In many circumstances, we can't control what we listen to (at work, in stores). I agree that it is difficult to reconcile misogynist behavior, good music (though perhaps not-so-good lyrics), and one's feminist ideals. I'll dance to OutKast, Rick James, and James Brown's music, but will not purchase their albums. I won't shell out for concert tickets. Most musicians (and artists for that matter) behave in ways I find to be morally unethical. If they are not blatantly sexist, then they tend to be heterosexist, racist, or use their wealth irresponsibly. So yeah, I make every effort to not give them my money.

My response is up here

Please...don't ever let me post at 1 am again. The typing errors are horrid! Egads!!

Thanks for overlooking them and responding ladies!

New response here.

as a musician and aspiring ethnomusicologist (someday my PhD will come) this is one of my favorite dilemmas. after miles davis' autobiography came out, where he brags about slapping, berating and abusing the women in his life, pearl cleage wrote a great essay about the topic. i come down on the side of enjoying the music, learning from it and listening to it through certain filters. i know miles was an abusive shit. he also changed the world. more importantly, he changed mine.

Pearl Cleage:
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/Literature/Fiction/Authors&id=h-2564

i have to add that i am a bit disturbed that every single artist that has been mentioned here or in a blog (including in my wn comment) has been black. a black male. blackmail.

Noted for her willingness to address difficult issues, Cleage explains her purpose for writing in the introduction to Mad at Miles: "I am writing to expose and explore the point where racism and sexism meet. I am writing to help understand the full effects of being black and female in a culture that is both racist and sexist. I am writing to try and communicate that information to my sisters first and then to any brothers of good will and honest intent who will take the time to listen. . . . I am writing to allow myself to feel the anger. I am writing to keep from running toward it or away from it or into anybody's arms. . . . I am writing, writing, writing, for my life."

pearl cleage

We can add The Rolling Stones and Eminem to the roster of sexist musicians.

i probably won't get to take this to my blog, but i'm at least going to say this: add r. kelly to that list, kerri.

also, as a hip hop fan, i can always find myself listening to lyrics that may be anti-woman/ sexist/ questionable. i choose to listen to/ dance to outkast because i respect andre & big boi as lyricists. are there songs that are not the most woman-loving? of course. as a matter of fact, one of my favorite big boi lyrics says "bulldoggin hoes like them georgetown hoyas." clever as hell. hoes = women? probably. most likely. i'm not defending anyone. perhaps the way ppl behave is a symptomatic of bigger problems. i won't bore y'all w/ a long ass rant, though. i'll save that for the blog when/ if i get a chance.

i know that my life is full of contradictions & i'm just gonna have to deal w/ it. that's how i get over the aspect. it is what it is, i am who i am & if i one day decide to boycott artists who wear red, then so be it. it's up to the individual. my feminism creates space for everyone, even those i disagree with. i love the music i listen to for a million different reasons. & honestly, who couldn't love talib kweli?

I am soooooo behind in responding to these topics. But here are my thoughts on this music thing. I don't listen to a lot of what I'd consider explicitly sexist music, but I do listen to some that reinforces stereotypes more subtly - and I wonder sometimes if that isn't just as bad. More on blog

First time commentor; I just found this blog on a link from feministe.

I think that I can enjoy and support music without endorsing all of that musician's views, much like I can enjoy Poe's work without supporting incest or drinking oneself to death; more immediately analogous, I can enjoy Picasso's work without supporting his misogyny, or his psychopathic obsession with other artists. More art is good, and I want to encourage more art to be made, so I support it. Misogyny is bad, and should be discouraged. When both come from the same source, that doesn't mean the baby should go out with the bathwater.

There is an argument to be made that there's a difference of degree between Picasso and Rick James, but in my opinion arguing about which of two pieces of art is "better" has little bearing on the art itself and none on the artist.

Another counterargument is that Poe and Picasso are dead, and thus not influencing popular culture except through their art--I would have made an analogy to a living artist except that I'm less knowledgeable about the gender-rights views of, say, Dale Chihuly. I would still argue that the art becomes independent of the artist once created, and that things the artist might have done at other times don't make the art itself worse. E.g., Outkast's misogynistic lyrics in other songs don't make "The Whole World" unpalateable any more than "Money for Nothing" makes "Sultans of Swing" a bad song.

What I'm still wrapping my head around, which has been touched on a bit here, is whether misogynistic content in a given work of art makes that art unacceptable. Does "The Whole World" become misogynistic via the lyric "if his mama is a quarter, daughter must be a dime"? Does artist intent matter? Is The Rape of Lucretia less misogynistic than "Freek-a-leek"? What about "Smack My Bitch Up"? These I don't even have fully formed opinions on, let alone definitive answers, and this comment is already too long so I'll wrap it up.