I’ve got a 14 year-old daughter. Some folks shudder at this, but I gotta say, Maxi-Me is (so far) a joy. Yes; she gets moody and weepy sometimes over not being able to watch R-rate movies. But all in all, she’s happy. How do I know? Well, she smiles a lot. She tells jokes. She’s affectionate and open. This is such a chest-thumping accomplishment for me, because as many of you know, I wasn’t married to Maxi-Me’s father, and you know the morbid stats on how that usually turns out.

Maxi-Me has lots of friends, and I have no doubt they have influence on her, because all I have to do check the music list on her iPod–it’s FULL of white-people songs. One such song:

I have to admit that every time I hear it I feel like it really, REALLY is going to be a good life. I mean, you have to be a serious bunny boiler to not like that song, huh? 😉 And when Maxi-Me is in the car with her golden-haired bestie, they said this song at the top of their lungs and so does The Babster, The Boy, and Clo Clo.

And because I’ve refused to listen to (c)rap music for over a decade, I’m going to pick a song that I was recently forced to listen to because it was embedded in an article and I needed to open this fetid song for context. Trust and believe this is what young kids are not only listening to, but EMULATING in their lives.

Do I even need to explain the differences between the two songs? But we are gaslighted again and again and AGAIN, aren’t we? We’re told, “It’s just music!” or, “White people listen to it too!” Uh…yeah. White people listen to it, that’s for sure. But my “riddle me” question is this: Are they laughing with you or at you?

Make no mistake–the music we listen is internalized. If that weren’t true, then why the cuss do we have so many Christian hymnals? Why do praise and worship–chock full of…you guessed it…SONGS, if music is not internalized?!

From Music Psychology and Mental Health:

Music can and does affect our emotions, it can create “channels” in our mind, patterns of thinking. It can impart ideas and ideologies, powerfully and emotionally conveying a way of life. Our choices in music, the intensity and frequency of the music we listen to, can have a bearing on our mental health…When we listen to music, we can internalize, so that the emotions of the composer, the band or singer, become a part of us. For the time we listen to and identify with the music, we have a spiritual connection, a bonding, with the one or ones who are singing, playing, and/or who composed the music.

And thanks to NoDramaCiCi for pointing out this study to me about how music affects how African American girls feel about themselves and how it influences sexual behavior. If ANYONE has a black daughter, I’m gonna be clear. If you don’t feel an obligation to SHIELD you child from this crappola, then you might need to get your head examined.

Research has shown that online self-representation among young African-American females either enthusiastically embraces or explicitly rejects sexual stereotypes that have been created by media.[98] Frequent music video viewing has been associated with African-American youth holding traditional gender role attitudes, endorsing sexual stereotypes, and being attracted more to “flash” than to “substance”.[99] African-American females who saw many portrayals of sexual stereotypes in music videos were more likely to have negative body image and to have multiple sexual partners than those who saw fewer such portrayals.[100] When compared to infrequent viewers, African-American female adolescents who more frequently watched rap music videos were found to be twice as likely to have multiple sexual partners and 1.5 times as likely to have contracted a STI.

1.0 VIRTUAL SEXUALITY: THE INFLUENCE OF ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA ON SEXUAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
MICHAEL RICH, M.D., PH.D.

Not telling you what to do, but maybe you might want to change your tune the next time you late Drake and his ilk have air time in your car, home, TEE VEE, or iPod.