Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Psychology

Supervisor

Tremblay, Paul F.

Abstract

Several sexist and misogynistic themes in music surround gendered power differences, gaslighting, and objectification (Hill et al., 2021), with a focus on sexual objectification, abuse, violence, distrust, and distain for women (Adams & Fuller, 2006). Thus, the current study investigated university students and adults’ perception of these messages. Using the 2022 Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart, participants read lyrics from 36 songs and rated the content on six themes of misogyny. Participants then completed a Benevolent and Hostile sexism inventory. Through a cross-classified multilevel modelling design, the results indicated that participants who liked the lyrics rated them with less misogyny. Additionally, women perceived more misogyny than did men, and Rap compared to Pop music had the most misogynistic lyrics. As this project is the first of its kind, it lays the groundwork for future research in this vein.

Summary for Lay Audience

Media in North America is filled with stereotypical portrayals of women. These range from television commercials that feature women using cleaning products; to magazine images of scantily clad women; to songs about women who are meant for men’s pleasure. These portrayals are rooted in sexism as they only focus on the benefits women bring to society, rather than on their personhood.

Focusing on music, research has found that music in a wide range of genres (rap, pop, country, rock, R&B) incorporates many sexist and misogynistic (hateful) themes about women. In particular, researchers (Adams & Fuller, 2006) discovered six reoccurring themes of misogyny in rap music that included 1) insulting, offensive or demeaning statements about women, 2) statements about sexual violence against women, 3) statements suggesting that women make men's lives difficult and/or wreck men's lives, 4) statements suggesting that women use men for their own personal gain or enjoyment, 5) statements saying that women are inferior to or less human than men, and 6) statements suggesting that women are usable and discardable.

Thus, in the current study, our goal was to explore if these six themes transferred from rap music into the most widely listened to songs. We pulled 36 songs from the 2022 Year-End Billboard Hot 100 chart and asked a sample of university students and audits to rate a subset of these songs on the six themes of misogyny. Participants were then asked to complete a sexism inventory so we could identify their sexist beliefs and attitudes.

We discovered that participants found the songs to be less misogynistic if they liked the lyrics. Additionally, women found more misogyny in the lyrics than did men, and rap music was the most misogynistic genre. The results also indicated that people who scored high on Hostile sexism (hostile and aggressive attitudes towards women) were most likely to find misogyny in the lyrics. As this study was the first of its kind, it is premature to draw conclusions about these results. Thus, future research should replicate and expand on our work to determine if our results are generalizable to a larger population.

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