[SVMc]

I've worked in a maximum security youth facility as a counsellor. The particular difference in my case is that it is girls only. I've been trying to think if there is a historical lineage that we cannot break, and I'm unsure.

First, I think censorship will not solve anything. There's no quicker way to get teens to listen to music or read a book than to censor it, the next best way to attrack teens is to but warning lables on things.

I think it's part of rebellion, breaking out on your own. But that's hardly an analysis.

I guess the feature that I'm most disturbed by is the portrayal of women. I read a work by Cynthia Enloe or Jill Steans (I'll have to look it up) lately who remarked that the rate of rape was higher in countries where women had acheived more freedoms (this particular study did not include sites of conflict, those are the highest instances). And as I think of it there has been IMO an increase in violent lyrics towards women, through at least the 70's and 80's with metal music and now with Hip-hop.

This is of course not to paint all artists of those genre's with the same brush. There are many rap artist who spread a very positive message... they tend not to make the top of the charts though War Party here in Canada has done well (a First Nations group educationg about life on reservations and trying to get positive change).

As for girls + asshole hip-hop culture. I know it seems incredibly frustrating for most teenage guys who are not the "assholes" not to get the girl. But it's an old story. My best advice is that it usually has nothing to do with the guy. Teenage girls rebel too. Some teenage girls pick the bad guy to rebel against parents, other teenage girls feel the only thing they can control are their bodies so they either sink into eating disorders or sleep with the bad guys because they think they are in control. Many girls make it passed this but some don't. It's also important to remember that many many teenage girls suffer from really low self-esteem. It's not typically the shy quite ones that have the low self-esteem when compared with the ones who are getting drunk and sleeping around. That's a classic sign of a girl who dosen't know how to find value in herself so she looks for attention and validation outside of herself. She thinks she finds it in these guys, but is usually unable to distinguish between positive and negative attention, especially if that is all she has received.