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A  Counterpublic / subculture particular social media platform that comes to mind is Project Unbreakable. I was first introduced to this online project my second semester of freshman year when I took CHLH 199-B better known as the FYCARE class. I remember as our instructor would go on and scroll down throughout the site there all these images of people sharing personal stories and releasing them to a larger audience. Project Unbreakable is a “photography project aiming to give a voice to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse,” according to the Project Unbreakable Tumblr page. The project is similar to that of the wedding articles we’ve read in class. The article "Inside Instagram's Underground Wedding Market"  in The Ringer talks about an Instagram account that tries to help men make a great proposal. The founder Karen Lee goes on Instagram and looks up a common hashtag such as #Isaidyes, etc. and then she comments something genetic such as Congrats, which will spark people to check out her account and ask for her guidance. I relate this article with Project Unbreakable because it is a counter public in the sense that the creator of the Tumblr page used trending hashtags and other tactics to find ways to bring more awareness on sexual assault. Project Unbreakable has been featured in a variety of social media outlets and continues to grow. It helps both the reader gain more knowledge on the subject and the survivor. 

Images such as the ones below are on the site.

Anyone is able to send in their picture and express themselves in whatever way they want. Many photos range from different genders, languages, etc. but all of the people photographed show the same amount of courage. After a person has experienced any form of abuse it is hard for them to regain that power/control and this project has helped them express themselves in whatever way they feel will help them. This Tumblr project is a counter public in the way it brings people together and allows for growth in both the person posting and the person reading the content on the page. I think this example of a counter-public is very useful and powerful. The page brings a diversity of people together to fight for what they believe is right. 

The project is also trending on social media platforms such as:

Instagram-

and Twitter-

 It is the “art of healing.”

When a person thinks about hip hop usually an image of a black male wearing chains and designer clothes surrounded by women comes to mind. In a PBS article the author states, “From the outlaw cowboy in American history to the hyper-masculine thug of gangster rap, violent masculinity is an enduring symbol of American manhood itself.” Just think about it… Reflect on the first hip-hop video you saw. I remember one of the first videos I saw was Jay Z’s Big Pimpin where I noticed a lot of societally designated gender norms.

In the video we see women being hypersexualized in the video and lyrics. There is a particular sconce (0:50) that caught my attention. A fully clothed man pours champagne on a woman’s face as she lays on the floor. The women begin to choke, and the man continues pouring while the other women are cheering/laughing at what is going on. This is a very misogynistic scene where the male figure is given all of the power, and the woman is objectified. This also differentiates the power dynamics in gender. The male has to be assertive and aggressive while women are supposed to go along with anything they say. It exposes that certain characteristics make a male a man. The culture hypersexualizes male social norms, and when people are exposed to such actions/lyrics, they normalize behaving in a degrading matter.   The first verse of the song says, “You know I thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em Cause I don't fuckin need em Take em out the hood, keep em lookin' good But I don't fuckin' feed em “                            

Jay Z is referring to women needing him to improve their lives and being able to leave the hood. The lyrics endorse actual pimping and how to act towards women. Most hip-hop artists come from the background where there’s a lot of sexism, violence and hyper sexuality in their neighborhoods. By having guns or women around the males are given more credibility about their success and reinforces the idea to others that they need to do/have certain things to be powerful in society. However, hip-hop has progressed, artists like Migos in their video Bad and Boujee, the males are wearing certain brand clothing and drinking expensive drinks which signify to its viewers that they are climbing the social status ladder. Although they refer to women as bitches, they are still saying that their chick is bad and boujee and not just like all the other girls that are “thots.” This is where there is a switch in the hypersexualizing of males and how they behave towards women. In Jay Z’s video the girl is choking from the alcohol that was poured down her throat, but in Migo’s video when one of the girls spills some of her drink, Quavo gets his Gucci handkerchief and helps her. It is reinforcing the idea of treating “your girl right.”          

 There is also the question of how come there are no known queer hip hop artists. It is as if being a part of the LGTBQ community isn’t “manly” in the rap game. The only rapper I can think of is Young Ma, who identifies as a queer hip-hop artist. However, she dresses a certain way and has plenty of visible tattoos to fit the hip hop culture. Below is an image of Young M.A., The artist, dresses like a male to fit in and degrades women in her videos through her lyrics. She is always in a violent and drug infested atmosphere in her music videos. This shows that to be taken seriously and seen as a real man, a rapper must fulfill all these different expectations to be able to identify as an actual rapper. The ideals of hip-hop can be viewed as a cultural model that helps the audience differentiate between societal norms.

Artists need to continue to push away from the culture and make a difference; there needs to be a stop in degrading women and also the hypersexualizing of males in hip-hop. In conclusion, there is an apparent social construction in hip-hop whether it be the heterosexuality of hegemonic masculinity or the degradation of women.