Latin-American Studies Reggaeton

It is a fact that music reflects the views, desires and problems of the group that created it. So, young people’s music tends to center around issues that are central to lives of young people (love, sex, injustice, violence, competition, money, revolution, etc.). In addition, with the reality that all musical styles developed from the early part of the 20th century on are commercialized, certain themes that are considered ‘saleable’ are promoted more. Reggaeton—like salsa, bolero and plena, as well as merengue, bachata, cumbia, banda—is considered to be an extremely misogynistic musical style. Aside from the dancing, the lyrics tend to be from an aggressive male chauvinistic perspective, with women more often than not portrayed as passive sexual objects or as easy prey to men’s desires.