Women’s History Month Conference
The Message is in the Music: Hip Hop Feminism, Riot Grrrl, Latina Music, and More
Twelfth Annual Women’s History Month Conference at Sarah Lawrence College
Bronxville, New York
Friday & Saturday, March 5 & 6, 2010
Free and open to the public
Keynote speaker: Carmen Ashhurst, former president of Def Jam Recordings and Rush Communications, and author of the forthcoming book, Selling My Brothers: The Movement, The Media and Me.
Music has long served social movements as a sound track, as a means of communication, and as its own arena for activism. While multiple generations of feminists have used music in these ways, it has played especially vital roles for those born since the 1970s. This conference will explore the ways in which young feminists have defined and expressed politics through music and musical cultures and communities. Among the questions we will ponder are: How does music reflect sites of agreement and conflict among different groups of feminists? How have movements like Riot Grrrl and Hip Hop feminism attracted young women to feminist activism? How do young feminists’ uses of music compare with those of earlier generations?
Scheduled presentations include:
- Emma Carmichael, Vassar College, Female Subjectivity within Hip Hop: Rappers, Lyrics, and Performance
- Iresha Picot, Temple University, Doorknockers: Black Female Rappers Knockin’ on a New Intellectual Discourse
- MarÃa Santana, University of Central Florida, Her Sexy Stilettos Give a Women’s Point of View to Reggaeton: Ivy Queen and Latin Urban Music
The full conference schedule is available here.
-Bridget Crawford
