan’s reading, the author cites the U.S. Census Bureau, stating that the number of black two-parent households has decreased from 74 percent to 48 percent since 1960. Morgan also writes that the leading cause of death among black men ages of fifteen to twenty-four is homicide, and that the majority of them will die at the hands of other black men. Personal experiences with friend and family are also recalled to help support her claim, including an account where a family friend was found “beaten and burned beyond recognition” (445) and her murderers “were brown men whose faces resembled her own” (445). Various hip hop artists are referenced, including Notorious B.I.G., stating “when brothers can talk so cavalierly about killing each other and then reveal they have no expectation to see their twenty-first birthday, that is straight-up depression masquerading as machismo.” (445). Video vixens are also cited as a problem to address, saying that ‘it would be more productive to address the failing self-esteem of the 150 or so half-naked young women who [are] willing, unpaid participants[.]” (447).

Writer’s Strategy #1: Morgan herself was an executive editor of numerous hip hop magazines and has the respect and pedigree to express her claims. The impression she gives off to the reader  shows that she is dedicated to what she writes about and that her claim is actually worth listening to.
Writer’s Strategy #2: The author provides general statistics from various credible sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, and also cites lyrics from several prominent hip hop artists that show how their own words portray the overlooked division of the black community.
Writer’s Strategy #3: By incorporating her own personal experiences and the struggles that friends and family had endured, Morgan is able touch the reader’s heart and forces them to see how misogyny is really impacting the world as we know it.

Reader Effect #1: Gives the author credibility in terms of her argument and allows the reader to see the author’s dedication towards what she is writing about, resulting in the reader taking the essay more seriously.
Reader Effect #2: Reader is effectively persuaded by the author’s use of logical connections to statistics as well as the evidence shown by music lyrics, which positively increases her general use of reasoning.
Reader Effect #3: By appealing to the readers emotions with heartfelt events and personal experiences, Morgan effectively enhances her argument.

My Response: Overall, Morgan did a effective job persuading me to understand her claim as a critical crisis in the world today that must be confronted and amended. As an avid hip hop listener myself, I can easily see exactly what the author is taking about in terms of music being an avenue for musicians to express their feelings and regrets. While the general misogyny is present in the hip hop I listen to, it is not as prevalent as today's excuse for rap. I choose to listen to "real" hip hop, mostly artists and groups from the 1990's, and while they do objectify women and talk about their struggles growing up in "the hood," I believe that artists today like Drake and Lil' Wayne are the biggest offenders of what the author is taking about. Beside all this, I feel like this reading is an efficient first step in educating our society in the true damage that today's misogyny is causing. It is indeed an enormous problem to correct, but every complex process begins somewhere, and I believe this essay is the perfect place to begin.

RA #2

Title: The Death of Macho
Author: Reihan Salam
Date: June 22, 2009
Topic: How the male-dominant leaders of the financial world helped create the recent recession and its impact on gender roles in the workforce today.

Exigence: The 2008 economic meltdown and the collective crisis that ensued for millions of working men around the globe.
Intended Audience: Individuals in the labor force, as well as the general population of all developed nations.
Purpose: To help convey the momentum-gaining idea that men are no longer the primary income earners of the household, and how this change in status quo is occurring throughout the world.
Claim(s): That the “era of male dominance is coming to an end,” and the recent recession impacted men much more than females (with 80% of the total job losses occurring to men). 

Main Evidence:  Right from the beginning of the article, Salam brings up various statistics regarding out-of-work men in the U.S. and across Europe, including the stat that 28 million men are expected to be put out work by the end of 2009 (the article was written earlier that year). He compares these statistics to the women losing work, and shows that economic sectors traditionally dominated by men are declining faster and faster compared to those traditionally dominated by women. Salam also references nations around the world transitioning from male leaders to female head of states, including Iceland and Lithuania, with a banned newspaper headline from the latter stating, “The country is to be saved by a woman.” The housing bubble is also brought up, in which the author states that “[the] bubble actually represented an economic policy that disguised the declining prospects of blue-collar men” (#).  The stimulus package introduced by President Barack Obama is mentioned to show how the jobs that are to be created from said plan would be primarily focused in education, healthcare, and other social services, fields in which women are the predominant work force.


Writer’s Strategy #1: The author states countless statistics and researches from various credible sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American Journal of Public Health, and various economists and scientists from accredited institutions like Princeton.
Writer’s Strategy #2: Salam’s choice of words effectively use emotion as a form of persuasion, along with his overall passion shown by his extensive research.
Writer’s Strategy #3: Brings into picture “staggering” facts and statistics regarding our world economy and the horrific predicted state of it in order to convince the reader that what he is proposing is truly damaging to our society. 

Reader Effect #1: Gives the author credibility in terms of his argument and allows the reader to take the author more seriously because of this.
Reader Effect #2: Shows the reader that the author is dedicated to what he is writing about, allowing the reader to take the author’s point to heart.
Reader Effect #3: Reader is effectively persuaded by the author’s use of logical connections to statistics and by his general use of reasoning.

My Response: I believe the author does an overall effetive job in using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos to persuade the reader to understand the point he is trying to present, although I do believe he could have used a better emotional approach. Personally though, I felt as if I couldn't understand at first what side he was speaking for at first. I also believe that the point the author is trying to make isn't as significant as he is making it seem. The author would have persuaded me more if he presented more counter points in order to show a more balanced argument.

RR #2

                In Jean Kilbourne’s  “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt,” the author attempts to address the dehumanization of females that has become a staple in today’s advertising techniques. Written in 1999, Kilbourne argues that ads today affect us in a much more intense and emotionally damaging ways than we want to believe.  The author herself is a feminist author and speaker who is internationally recognized for her work on the image of women in advertising, as well as her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. Throughout the chapter, Kilbourne provides the reader with an enormous amount of advertisements taken from various publications as well as news stories, studies, and surveys, all from the past 20 years, all involving females as the main subject.
                Kilbourne effectively analyzes modern day advertising by comparing it to pornography, stating that it, like pornography,  “dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women, [and] it fetishizes products, imbues them with an erotic charge - which dooms us to disappointment since products never can fulfill our sexual desires or meet our emotional needs” (417). She brings up the various poses and postures often used in advertising, which almost mirrors the same ones used in pornography. Kilbourne also warns that bringing pornographic attributes mainstream helps glorify rape and violence, while subtly encouraging male violence and suggesting one to “value sexual intimacy more than emotional intimacy” (419). The author also mentions role reversal multiple times, which asks the reader to switch each gender’s role in an advertisement and ask if the same emotional effects are given. An example of an ad for a pair of jeans with a little boy looking up a woman’s skirt has Kilbourne asking the reader to reverse the gender roles, resulting in her saying that  “we would fear for a little girl who was unzipping a man’s fly in an ad (and would be shocked, I would hope)” (437).
                Overall, Kilbourne does an convincing job persuading the reader to understand the true goals and motives of today’s advertisers. She effectively uses ethos, pathos, and logos to allow the reader to come to terms with her underlying message, which she hopes will allow the public to not be swayed by the filthiness and sliminess that runs throughout modern day advertisements. Noting her experience and expertise in feminist studies and general media literacy, Kilbourne is able to demonstrate her overall credibility to the reader. By using a tremendous amount of supporting evidence (ranging from magazine ads to TV commercials), she is also able to verify her logical appeal. Her use of surveys and studies on women who have been sexually abused touches the heart of the reader and effectively demonstrates her ability to use emotional appeal.  All these elements together ultimately convinced me to want to go out and make a change in terms of how advertising forces us to view women, and makes me almost disgusted with how women’s vulnerabilities are used against them in order for corporations to make more money. My mindset on advertising has been impacted greatly from this reading, and I would strongly recommend a fellow peer to read this.

Final Polish Proposition 30 Op-Ed

                                    Proposition 30 Affects All of Us, Not Just Students

            We are currently living in a time when our nation’s economy is still recovering from the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. At the same time, our schools have steadily declined in their effectiveness due to a significant decrease in funding, which is a direct correlation to our nations social ranking amongst other advanced civilizations. With income not coming in as easily as before for the average citizen, taxpayers want to make sure that their funds are being allocated to a department which they feel requires the most support in this ailing economy. Simply put, in order for our future generations to successfully increase our nation's socio-economic status, we must make sure our educational systems are being operated at a qualified and sufficient rate. Proposition 30 provides the necessary funds to make sure this remains possible.

            Now, if you are not yet familiar with Proposition 30, here are some details. Proposition 30, Governor Brown’s proposal for a temporary increase in income and sales tax, is designed to benefit our schools in the most efficient manner possible. The proposition intends to do this in two ways: raise income taxes 1-3% for seven years to the “most blessed” Californians (individuals making over $250,000 or families bringing in more than $500,000), and raising the sales tax one-fourth of a cent for four years, equating to a penny more on a $4 sandwich. This tax-hike, while both reasonable and manageable, would be providing $6-9 billion dollars to our schools, with 89% of the revenue going to K-12 and 11% going to the community colleges. If the proposition fails to pass, there would be spending reductions of about $6 billion from our school systems. About $5.5 billion would be taken away from K-12, resulting in three weeks of school being cut, while the California State University system would lose $250 million, which would in turn cause tuition to go up an additional $150 for spring classes.

            As a product of the K-12 compulsory public school system and current community college student in the state of California, I can personally attest to drastic financial cuts that have shaped my educational experience thus far. The effects were easily seen in my high school years, when classes were getting cut, teachers were given "pink-slips" yearly, and departments were either being cut entirely or severely underfunded. I noticed average class sizes increasing year after year and prices throughout the cafeteria rising tremendously; a bag of chips that cost $.75 my freshmen year ended up being $1.25 by my junior year. I witnessed multiple teachers crying when pink slips were handed out, and occurrences like these really makes you feel angered towards our government. I also frequently witnessed teachers that would dismiss their class a minute early at the end of the day so they were able to run to the student pick-up lot and hand out fliers to parents regarding the drastic cuts towards their child's education. This effort to bring awareness to the community proved that this is not a simple matter at hand, and some action should be executed immediately in order to minimize the amount of funding being taken away from our school systems every year.

            On top of this, I frequently think about how my educational experience drastically differs from what our parents or even my eldest sibling (who is thirty-three years of age) went through. When my parents attended school, they were given a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of the variety of classes they could sign up for and the quantity of those classes. This freedom ultimately provided them with a stress-free and opportunistic approach towards completing their education goals. Now, not only are the variety of classes diminishing, but the number of classes offered towards even a student's major are shrinking, causing some students to stay in school longer and taking "filler-classes" to fulfill their financial-aid credit requirements. This epidemic has even spawned a new unofficial grade of college students, noted as "Super Seniors," or, those students who are required to remain in college after their fourth year. I long for my future children to receive the type of education my parents received, where they are not constantly reminded of the financial cuts that are affecting them daily, and they can finally able to relive the golden years of education in California.

            With the projected money being sent to our school systems from Prop. 30, schools can begin to reverse their financial problems and begin to grow and advance into a system that will better prepare the future of this nation. Friedrich Huebler, who works as an analyst for International Education Statistics, has found that a nation’s wealth and the education of its population are highly correlated. As Huebler states, “The relationship between national wealth and years of education can be illustrated with a comparison of national data on school life expectancy (SLE) and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. […] The [research] clearly demonstrates that GDP per capita is positively correlated with school life expectancy” (Huebler). Essentially, the United States’ ability to compete with other nations both economically and socially relies heavily on the quality and quantity of the education given to our children. If Prop. 30 does not receive enough votes to pass, we are virtually reducing our nations ability to contend with other societies, since we are reducing the quality of education given to our children. An uneducated and unprepared mass would not allow our future leaders to effectively handle any issues that arise during their time. The future of our nation depends greatly on the strength of our education.

            With something as education being such a substantial aspect of every nation, it is only wrong to skimp on the funding of our schools, as it affects the entire nation as a whole and not just the current students at hand. Our country’s future greatly depends on the level of preparedness and overall competence that our future leaders must possess, and to reduce any spending towards education will only hinder this process. This is why it is extremely vital for Prop. 30 to pass. Opponents of the proposition argue that California holds some of the highest tax rates in the country, but those people fail to recognize that the overall tax burden will be lower than what it was two years ago, while overall general funding (which will be $11.6 billion lower than five years ago) will represent the same share of the economy as in 1972-73. These statistics show that revenue gained from this initiative will not constitute reckless spending. Although it may be years before we have completely stabilized our schooling system to the level that our parents have experienced in their time, it is definitely the first and most crucial step that will allow for this re-stabilization to begin.

           

           

Final Draft

Proposition 30 Affects All of Us, Not Just Students

            We are currently living in a time when our nation’s economy is still recovering from the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. At the same time, our schools have steadily declined in their effectiveness due to a significant decrease in funding, which is a direct correlation to our nations social ranking amongst other advanced civilizations. And with income not coming in as easily as before for the average citizen, taxpayers want to make sure that their funds are being allocated to a department which they feel requires the most support in this ailing economy. Simply put, in order for our future generations to successfully increase our nation's socio-economic status, we must make sure our educational systems are being operated at a qualified and sufficient rate. Proposition 30 provides the necessary funds to make sure this remains possible.

            Now, if you are not yet familiar with Proposition 30, here are some details. Proposition 30, Governor Brown’s proposal for a temporary increase in income and sales tax, is designed to benefit our schools in the most efficient manner possible. The proposition intends to do this in two ways: raise income taxes 1-3% for seven years to the “most blessed” Californians (individuals making over $250,000 or families bringing in more than $500,000), and raising the sales tax one-fourth of a cent for four years, equating to a penny more on a $4 sandwich. This tax-hike, while both reasonable and manageable, would be providing $6-9 billion dollars to our schools, with 89% of the revenue going to K-12 and 11% going to the community colleges. If the proposition fails to pass, there would be spending reductions of about $6 billion from our school systems. About $5.5 billion would be taken away from K-12, resulting in three weeks of school being cut, while the California State University system would lose $250 million, which would in turn cause tuition to go up an additional $150 for spring classes.

            As a product of the K-12 compulsory public school system and current community college student in the state of California, I can personally attest to drastic financial cuts that have shaped my educational experience thus far. The effects were easily seen in my high school years, when classes were getting cut, teachers were given "pink-slips" yearly, and departments were either being cut entirely or severely underfunded. I noticed average class sizes increasing year after year and prices throughout the cafeteria rising tremendously; a bag of chips that cost $.75 my freshmen year ended up being $1.25 by my junior year. I witnessed multiple teachers crying when pink slips were handed out, and occurrences like these really makes you feel angered towards our government. I also frequently witnessed teachers that would dismiss their class a minute early at the end of the day so they were able to run to the student pick-up lot and hand out fliers to parents regarding the drastic cuts towards their child's education. This effort to bring awareness to the community proved that this is not a simple matter at hand, and some action should be executed immediately in order to minimize the amount of funding being taken away from our school systems every year.

            On top of this, I frequently think about how my educational experience drastically differs from what our parents or even my eldest sibling (who is thirty-three years of age) went through. When my parents attended school, they were given a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of the variety of classes they could sign up for and the quantity of those classes. This freedom ultimately provided them with a stress-free and opportunistic approach towards completing their education goals. Now, not only are the variety of classes diminishing, but the number of classes offered towards even a student's major are shrinking, causing some students to stay in school longer and taking "filler-classes" to fulfill their financial-aid credit requirements. This epidemic has even spawned a new unofficial grade of college students, noted as "Super Seniors," or, those students who are required to remain in college after their fourth year. I long for my future children to receive the type of education my parents received, where they are not constantly reminded of the financial cuts that are affecting them daily, and they can finally able to relive the golden years of education in California.

            With the projected money being sent to our school systems from Prop. 30, schools can begin to reverse their financial problems and begin to grow and advance into a system that will better prepare the future of this nation. Friedrich Huebler, who works as an analyst for international education statistics, has found that a nation’s wealth and the education of its population are highly correlated. As Huebler states, “The relationship between national wealth and years of education can be illustrated with a comparison of national data on school life expectancy (SLE) and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. […] The [research] clearly demonstrates that GDP per capita is positively correlated with school life expectancy” (Huebler). Essentially, the United States’ ability to compete with other nations both economically and socially relies heavily on the quality and quantity of the education given to our children. If Prop. 30 does not receive enough votes to pass, we are virtually reducing our nations ability to contend with other societies, since we are reducing the quality of education given to our children. An uneducated and unprepared mass would not allow our future leaders to effectively handle any issues that arise during their time. The future of our nation depends greatly on the strength of our education.

            With something as education being such a substantial aspect of every nation, it is only wrong to skimp on the funding of our schools, as it affects the entire nation as a whole and not just the current students at hand. Our country’s future greatly depends on the level of preparedness and overall competence that our future leaders must possess, and to reduce any spending towards education will only hinder this process. This is why it is extremely vital for Prop. 30 to pass. Although it may be years before we have completely stabilized our schooling system to the level that our parents have experienced in their time, it is definitely the first and most crucial step that will allow for this re-stabilization to begin.

           

           

             

           

Rough Draft

                                          Proposition 30 Affects All of Us, Not Just Students 

            We are currently living in a time when our nation’s economy is still recovering from the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. At the same time, our schools have steadily declined in their effectiveness due to a significant decrease in funding, which is a direct correlation to our nations social ranking amongst other advanced civilizations. And with income not coming in as easily as before for the average citizen, taxpayers want to make sure that their funds are being allocated to a department which they feel requires the most support in this ailing economy. Simply put, in order for our future generations to successfully increase our nation's socio-economic status, we must make sure our educational systems are being operated at a qualified and sufficient rate. Proposition 30 provides the necessary funds to make sure this remains possible.

            Now, if you are not yet familiar with Proposition 30, here are some details. Proposition 30, Governor Brown’s proposal for a temporary increase in income and sales tax, is designed to benefit our schools in the most efficient manner possible. The proposition intends to do this in two ways: raise income taxes 1-3% for seven years to the “most blessed” Californians (individuals making over $250,000 or families bringing in more than $500,000), and raising the sales tax one-fourth of a cent for four years, equating to a penny more on a $4 sandwich. This tax-hike, while both reasonable and manageable, would be providing $6-9 billion dollars to our schools, with 89% of the revenue going to K-12 and 11% going to the community colleges. If the proposition fails to pass, there would be spending reductions of about $6 billion from our school systems. About $5.5 billion would be taken away from K-12, resulting in three weeks of school being cut, while the California State University system would lose $250 million, which would in turn cause tuition to go up an additional $150 for spring classes.

            As a product of the K-12 compulsory public school system and current community college student in the state of California, I can personally attest to drastic financial cuts that have shaped my educational experience thus far. The effects were easily seen in my high school years, when classes were getting cut, teachers were given "pink-slips" yearly, and departments were either being cut entirely and severely underfunded. I noticed average class sizes increasing year after year and prices throughout the cafeteria rising tremendously; a bag of chips that cost $.75 my freshmen year ended up being $1.25 by my junior year. I witnessed multiple teachers crying when pink slips were handed out, and occurrences like these really makes you feel angered towards our government. I also frequently witnessed teachers that would dismiss their class a minute early at the end of the day so they were able to run to the student pick-up lot and hand out fliers to parents regarding the drastic cuts towards their child's education. This effort to bring awareness to the community proved that this was not a simple matter.

            On top of this, I frequently think about how my educational experience drastically differs from what our parents or even my eldest sibling (who is thirty-three years of age) went through. When my parents attended school, they were given a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of the variety of classes they could sign up for and the quantity of those classes. This freedom ultimately provided them with a stress-free and opportunistic approach towards completing their education goals. Now, not only are the variety of classes diminishing, but the number of classes offered towards even a student's major are shrinking, causing some students to stay in school longer and taking "filler-classes" to fulfill their financial-aid credit requirements. This epidemic has even spawned a new unofficial grade of college students, noted as "Super Seniors," or, those students who are required to remain in college after their fourth year. I long for my future children to receive the type of education my parents received, where they are not constantly reminded of the financial cuts that are affecting them daily, and they can finally able to relive the golden years of education in California.

            With the projected money being sent to our school systems from Prop. 30, schools can begin to reverse their financial problems and begin to grow and advance into a system that will better prepare the future of this nation. Friedrich Huebler, who works as an analyst for international education statistics, has found that a nation’s wealth and the education of its population are highly correlated. As Huebler states, “The relationship between national wealth and years of education can be illustrated with a comparison of national data on school life expectancy (SLE) and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. […] The [research] clearly demonstrates that GDP per capita is positively correlated with school life expectancy” (Huebler). Essentially, the United States’ ability to compete with other nations both economically and socially relies heavily on the quality and quantity of the education given to our children. If Prop. 30 does not receive enough votes to pass, we are virtually reducing our nations ability to contend with other society, since we are reducing the amount of education taught to our children.

            With something as education being such a substantial aspect of every nation, it is only wrong to skimp on the funding of our schools, as it affects the entire nation as a whole and not just the current students at hand. Our country’s future greatly depends on the level of preparedness and overall competence that our future leaders must possess, and to reduce any spending towards education will only hinder this process. This is why it is extremely vital for Prop. 30 to pass. Although it may be years before we have completely stabilized our schooling system to the level that our parents have experienced in their time, it is definitely the first and most crucial step that will allow for this re-stabilization to begin.

Proposal

Title: Proposition 30 affects all of us, not just students.
Author: I am an 18 year old first year student at Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA, who receives financial assistance from the state of California.
Date: Written during fall of 2012, a time when the economy is still recovering from the recession and taxpayers would like to have their funds allocated to a department which they fell needs the most support. 
Topic: Proposition 30 would increase the income tax in California for those who makes over $250,000 for seven years, as well as increase the sales tax by a quarter of a cent for the next four years. The money raised would fund local public safety services as well as the K-12 and community college school systems.

Exigence: The current state of California public school systems and their grim future, and the emergence of Proposition 30 to help stabilize this issue.
Intended Audience: All registered voters in the state of California who want to make the future of California, and even our nation, a more successful and thriving society.
Purpose: To inform citizens of California the benefits of voting in favor of Proposition 30.
Claim(s): In order for our future generations to successfully increase our nation's socio-economic status, we must make sure our educational system is being operated at a qualified and sufficient rate. Proposition 30 provides the necessary funds to make sure this remains possible.

Main Evidence: 

Ethos: As a product of the K-12 compulsory public school system and current community college student in the state of California, I can personally attest to drastic financial cuts that have shaped my educational experience thus far. The effects were easily seen in my high school years, when classes were getting cut, teachers were given "pink-slips" yearly, and departments were getting underfunded. I witnessed teachers that would dismiss their class a minute early at the end of the day so they were able to run to the student pick-up lot and hand out fliers to parents regarding the drastic cuts towards their child's education. This effort to bring awareness to the community proved that this was not a joking matter.

Pathos: I frequently think about how my educational experience drastically differs from what my parents or even my oldest sibling (who is 33) went through. When my parents went to school, they were given a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of the variety of classes they could sign up for and the quantity of those classes. This freedom ultimately provided them with a stress-free and opportunistic approach towards completing their education goals. Now, not only are the variety of classes diminishing, but the number of classes offered towards a student's major are shrinking, causing some students to stay in school longer and taking "filler-classes" to fulfill their financial-aid credit requirements. This epidemic has even spawned a new grade of college students, noted as "Super Seniors," or, those students who are required to remain in college after their fourth year. I hope that with the money being sent to our school system from Prop. 30, schools will begin to reverse their problems and begin to grow and advance into a system that will better prepare the future of this nation. I long for my future children to receive the type of education my parents received, where they are not constantly reminded of the financial cuts that are affecting them daily, and they can finally able to relive the golden years of education in California.

Logos:  The preparation of citizens in a democracy is vital for our people to take educated stances on topics such as politics and our economy. There is an easily identifiable correlation between a society  with an advanced form of public education and that nation's ability to prosper in the world economy. In regards to the proposed increase in taxes, the income tax will only affect the top 1-3% of California, and the sales tax will only be raised a quarter of a cent, which is easily affordable and manageable by all residents of California. The revenue raised from this taxation would be greater than $6.5 billion dollars, which would be dispersed to state's school systems. With this money, we can have smaller class sizes, obtain newer and up-to-date textbooks, and rehire teachers. If Prop. 30 fails to pass, our schools would collectively loose over $6.5 billion dollars, increasing our already severe educational plague, and making it an even harder up-hill battle to climb.

Annotated Bibliography

Skelton, George. "Taxes Just Part of Picture; Voter Perceptions and Pensions Also Tie into Brown's Push for Prop. 30." Editorial. Los Angeles Times 30 Aug. 2012, Capitol Journal sec.: A2. ProQuest. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://0-search.proquest.com.library.cabrillo.edu/docview/1036835499?accountid=39584>.

                  Skelton’s editorial on Prop 30 discusses the detrimental effects the proposition will have on   the state of California if it passes this fall. This is done by having the reader look at how the state has managed its past funds and uses that as a credit score to help determine if it is appropriate to keep sending billions of dollars to Sacramento.  Skelton does an effective job persuading the reader to understand his side of the argument by stating some of the former scandals and controversies that detail how the state does its spending.  This article was     applicable to my research because it allowed me to understand the opposing side of the issue, which gives me the opportunity to understand the intricacies of the argument at hand.   

Freeman, Bill. "Prop. 30 Invests In Education, Economy." Editorial. San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/23/tp-prop-30-invests-in-education-economy/>.

                  In Bill Freeman’s editorial on Prop. 30, the author discusses the importance of schooling today and how it prepares our children for new jobs and careers and allows them to become responsible citizens. But when billions of dollars are being cut from school systems, Freeman states that we are impairing these children’s preparation for college and work in the 21^st  century. Essentially, this article does a fantastic job persuading the reader to understand the importance of education and how Prop. 30 invests in our education, which directly invests in our future as a society. This work was applicable to my research because it gave me the opportunity to understand the positive effects this proposition may have on our state.

RR #1

            In John Taylor Gatto’s article Against Schools, Gatto attempts to have the reader realize the harmful effects generated by the current state of schooling.  Gatto himself was a teacher in various schools throughout Manhattan for over 30 years, and uses his experience to justify his views on today’s schooling. He provides examples of accomplished Americans that never completed the twelve years of schooling, such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, to show how you can turn out just fine without it. Gatto also compares our current schooling system to the Prussian military state, saying it is useful in  “creating not only a harmless electorate and a servile labor force but also a virtual herd of mindless consumers” (157).

            During his days of teaching, Gatto returned from a medical leave of absence to find out that his job had been terminated and he had no longer possessed a teaching license. He was able to regain his license back after nine months of hard and unnecessary work, but this episode only added to his growing frustration with today’s schools. When he finally retired, Gatto had “more than enough reason to think of our schools - with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers - as virtual factories of childishness” (153).  All these events and experiences Gatto endured pushed him to finally writing this article in September of 2001, expressing his frustrations with the corruptness of schooling and persuading the reader to join him in rallying to reform the education system.

            Since I am indeed a product of the twelve-year compulsory school system that Gatto argues against, I would have to say I am definitely on his side in terms of pushing for some type of large-scale reformation of schooling in America. I greatly believe that there is ample room for change, as our present structure is based on an early 1900’s industrial society, in which citizens are treated like cogs in a factory and not like the unique individual they really are. We must allow the students the opportunity to take control of their own learning and rediscover the natural curiosity and excitement that comes from gaining new knowledge. Without this type of learning experience, the future citizens will continue to become conformists to the norms of society, which Gatto states, “is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force,” (156) loosely translating into the corporations wishing to run this country. If one were to deeply analyze the educational system as Gatto has done here, one can understand that schooling was not necessarily created to "educate" the people. Rather, it was created in order to make good people and good citizens out of us all, and to properly oppress society so were all kept at a "safe and manageable" level. While change towards the educational system can be next to impossible to achieve, movements like this take baby steps to initiate, and I believe that reading an article like this would greatly motivate an individual to begin taking those first steps towards change.