Ikard says his interest in hip-hop culture and in developing the course at UT with Dr. George White, "evolved organically" from his work on Black male feminist criticism — "that all forms of oppression are intersecting and interwoven."
He addresses the misogyny in hip-hop as a more complex paradigm than the obvious images and lyrics emanating from electronic devices.
"It’s what I like to call the bitch/queen phenomenon," Ikard explains, "that women should operate ultimately in the service of pleasing men, whether through sexual gratification or motherly nurturing. This dichotomy of representation doesn’t allow for shades of gray, so to speak, regarding Black women’s complex humanity."
However, he is quick to point out, "the misogyny in hip-hop is in no way unique or specific to hip-hop. But, rather it reflects the ominant culture’s ideas about gender roles."
He says it’s time the artists recognized their role in the perpetuation of oppression.
"Given the ways that Blacks generally, and Black women in particular, have been exploited in U.S. culture, it behooves us to find alternate and more productive ways of creative expression that don’t repeat or confirm dominate patterns of subjugation."
—By Pearl Stewart
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