Let's Talk About Sex

By Bonnie Zylbergold, American Sexuality Magazine. Posted May 8, 2008.

Carla Stokes is an activist, researcher, and health educator specializing in the cultural and health dimensions of gender, media, and sexuality studies. The founding executive director of Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations, Inc. (HOTGIRLS), Dr. Stokes grew up during the golden age of hip-hop, when artists such as Run-DMC, LL Cool J, and Salt-N-Pepa achieved mainstream success. Dr. Stokes has pioneered methods of applying hip-hop and the Internet to uplift youth and girls of color in particular. She uses rap music lyrics and videos to educate young people about HIV/AIDS, sexuality, dating violence, and other social justice issues.

American Sexuality: How would you define hip-hop?

Carla Stokes: Well, there's a lot of debate about what hip-hop is, but it's a cultural movement that encompasses different elements including DJing, the art of MCing or rapping, break dancing, and graffiti art. Some even argue that hip-hop also includes activism, and that there's an element of hip-hop activism and social change within the culture.

On your website it says that you came of age at the same time hip-hop did. What was it about hip-hop music that inspired you to do what you do today?

I really think that hip-hop provides a unique space for girls to express themselves, specifically the girls that I work with, as well as young people in general. Historically speaking, it has provided a safe space for young people to speak out.

That's interesting; a lot of people would argue the opposite.

Yeah, I should probably rephrase that: I think it hip-hop provides a space, but not necessarily a safe space for women. But it has provided a space for young women to speak out about sexuality. That's how I became interested in hip-hop as a tool for education.

Was there a specific female artist that inspired this realization?

Women have been integral to hip-hop culture from the very beginning. Ever since hip-hop came on the scene, women have had an important role in the genre. When I started working with young people, doing peer education around sexuality education, themes around rap music repeatedly came up in the classroom. And so I began using hip-hop as a tool, particularly rap music and music videos, to stimulate conversations about gender and sexuality. Especially since young people today are coming of age within hip-hop culture, hip-hop's become a significant way of fostering dialogue around many important issues they're facing in their lives. Plus, it's become a means of expression for the girls I work with who are using rap music to educate their peers on certain issues. There's a recording studio at the Boys & Girls Club we partner with and the girls have been recording songs that challenge how women are represented in both the media and youth oriented and cultural spaces.

Overall, outside of the work you do, do you think that hip-hop and hip-hop culture has a positive or negative effect on youth?

I think it's complicated. There are contradictory messages in hip-hop. When people tend to talk about hip-hop, much of the time they're focusing on the misogynistic and commercialized hip-hop music and are not really cognizant of the wide range of artists that are addressing structural issues like sexism and racism. You know, those artists that are referred to as conscious hip-hop or rap artists. So there is a large positive movement; it's just not getting the same amount of attention or airplay on the radio.

Do you see a trend amongst the youth that you work with? Are they gravitating more toward one than the other?

Yeah. I work in the South, in Atlanta, Georgia, so the young people I work with aren't necessarily listening to the more socially conscious rappers. They do tend to listen to local hip-hop artists that may not be as progressive in their message. So I do see the trend toward listening to more commercialized hip-hop.

Speaking of commercial, what about pop stars like Brittney Spears? Do they fit in with your work?

They do in the sense that we use popular culture as an educational tool to spark discussions, and sometimes our conversations end up revolving around more mainstream artists. We had a conversation recently about the word hot and what it means, and discussed Paris Hilton's use of the word. Our activities do not revolve solely around hip-hop culture or rap music.

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