美国国家公共电台 NPR--Radio Ambulante asks 'How can you be a feminist and listen to reggaeton?'

Radio Ambulante asks 'How can you be a feminist¹ and listen to reggaeton?'

Transcript²

Reggaeton music is popular all over the world but sometimes its lyrics³ and videos are degrading to women. NPR's Radio Ambulante tried to answer whether you can be a feminist and listen to reggaeton?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

For three years in a row, Bad Bunny has been the world's most streamed artist on Spotify.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TITI ME PREGUNTO")

BAD BUNNY: (Rapping in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: Bad Bunny is at the forefront of a global obsession⁴ over reggaeton. Thing is, artists in that genre⁵ often write sexually explicit⁶ lyrics, sometimes becoming quite misogynistic⁷. Patricia Velazquez created the first Puerto Rican reggaeton archive. And throughout the project, she's been haunted by a question one of her college classmates once asked her - how can you be a feminist and listen to reggaeton? At first, Velazquez was shocked. She didn't know how to respond.

PATRICIA VELAZQUEZ: (Through interpreter) Because no one had ever questioned my morals that way. I said something like, I listen to reggaeton and I listen to it every day. I'm a feminist, and I dance to reggaeton the way I want.

MART?NEZ: That clip came from some reporting that my colleague Lisette Arevalo did for NPR's podcast Radio Ambulante. First, she takes us back to the beginning of reggaeton.

LISETTE AREVALO, BYLINE⁸: Some say it was born in Jamaica, others in Panama and in New York City and, of course, in Puerto Rico.

MART?NEZ: One thing's for sure - its commercial strength was established in Puerto Rico.

AREVALO: Since its birth, young people rapped or sang crude and confrontational⁹ lyrics, and they were often violent songs that talked about what was happening in the streets. But above all, they made reference to the country's social conditions - unemployment rates of up to 59% in some areas, schools in poor conditions, government corruption¹⁰ and violence linked to drug trafficking.

MART?NEZ: Many songs sounded something like this. It's from 1990. It's Vico C with "La Recta Final."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LA RECTA FINAL")

VICO C: (Rapping in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: Not everyone in Puerto Rico was in love with reggaeton at first. Some related it to a criminal subculture, and it was impossible to ignore the lyrics that reduced women to objects of male fantasy.

AREVALO: Especially because of the content of its videos, which usually featured women in G-strings rubbing themselves on the singers.

MART?NEZ: But eventually, more voices entered the conversation.

AREVALO: One of the first persons to change the direction of reggaeton was Ivy¹¹ Queen, who is considered the queen of reggaeton.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "QUIERO SABER")

IVY QUEEN: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: Lisette Arevalo says Ivy Queen broke through in a world dominated by men.

AREVALO: It was not easy, of course. Ivy Queen has said that their reaction was always critical - that she was too short, that her voice was too thick, almost masculine. But she has said that this difference was her weapon.

MART?NEZ: She began taking reggaeton in new directions in 1997. But in 2003, Ivy Queen released perhaps her most important song, "Yo Quiero Bailar" (ph).

AREVALO: A complete revolution for music because it talk about woman's consent.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "QUIERO BAILAR")

IVY QUEEN: (Singing in Spanish).

MART?NEZ: Ever since that breakthrough, many LGBTQI+ folks, women and feminists¹² have embraced reggaeton.

AREVALO: It is also a genre that has not left aside its roots - the social protest at all levels. And women have been there giving new meanings to the songs and talking about the urgent issues that affect them.

MART?NEZ: And perhaps one of the greatest ambassadors of reggaeton has embraced this message. Here's Bad Bunny with his song "Yo Perreo Sola."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YO PERREO SOLA")

BAD BUNNY: (Singing in Spanish).

AREVALO: It is a song dedicated¹³ precisely¹⁴ to the freedom of women to have sex and dance whenever they want, with whomever they want and without anyone hitting on them or pressuring them.

MART?NEZ: But even Bad Bunny isn't absolved¹⁵ from objectifying women. He's done it, too. So back to the original question then. Can you be a feminist and like reggaeton? Patricia Velazquez of the reggaeton archive finally landed on this.

VELAZQUEZ: (Through interpreter) Because I can. Because my feminism allows it. It allows me to decide what I like, what I listen to, how I dance and how I don't. It gives me the authority over my body and my decisions.

MART?NEZ: Our thanks to Lisette Arevalo from the podcast Radio Ambulante for her reporting on this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALGO BONITO")

ILE AND IVY QUEEN: (Singing in Spanish).

1 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

4 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

5 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

6 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

7 misogynistic   

参考例句：

• And it brings out everything that is most noxious and misogynistic about the right. 而且，这种情绪也流露出右派思想中最为保守有害，歧视女性的那一面。 来自互联网

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

12 feminists   

n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only 16 percent of young women in a 1990 survey considered themselves feminists. 在1990年的一项调查中，只有16%的年轻女性认为自己是女权主义者。 来自辞典例句
• The organization had many enemies, most notably among feminists. 这个组织有许多敌人，特别是在男女平等主义者中。 来自辞典例句

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

15 absolved   

宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责）

参考例句：

• The court absolved him of all responsibility for the accident. 法院宣告他对该事故不负任何责任。
• The court absolved him of guilt in her death. 法庭赦免了他在她的死亡中所犯的罪。