OBSCENITY LAW AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT RAP MUSIC - UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF SEX, ATTITUDES, AND BELIEFS

This study investigated listeners' judgments regarding the offensivene ss of sexually explicit lyrics found in rap music produced by 2 Live C rew Subjects were exposed to music and lyrics in a 2 (subject sex-male , female) x 2 (musical genre-2 Live Crew Rap, Non-Rap) x 3 (sexual exp licitness-high, medium, low)factorial design. They then made judgments of patent offensiveness, prurient appeal and artistic merit regarding 2 Live Crew and rap music in general. The results indicated that the 2 Live Crew music that was high in sexual explicitness was rated as mo re patently offensive than other equally sexually explicit materials. Surprisingly, women did not find the 2 Live Crew more offensive than m en. Rebellious sexual attitudes, the belief that rap music causes soci etal degradation, and disaffection toward society helped predict subje ct responses to all materials on patent offensiveness and prurient app eal scales. Appreciation of linguistic exaggeration, popularly known a s ''playing the dozens,'' and African American humor predicted whether subjects would find artistic merit in rap. Listeners' endorsement of rebellious sexual attitudes and the belief that rap contributes to soc ietal degradation also predicted responses to 2 Live Crew on a combina tion of the three variables associated with obscenity law (patent offe nsiveness, prurient appeal, and artistic merit). Theoretical implicati ons and legal applications of the findings are discussed.