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Ratchet Research Paper

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Jasmine Gooden Gooden 1 Mr. Rivkin ENG. 1310. 166 27 September, 2016 What is “Ratchet”? “Ratchet” is a term used frequently, but has an ambiguous and unofficial definition. People have different opinions about whether or not it is offensive. The meaning of the word depends on which speech community is using it. Some reserve the term for only women, while others use it in a more general way (Hurst). It has become a more and more widely used slang, and with any piece of language, its meaning continues to change over time. The terminology of “ratchet” shows that in our culture today, society has used the term to define appearances, undesirable behavior, and degrade women. Society has altered the meaning of the word “ratchet” based on an individual’s appearance. The term originates from Shreveport, Louisiana in 1999 when rapper Mr.Mandigo of Lava House Records created his fist song called “Do The Ratchet” (Slang History). In the music video, the slang is mostly used in a neutral position. It describes people who are seen jerking and twisting their bodies in back and forth movements, …show more content…

The Hudson brothers created “The Ratchet Girl Anthem,” a YouTube video sensation, which introduced and showed the world what so-called “ratchet girls” are. The rappers dressed as women in the video to make it clear that its black women who are making these “ratchet” statements about other women (Osment). Black women are not the only ones who comment on what they see, so it is not okay to just target the obvious. Famous pop star, Miley Cyrus, was called “this ratchet white girl” (Slang History) after her questionable performance at the 2013 MTV Music Video Awards. The media has a strong influence on society’s outlook of things, so it is important that the image of all kinds of women are displayed

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