After reading the article on the stereotypical portrayal of blue collared men in cartoons and sitcoms, the article made me re-examine the way portray groups in media. As suggested by Butsch, often times the writers of these shows have little to no experience with what it is to be the subjects or muses of their works (and neither does the audience) so writers often use hyper-generalized stereotypes to “fill in the gaps” of unknown information.
When I read about this I immediately applied it to music, and specifically Hip-Hop, a music that stems from credibility and bravado on lyrics as an artist. A huge portion of hip-hop is a male machismo and street credibility, which traditionally centers on buying or selling drugs, toting guns, and doing crime. Often times these men speak off personal experience, but lots of times they are completely fabricating a lifestyle of hustle and grit in order to cash big checks.
Why in this instance do these men feel the need to portray a fabrication of unreal life?
Why do such negative connotations sell and gross so much money in our society?
Is there a reason why we stereotype lower class people to seek financial success only through illegal processes?
What does it say about society that we allow these young men to fabricate untrue lifestyles that deface their own race, in order to achieve financial success?
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