Object Analysis: "Ah You"  by Aidonia

Popular Dancehall song, “Ah You”, by Aidonia made waves after release in 2007. “Ah You” was well received with huge amounts of radio and TV time. While it is difficult to accurately account for just how well the song did, a simple Google search of “top dancehall artists in the world” reveals Aidonia in the top 50 from sources across the web. “Ah You” is a personal favorite song of mine because of its impressive lyrical composition, upbeat tempo and truly entertaining delivery. What is problematic, however, are the subliminal messages embedded, and the fact that the messages of talented musicians are highly weaponizable. This paper argues that “Ah You” works to perpetuate oppressive patriarchal power structures by normalizing violence against women, by organizing people's consent to media portrayals of gender norms and by influencing gender performativity. We will take a general look at the object “Ah You” by Aidonia and explore how people engage with it in their daily lives. We will then explore how the media contributes to normalizing violence against women, how “Ah You” participates in these activities and how these inform gender performativity. We will also explore how people’s consent to oppression may be organized, and how this occurred in response to “Ah You”.

Dancehall music has been thought to be “characterized by fast rhythms played on local sound systems, featuring lyrics celebrating sex, masculine vigor and violence” (Chunnu, 2021).  “Ah You” exemplifies this by brandishing lyrics like “grab her, like me a rape or rob her,” and “take me cock out like a knife and stab her” (Youtube, 2011). The storyline of “Ah You” includes the male narrator expressing his desire and need to aggressively, sexually dominate his female lover. The narrator tells his female lover that she should quietly welcome rough and painful sex, all while implying that she is discardable. People who engage with the Dancehall culture are ritually confronted with portrayals like these. In their 2022 study of 45,000 people around the world, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reports that people listen to 20.1 hours of music (on average) per week (IFPI, 2022). The IFPI also reports that 68% say that music is important for their exercise, and that 69% of people say music is important for their mental health. In other words, people spend a lot of time listening to music which might be programming sexist norms.

Recent research tells us that popular music serves as a primary socializing agent for people by informing collective and individual identities, and by reproducing social values and norms (Hill, 2021). Subsequently, since popular music consistently features themes of violence against women, sexist behaviors are normalized (Hill, 2021). Popular Dancehall music appears to consistently portray these themes of sexual violence. In this context, sexual violence is categorized by any gender based act that causes sexual, psychological or physical harm, and ultimately contributing to women’s loss of control of their sexual experiences. “Ah You” also includes lyrics like, “when me give her romance with the rape fuck” and “bruise it, blue and black up” (Youtube, 2011). These portrayals suggest that moments of violence are an ordinary part of relationships between women and men (Hill, 2021). As a result, Dancehall can be seen as informing gender performativity.

Famous feminist philosopher, Judith Butler, holds that people are not their gender and that gender is an active performance (Butler, 2015). Butler holds that gender identity is instituted and reproduced by a series of performative acts (a pre-existing gender script) that each person has to repeat in order to make that gender a real category in society (Butler, 2015). In other words, we enact our genders via social interactions. Dancehall music calls men to adhere to a particular masculinist script which urges men to identify their manhood through the sexual domination of women (Chunnu, 2020). Other research highlights how these ritual portrayals of sexual violence influence the way women and little girls view themselves (Aubrey, 2011). Women’s Media Centre, highlights how women live by a ‘rape schedule’ and as such they are constantly taking precautions to protect themselves from the constant threat of rape (J, K., 2015). However, while people perform gender roles that they learn from music, they consent to more of those same media portrayals, and the issues (of sexual violence) reproduces itself.

The capitalist elite of today’s societies maintain their dominance by imposing various ideologies upon average people (Schell, 2000), and patriarchy cannot be understood as separate from capitalism (Evans, 2023). In other words, capitalists maintain class power via a misogynistic cultural hegemony. Capitalists seek to increase profits by confining women to domestic and reproductive roles, since doing so will lower the cost of labor (Evans, 2023). Such a ruling class must prompt a consensus of acceptance for their preferred ideologies and portrayals (Schell, 2000). As people interact with one another and perform the general consensus of what it means to be a “man” or “woman”, then they accept, subscribe to and consent to these ideologies of being. Consensus is generated by discouraging deviations from gender norms through negative feedback (Evans, 2023). Research suggests that music is used as an organized outlet for group needs by “reasserting group loyalties as members fulfill their ritual obligations” (Pawels, 2018). People consent to sexist norms in Dancehall when they partake in Dancehall culture and when they police others who assert deviant ideas about Dancehall. For example, emerging Dancehall artist, AshaLee, receives backlash after asserting (in response to “Ah You”) that Dancehall celebrates violence against women. Such backlash includes, “if you attack the music, music lovers will attack you” (ManDontCare, 2023). Other research studies present similar findings. For example, gangs use social media and music to promote motivation for criminal activity, to bond socially and to send threats (Pawels, 2018). In this way, capitalist elites benefit from music which conditions the masses into specific gender norms. These norms operate as a part of our culture, in such a way that the general public are manipulated into reinforcing them.

An analysis of “Ah You'' demonstrates how capitalist elites benefit from Dancehall's tendency to normalize sexist gender norms. A misogynistic hegemony works to maintain these patriarchal power structures. This issue is particularly perverse because it relies on basic human proclivities (like human relations and engagement) to function and reproduce itself. The abstract nature of this problem also lends to its perverseness. The problem is hard to identify. This affects most people’s daily lives.

Approximately one in three women worldwide are affected by sexual violence (Hill, 2021), meanwhile a lot of people spend a lot of time listening to music. However, more research and data needs to be collected on when, where and how people digest music. This may inform larger societal processes and people’s personal decision making. 

This paper does not intend to blame “Ah You” or shame its creators, but seeks to highlight the powers of Dancehall music and to call attention to the ways in which the conditions of oppression (of women) are naturalized.

References 

Aubrey, J.S., & Cynthia M. F. (2011). “Sexual objectification in music videos: A content analysis comparing gender and genre.” Mass Communication and Society 14 (4), 475–501. doi:10.1080/15205436.2010.513468.*******

Butler, J. (2015). Subjects of Sex/ Gender/ Desire. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity (pp. 1–34). Routledge. 

Chunnu, W. (2021). Battyboy must die! Dancehall, class and religion in Jamaican homophobia. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(1), 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549420951578

Evans, S. (2023) "Power and stratification". February 14, 2023. SOC107, Toronto Metropolitan University.

Hill, R. L., Richards, D., & Savigny, H. (2021). Normalizing sexualised violence in popular culture: Eroding, erasing and controlling women in rock music. Feminist Media Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2021.1902368

IFPI (2022). Engaging With Music 2022 Report. Targeted News Service http://ezproxy.lib.torontomu.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/ifpi-releases-engaging-with-music-2022-report/docview/2737398127/se-2

J, K. (2015). How popular music perpetuates rape culture. Women's Media Center. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://womensmediacenter.com/fbomb/how-popular-music-perpetuates-rape-culture

ManDontCare (2023). “Is Jamaican Music Violent towards Women?” TikTok, 2023, www.tiktok.com/@themandontcarepodcast/video/7200921680468774150?_r=1. 

Pawelz, J., & Elvers, P. (2018). The Digital hood of urban violence: Exploring functionalities of social media and music among gangs. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 34(4), 442–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986218787735 

Schell, L. A., & Rodriguez, S. (2000). Our sporting sisters: How male hegemony stratifies women in Sport. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 9(1), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.9.1.15 

YouTube. (2011). Aidonia: Ah you (HD 720p). YouTube. Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvS7VNtbtQw