Planet B-Girl: Community Building and Feminism in Hip-Hop

Abstract

Hip-hop originated as an artistic form of protest among disenfranchised African Americans and is now a global vehicle of communication. A core of devotees known as b-boys and b-girls have dedicated themselves to using hip-hop as a political vehicle toward a better future. B-girls help build the networks of support upon which hip-hop artists rely. However, despite its challenge to racial and economic hegemonies, much of hip-hop culture excludes women. How do b-girls use hip-hop to mobilize for a socially just future under such conditions? This article suggests that women who become aware of their marginalized status within hip-hip use its capacity for creating political messages and generating audience responses to call attention to the gendering of hip-hop spaces. In demanding a right to participate, women create a “Planet B-Girl” for women to sustain themselves as independent artists and use hip-hop's representation of itself as a voice of the street to mobilize people who are not recognized as participants in political processes to agitate for change.