Though rap is not the only genre that often celebrates abuse against women, it is perhaps the music where examples reach their peak Rich Gang's nearly incomprehensible breakout single "Lifestyle" typifies this. There is, however, no doubt that sex as a form of control over a woman's body is a common trope in rap lyrics. In a fact sheet on intimate partner violence and and reproductive health, Planned Parenthood outlines that the two forms of abuse "are closely connected issues and one cannot be properly addressed without addressing the other." Unfortunately, this was one of the only major studies conducted specifically to measure the prevalence of birth control sabotage and reproductive coercion-there's still minimal research on the effects of reproductive coercion and its contribution to unplanned pregnancy rates. Three quarters of women reporting pregnancy coercion also reported a history of partner violence. The northern California survey also showed that reproductive coercion often occurs simultaneously with physical violence. If I ask, 'Is there a reason why you don't use a condom?' I get a lot of tears." "A lot of my patients who come in to have abortions aren't using birth control, so I just try to ask about their contraceptive methods in a nonjudgemental way. "Women don't bring it up on their own, but when I ask I have so many patients that cry," she says. But she has even more difficulty broaching the subject in the first place, and she associates these under-recognized behaviors with an increased risk for unintended pregnancy. Krajewski's clinical practice, she often sees women who are afraid to bring up condom use with their boyfriends.
If I ask, 'Is there a reason why you don't use a condom?' I get a lot of tears. When it comes to preventing unplanned pregnancies, pulling out is the least a guy can do if he's not going to wrap it up. "This lyric is saying that he's not wearing a condom and he's not pulling out, and she can't say no," she says. Krajewski explains how this lyric dangerously exemplifies reproductive coercion by focusing on Kanye's wants regardless of his partner's. On "Send It Up," Kanye West raps about not pulling out, especially when he's not wearing a condom: When I go raw, I like to leave it in / When I wake up, I like to go again. While the masculine bravado in rap songs is seemingly performative-and some might even insist harmless-it reflects these harrowing real-life circumstances. The study found that these abused women faced difficulty negotiating condom use, were told not to use birth control, and in some cases had their partner threaten to leave them if they didn't get pregnant. "That's pretty much reproductive coercion in two lines."Ī 2010 survey of a cross section of women in five family planning clinics in northern California revealed that one in seven had experienced birth control sabotage at some point in their lives. "He wants to dominate a woman with the intent of getting her pregnant. Through the lens of reproductive coercion, however, Wayne's hypothetical dominating of a woman as he would the world takes on an even darker tone. Ovulation occurs only once every month, regardless of Lil Wayne's skills or intent in bed. Literally speaking, it's impossible to make a woman ovulate by having sex with her.
Take Weezy's "Bill Gates" lyric, for example. So many of these lyrics are pretty much describing birth control sabotage and reproductive coercion." "It can be either coercing someone to get pregnant or interfering with their birth control.
"Reproductive coercion is a form of intimate partner violence," Dr. While most men dread getting a woman that they're hooking up with pregnant, some men want to get a woman pregnant as a form of power. Depressingly common in her practice is reproductive coercion, a form of domestic abuse in which a woman's partner tries to control and sabotage her birth control methods. Krajewski specializes in family planning and unplanned pregnancy, so she sees a lot of it. The expert consultant at Bedsider, a non-profit birth control support network operated by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Dr. Of course when Lil Wayne says Weezy fuck the world, yeah I fuck it until it ovulate / Get her to the crib, get in that pussy, and just dominate in "Bill Gates," he is being sexist-and gynecologically inaccurate-but Dr.