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Was Tyga a poor choice of performer for Yardfest?

Nancy Liu ’16 lives in Straus Hall. She is a former member of the First-Year Social Committee.

Tyga at Yardfest and Misogyny in Popular Culture

The controversy of bringing Tyga to perform on Harvard’s campus reaches far beyond the internal bubble of the student body and the administration. I am in no way criticizing the genres of rap and hip-hop, but rather, I am specifically concerned with Harvard’s endorsement of the misogynistic lyrics that comprise some of Tyga’s most popular songs, including “Rack City,” “Make It Nasty,” and his cameo in “Bitches Ain’t Shit.” Not only are these lyrics hateful, but they also promote the objectification of women as sexual objects. I find this incredibly pertinent considering April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the culture of victim blaming still largely pervades college campuses and popular media as a legitimate means of dealing with victims of rape and sexual assault.

By paying Tyga to come perform these lyrics on our campus, Harvard is condoning his performance and therefore his messages. Frankly, I find this to be a slap in the face for every student group on campus that actively works to change this rhetoric and the discrimination against women that it reinforces. I question what a “true” representation of the student body’s music tastes might have looked like had the CEB done more crowd-sourcing and outreach to a variety student groups on campus, including organizations such as the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response and the Women’s Center.

However, this issue goes beyond the walls of Harvard’s campus. Tyga has a large repertoire of music, most of it innocuous in its representation of women, and some of it even favorable. This leads me to ask the question: Why is it that consumer culture has popularized his songs that contain his most offensive lyrics? For me, the controversy surrounding Tyga’s performance at Yardfest is less about him as an artist and more about the culture that encourages, and even rewards, objectifying and violent representations of women. I believe this is an opportunity to engage in critical dialogue about why this trend exists in society and what we can do to change it.

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Kathleen O’Beirne ’15 is a studies of women, gender, and sexualities concentrator in Leverett House.

Recognition is Key

The facts about Tyga, this year’s Yardfest headliner, are well established. First, we know Tyga’s music has been accused of promoting sexism and violence, but they are not especially worse than some mainstream artists in the same genre. Next, we know that Yardfest is run by the College Events Board, which is restricted by a budget and forced to make hard decisions; no artist it picks will ever satisfy everybody. Finally, we know that student dissatisfaction with the artist this year is unusually high, enough to prompt the Office of Student Life to recommend that the CEB reconsiders its choice. What is the appropriate way forward?

I do not have the best solution or most representative opinion. But I do know that the way forward starts with a common recognition of an important point: The goal of Yardfest is to be both fun and inclusive.

What does that mean? Just because you have fun dancing to Rack City does not mean everyone does; some people will be truly offended. Telling them to just stay home is not a real solution, only a dismissal. Just as important, calling people who would enjoy Tyga at Yardfest “misogynists” and demanding that the artist refrain from anything offensive while keeping the event enjoyable for all may be an impossible standard for the CEB. Demanding that principles be upheld all the time has practical limitations.

Perhaps this point is obvious, but the discourse I have seen so far has missed it. Maybe it’s a function of how discourse has evolved that one side is too uptight and the other is misogynistic. Either way, the path forward starts with better recognition of the other side’s valid concerns and leaves behind polarizing language.

Kevin L. Huang ’13 is a government and statistics concentrator in Kirkland House.

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