For the last couple of months there has been a resurgence of interest in the portrayal of women in hip hop videos.

I often hold my head in shame when I see these images and I know that many, many people out there would disagree with me when I say that African American culture, today, seems to be brimming with negativity and this does not accurately reflect what is happening and what does take place in the black community in the US.

Women, black women in general have started to realise that hip hop videos are not only producing and reinforcing the same negative stereotypes about black men (all they want is money, sex and cars) but at the same time are degrading and humiliating black women right along with it.

As rappers constantly vent their hostility and viciousness in their rhymes, women are not spared from attack and more recently seem to be the brunt of most of their frustrations.

In some cases, the songs are based on personal experiences and  ;thus may be justifiable but more and more it seems that all black rappers have to say about women is, how horrible we are and how we're only good for one thing.

Some may take issue with this statement but watch BET anytime of the day and you will see exactly what I mean.

Why?

Why do 90 percent of rap videos have to contain these degrading and extremly, sexually explicit images of black women? Why? and Why do women constantly flock towards doing these videos?

I know, I know freedom of choice for the individual and the bottom line for the recording companies.

Getting paid and hopefully hooking up with a rapper for the girls and the continuation of the sex sells themes for recording execs.

To the execs and video producers: Yes, sex sells but does it have to be as distasteful as the images I see on BET? And for the women: there is more to life than being a video girl and if you don't know that and haven't come to realize that you're a lost soul. Period.

Now as I said nobody forces these women to do that and guys and girls will watch these videos regardless of how demeaning they are  however some years agao I took a stand and I've stopped watching all hip hop videos because I'm sick of the constant bombardment of endless images of half naked women gyrating and humiliating themselves in the presence of these rappers while the songs accompanying the video, (note it should be the other way around) say nothing and illicit nothing, not even a tap of the foot.

Now, I have no problem with the way black women dance and in fact I am  supportive of the way we express ourselves but I do believe that these images and songs are NOT representative of black culture or even urban ghetto life.

And this is where the problem lies.

Life in the ghetto and projecs is often hard and is a constant struggle of survival. Most of the rappers know that and have felt it to the fullest why then aren't more songs being produced that tell and accurately reflect that life?

Life isn't a big party in the ghetto. Why then is that all that we see and all that is being produced? 

We, most of us anyway, are all tri demensional individuals that needs to be seen more instead of less and video producers and rappers need to be more creative instead of taking the easy way out by resorting to parading obnoxious images of black women in their underwear in order to get their products sold.