A study has revealed a link between "sexually degrading" music lyrics and the onset of sexual behaviour amongst adolescents.
The American journal 'Pediatrics', in a study by think-tank RAND Corporation, examined the effect of "degrading" lyrics from artists such as Lil' Kim ("When it comes to sex don't test my skills, 'cause my head game will have you head over heels. Guys wanna wife me and give me the ring. I'll do it anywhere, anyhow; I'm down for anything.") and "non-degrading" lyrics from artists such as 98 Degrees ("When my eyes open I wanna see your face/Spendin' my days in your sweet embrace/Just one night with you could set me free/I get next to you and I get dizzy, dizzy/You make me think of things to come/I'm dreamin' day and night of making love.")The study interviewed 1,461 adolescents between the ages of 12-15 three times over a three year period. It found that in the two-year period between the second and third interviews, respondents who listened to music with sexually degrading lyrics were almost twice as likely to have engaged in sexual activity.
Steve Martino, the study's lead author, said in The Guardian, "Musicians who use this type of sexual imagery are communicating something very specific about what sexual roles are appropriate, and teen listeners may act on these messages."
The overriding theme of such sexually degrading lyrics - particularly in the realm of hip-hop - positions women as the submissive object of 'natural' male desire. Whilst the study doesn't seek to pinpoint music, or hip-hop music, as the sole cause of early sexual activity, it comes at a time when the issues of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease are of growing concern in the United States.
