Letter to the Editor: Music Lyrics Can Be Sexist

Dear Editor,

While listening to music in my car on the way to work, it dawned on me how sexist some lyrics in music are. Most people listen to some type of music every single day. Most of this music has some degrading lyrics in it about women. Although the rap genre gets the most heat for having misogynistic lyrics, it’s not the only genre to do it. Mainstream music that plays the top hits, country and rock all have sexist lyrics that stereotype and degrade women.

I believe this is a hot-button topic that people need to be aware of because music encompasses everyone. It also encompasses children and young adults, who are the most susceptible to being influenced by these harsh lyrics.

This is such an issue because parental control of these music lyrics is minimal and even seen as an afterthought, with parents who just turn on the radio when they’re driving. We need to remember that children are more aware of what is going on and what they are listening to than we think. Many scholars believe that the constant exposure to sexism and misogyny warps teenagers and young adult’s perspectives and eventually becomes their reality without them even knowing.

As a society, we need to be more conscious of the type of music we are letting children and young adults listen to, in order to help better their lives in the long run.

Danielle Verhaak

B.A. Journalism/Ad PR

Class of 2018