N.W.A’s Problems with Women

Kim Trent,  a member of the Wayne State Board of Governors, speaks with Stephen Henderson about the newly released movie Straight Outta Compton.  They discussed the concerns with the treatment of women throughout the movie. Here are some of the points that were discussed:  

• Misogyny is Miniscule? : The movie seems to not offer the whole story, in Trent’s opinion. The directors seem to have downplayed the mistreatment of women in the movie and made it seem so minuscule. She says that the group got famous because of their horrible lyrics about women.

• Black Women and Black Men:  According to Trent, the separation between black women and black men has always been that women face both sexism and racism. While in the media, people are quick to defend a man no matter what his conviction is; women however, do not get the same consideration. She also points out that although the Black Lives Matter movement was in fact started by black women, the movement seems to focus more on men.

• Exploring or Exploiting? : “It’s one thing to explore the dynamic [of women] but it’s another thing to exploit it”, Trent says. She feels that N.W.A’s lyrics in fact exploit women. She feels they believe in it and that’s why it reflects in their music. A caller brings up the point that women are allowing men to exploit them, and Kim counters this by saying women in the entertainment industry may not have the option to avoid sexist roles, so their actions have to be considered in context.  Trent says she does think women should be less harsh on other women, and that sometimes women are the most ardent defenders of misogynist men in the media.

To hear the entire conversation, click on the audio link above.