Why do I LOVE, Love & Hip-Hop?

As I rest on my couch after coming home from work on a Monday night I cant help but to feel exhausted. But I was bored at the same time, I was just feeling all over the place. In order to get  my mind off things I decide to tune  in to the Latest Season of Love and Hip Hop, Hollywood.  episode three i believe. 
I was hesitant because I felt like I was behind in the season and didn’t want to begin to watch this one if I didn’t watch it from the beginning , (yea I'm picky like that). Anyways, as I watch the show for five minutes I realize to myself  “wow! It’s the same drama from the last season!”  See, if you are not a avid Love and Hip Hop viewer than you must have missed out on what the show is about and what they portray about not mixing love within the male dominated Hip Hop industry.  
This is what happened last Season... Throughout the show women are constantly sexualized and dehumanized not only by the men but by themselves and other women.  The men in the show, 

Lil Scrappy...

Stevie J ...

Young Jock...

and Waka Flocka....

Have all dominated the hip hop industry at some point, they are also replaced every season as are the females. The main Characters that the show was based around was Stevie and Joseline Hernadez. Heres  a little background on how they began dating… It all started with Stevie, (and if you watch the show you know what I mean) The first

relationship Stevie was involved in was with
Meme, they had been together for years, they lived together and even had a baby girl that at the time was only a year old. Meme, always understood that Stevie was never faithful but she continued to stay by his side. Stevie knowing he had Meme in the palm of his hands allowed him to basically in general terms, do whatever he wanted.

He constantly went to the strip club, and one day he came across an exotic dancer that caught his eye, Joseline Hernadez was that girl. They soon began to have a sexual relationship behind Meme's back. Joseline was constantly brought into Stevie and Meme's home. Throughtout the show Stevie was allowed to do whatever he wanted because he always gained Meme’s trust back. She allowed him to continually hurt her and she had no idea.

Although the show is clearly scripted the hidden narrative they have about healthy relationships, music love, sex, beauty and people of color is not much of a secret. I looked at Meme and Joseline for instance, I  began to analyze the role these two women had in mainstream media and in portraying African American women in the hip-hop industry. Joseline is a ex-stripper from the streets of the Puerto Rico who has according to the show… “been through some thanqs”.  She is portrayed as the angry black lady with a big butt who always has something to say. 

Other women in the show constantly degrade her as “bitch or a hoe”. She as many women have been degraded in rap-culture for century’s, they have been dehumanized, and thought of as sex objects. Women just like Joseline and Meme have heard the term “bitch”  so often that they begin to internalize it and begin to believe all those terms are a perfect description. They begin to accept it and describe themselves as a “bad bitch.” As if putting a BAD next to it makes it any less offensive?

Meme, a mother is seen as the passive female who lets her man rule her world, she continues to get back with Stevie considering he cheats on her constantly. This form of attachment and confinement allows the audience to view Meme as weak and vulnerable. She was designed as a character that always stands by her mans side.

Not only do the women in this show such as Meme and Joseline use oppressive  language towards one another on the VH1 reality TV show that is viewed by millions of young people but the way they are hyperly sexualized kills me! Joseline is contantly wearing little to no clothes as meany of the cast members, and Meme is constantly showing cleavage.  The women in this show are used as eye candy, and are portrayed as reusable objects to the “powerful” man.

The portrayal of women of color in Reality T.V shows needs to be a positive one, when will the media stop degrading women? Its up to us to make that change for the younger generation, lets show our young women how to stand up for themselves and find their own meaning of beauty.