Sociological Images posted a video in which Black Intellectuals and Artists discuss Sexism in Hip Hop. Here is the video:
I was struck by the imbalance in the conversation, so I counted a few things in the video:
# men: 6 (the host, Cornel West, and the 4 men on stage)
# women: 2
Length of time men spoke overall: 7:11
Length of time women spoke overall: 2:12
Length of time men spoke per person: 1:11
Length of time women spoke per person: 1:06
Length of time the audience gave extended applause to men: 0:52
Length of time the audience gave extended applause to women: 0:02*
While women were not represented in terms of numbers, they did have as much chance to speak as the men were. I’d say a difference of 5 seconds is negligible. What disturbs me is how the audience responded to their points. The two seconds of applause for Kim Osorio was granted when she prompted the audience to thank Nelly for appearing despite his record label wanting otherwise; if I hadn’t counted that, the women would have gotten a goose egg. A group with a 3:1 gender ratio had a 26:1 applause ratio. I’m not sure what to think about that.