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Music's impact on society through history
Music's impact on society through history
How do media influence behaviour of society
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I decided to expand on my Week 5 Post All About That Bass. Our assignment for that week was to analyze Meghan Trainor’s song All About That Bass and to give our opinion on what message we believe the song lyrics and video provided the public with. The second part of our assignment also involved watching “It’s Not About the Nail” and the Dave Barry article that addressed stereotypes about gender and what affect they might have on individuals. I really enjoyed this post because it allowed me to look further into the lyrics of the song and analyze it in a way many might not. Originally, the song portrays Trainor singing about loving and accepting yourself for who you are regardless of your body size. However, that wasn’t entirely what the song was about. Instead she proceeded to attack other women for their skinny body types. I mentioned that as a woman who had the power to make such a strong input on the lives of all young girls, she should have empowered all women. I would re-write my post by going into more detail about the culture cycle and how she broke through the social-responsi...
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black women. As hip hop music continues to become more popular, the sexist messages presented in lyrics and music videos are becoming more common to the everyday public, including young black girls developing a self-image. Instead of these girls being exposed to healthy, positive role models who encourage individuality and that there is more to a woman than her body they are given hip hop video models whose only purpose is to look sensual on screen. The strong women that do exist in the hip hop genre are pushed to sexualize themselves or their lyrics to sell records or stay relatively unknown. Although Perry’s arguments are logical, I believe that she is creating a slippery slope of logic. A genre of music cannot destroy the self-image of black women that has existed for generations.
My personal choice memoir was The World is Moving Around Me by Dany Laferrière, it was a memoir about the Haiti earthquake. Throughout the memoir Laferrière conveys not only his emotions, but his peers. His choice of words and phrases made this novel not only about the Haiti earthquake, but the country of Haiti and its people. His fixed descriptions show this event didn’t only move him physically, but mentally. Lastly, Laferrières connection to the people out side of Haiti, specifically the United States is key to show the world wide impact.
The song “Use Somebody” by King of Leon shows Holden’s perception of the world. For example, Holden walks around New York and criticizes all he see’s. He says, “ New York is terrible, when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles. It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed” (Salinger 81). Holden thinks of everyone and everything in a depressing manor. Everything that other people do, makes him depressed and which makes them a “phony”. In addition, the band King of Leon feel the same way when they say, “ I’ve been roaming around/Always looking down at all I see” (King of Leon). Holden always sees things in a negative way and is looking down on life. Holden does not have the happiness that other people have
She illuminates the hidden causes of the harsh sexism in rap music lyrics and argues that one needs to look deeper to understand why the misogyny exists and how women in her culture need to respond and also start taking responsibility for its existence in order for changes to begin to take place. In the article “ From Fly -Girls to Bitches and Hos “ the dysfunction of our black men is evident, but somehow it’s seen and admired manliness and success. For example the life of Notorious BIG was one of the rap kings that live a life of jail, sex , drugs and murder that “ the seeming impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask of American often wear both to hide “ . Joan Morgan was vivid as to show the pain men must be feeling so badly that they had to use disrespectful slurs and hateful comment says their music lyrics. I agree with the fact that in today’s society the "bitches and hos" have become the norm. From my perspective that many guys often believe that is how all women act and that they are all pimps and
“Fire away. Take your best shot, show me what you got. Honey I’m not afraid (Chris, Lines 4-5)…” Strength, love, heartache, all words that many people can identify with, but what about mental illness, depression, and suicide. These words are those that humans avoid, pretend they are not there, but in reality those three words effect many more people that was ever thought possible. Over 18.2% of United States citizens suffer from a mental illness (Depression), 6.7% of United States citizens suffer from depression (Depression), and each year in the United States there are on average 42,773 deaths by suicide (American). Now, many people can relate to the words love and heartbreak, but many more can identify with the three words that the world
“Over There” is a song written by George M. Cohan in 1917. Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, Arthur Fields, and Charles King were among many who recorded the song. It was written as a propaganda piece encouraging young American men to join the army to fight in World War I. The song was incredibly popular, selling over two million copies of sheet music and one million copies of recordings by the end of the war. Cohan, the writer, was eventually even awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for his work on this song.
Feeling unwanted from the closest people in your life who turn away from you when you need them the most, is the worst feeling a person can endure. I chose the song “My Story” by Sean McGee, because people young and old can relate to his song. People from different backgrounds can relate to each other when there are living homeless or raised as a foster child. Sean McGee wrote “my daddy don’t know, my momma don’t care, it don’t matter if I’m here, it don’t matter if I’m dead” people all around the world have the same issues and share a common culture. A master status is the most important status a person occupies, this is a key factor in determining a person’s social position.
We have seen it in political campaigns, why not for gender equality? But this call to action needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Megan Trainers’ “All About That Bass,” grouped into Buzzfeed’s “The 17 Most Feminist Songs of 2014,” still sexualizes women’s bodies. Although it presents self-love for women, it still addresses “how boys they like a little more booty to hold at night.”
In today’s world, celebrities are often misunderstood, especially singer/songwriter Robin Rihanna Fenty, referred to as Rihanna. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos have been talked about in negative ways for some time now, but what [eople do not understand is that it is all for fame. Celebrities will do anything to keep their career going strong. If one really took the time out to take a deep look at Rihanna, they will notice how humble she really is. After going through the abusive relationship with Chris Brown, Rihanna has struggled with gaining that strong confidence with who she is. Her critics believe that she is still trying to discover herself and figure out who she really is as a person. Rihanna is often given two choices, to do what she is being asked to do, or throw her career out the window. She either gives the crowd the sexual acts they want or let her career die down. In the song “S&M,” Rihanna was really exposing herself to the crowd, as well as “Good Girl, Gone Bad.” She is basically telling the crowd that this is the person she is, but is it really? For my original piece I will be creating a journal, expressing the feelings Rihanna felt as she overcomes her struggles. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos are really all for fame and therefore, are easily misunderstood.
A Mad Girl’s Love Song In Sylvia Plath’s poem “A Mad Girl’s Love Song”, it is hard to determine whether the speaker is mad or going mad. Plath, along with all women in this time period, were defined by their relationship to a man. When a woman was abandoned by her beloved, it was Earth-shattering, as it still can be for many women today. Before the reader even gets into the poem itself, the speaker is already described as “mad” and this word has multiple connotations.
Surprisingly, Country music has been on the back burner of gender and sexualitiy issues, more than likely due to the outpour of content in rock and rap music. In a study done by University of South Carolina graduate Anna Rogers, found that most country genre songs generated a positive message in their music. Though not against the establishment like rock music would be , country music has trends in making unrealistic situations on both genders. Both males and females artists reflected music in which idealize perfect relationships and fairytale endings. However, the genre also has a significant view of male and females fighting and having miserable and detrimental break ups. (Rogers,
Some of my earliest memories of listening to Michael Jackson include his number 1 hit 'Beat It'. I can remember that when I was younger, Michael Jackson’s 'Beat It' was one of his first songs that I ever listened to. Between the driving rock guitar, the soaring vocals, and the overall story that the song delivers, the song has easily become one of my favorite Michael Jackson tracks to this day.
“Who has the biggest dick in the music industry?” Andy Cohen asks Nicki Minaj during his show Watch What Happens Live. The question seems to catch her off-guard, but she keeps her poise and answers that she has not seen anyone’s penis in the music industry. She also notes that she has seen the same penis for ten years. Minaj says that is all she will reveal about the subject. From the outside, it seems like just a silly interview question that should not be taken seriously. However, when analyzing the fact that the American tv show host Andy Cohen is a white male and Nicki Minaj is a black female the vulgarity of the question starts to seem very intentional. The rapper Nicki Minaj is known in the music industry for having a very voluptuous
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...