Education and the reggaetón genre: does reggaetón socialize in traditional masculine stereotypes?

ABSTRACT

Reggaetón music is very popular among young people of school-age. Thus, we intend to examine the values of equality transmitted in the lyrics of this music genre. Using critical discourse analysis and assisted by the Maxqda software package we analysed the lyrics of 65 of the most popular reggaetón songs of 2020. Results suggest that reggaetón reprises certain traditional masculine stereotypes (machismo). In our discussion we compare alternative approaches and positions concerning the reggaetón genre. We feel it is necessary that educational spaces adopt a critical and consciousness raising approach to reggaetón due to the powerful influence exerted on young people by this product of the culture industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Reggaetón
• education
• equality
• traditional masculinity
• gender stereotypes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This investigation is associated to the research project: ‘Ecologías del aprendizaje en contextos múltiples: análisis de proyectos de educación expandida y conformación de ciudadanía’ [Learning ecologies in multiple contexts: analysis of expanded education and shaping citizenship]. Funder: Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain). Project reference: EDU2014-51961-P. I+D+i Nationally Financed with 60,000 €.

Notes on contributors

Enrique-Javier Díez-Gutiérrez

Enrique J. Díez Gutiérrez holds a PhD in Education Sciences and is a Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Education at the University of León (ULE), Spain. He holds a degree in Philosophy. Diploma in Social Work and Social Education. Specialist in educational organisation, he currently develops his teaching and research work in the field of Intercultural Education, gender, and educational policy. In 2020 he published the book Educación para el bien común [Education for the Common Good] (2020) with Juan Ramón Rodríguez.

Eva Palomo-Cermeño

Eva Palomo Cermeño holds a PhD from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid (URJC) and is a Lecturer at the same university, in the Department of Humanities. Master in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies. Lines of research: feminist theory, history of feminist ideas and women's movements, gender violence and applied ethics. In 2015 she published the book Sylvia Pankhurst. Suffragette and socialist. She has also published several articles and book chapters on feminist thought and activism and its relationship with other critical theories and social movements.

Benjamín Mallo-Rodríguez

Benjamín Mallo-Rodríguez is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Education of the University of León (Spain). Guidance counsellor at Los Agustinos School in León, Lecturer in the master’s degree in Educational Guidance and in the master’s degree in Secondary Teacher Training, and in the bachelor’s Degrees in Education at the University of León. He is the author of Ecologías de aprendizaje invisible y ubicuo en el ámbito de la formación de formadores (Morata publishing house, 2018) and Aprendizajes invisibles en la formación permanente (Octaedro publishing house, 2016). He is also a specialist in Educational Guidance.