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media influence on body image
media influence on body image
media influence on body image
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Music has become ingrained within our every day lives. It ranges from the music we hear during commercials to popular mainstream artists playing over the radio, the lyrics of music has shaped roles and standards for both men and women. In the past four decades, lyrics have begun to increasingly depict sex, sexual violence and male dominance. With teenagers being the main audience for the music media the lyrics are typically aimed for that age group. Because of the targeted age group the lyrics have affected women mentally into a stereotypical role of women in society and has influenced teenagers into engaging in early sexual acts. There are two main sources where these messages could be found within the music media, they are rock and rap. Each have a different way of depicting women but it has become an almost predictable subject to try and understand. On very rare occasions are there songs that depict women in a positive outlook, the greater majority of lyrics have established masculinity or the idea that women are the reason for the issue at hand. In the genre of rock there are two typical forms, cock rock and teeny-bop. Both have a foundation of somehow degrading women either emotionally or even physically. Although in comparison to rap, the idea of male domination is subtle. Teeny-bop presents the male singer as a vulnerable, self-pity and in need individual; often times the lyrics are about women being formed as “unreliable, fickle, [and] more selfish than men” (Frith and Goodwin 12). Within the Teeny-bop image the men are shown as being the victim in a relationship by having crushed dreams of a long term relationship with a women; the men are shown as soft, romantic, loyal and anxious to find true love where it has bec... ... middle of paper ... ... performing artist or arousal properties of the songs. Even the humorous violent songs increased aggressive thoughts (Partenheimer). One of the main concerns is regarding the long-term effects that violent/degrading music has on an individual. There has yet to be studies done that would explain the effect music has on a person for a extended period of time. It is obvious that content within the music media matters regardless as to how it is presented. Decades ago lyrics were not as demeaning for women or men, but with music evolving the way it has, it is important to analyze each part of the lyrics to understand the effects. Society is surrounded by music and has very little influence as to the subject or what is being said. However understanding what the messages are is a start to prevent the misogamy, the idea of male dominance and sexual references or acts.
William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is the illustration of the demise of many respectable men. Typical of a tragedy, one character of high social standing experiences numerous downfalls brought on by a character flaw. This character is eventually brought to his or her knees by the misery and sorrow brought upon by these mistakes. It is at this point that the character realizes their flaws and changes their outlook. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, the tragic hero is Julius Caesar. In the play, Shakespeare molds Caesar’s character into an ambiguous personality. While Caesar is depicted as an ignorant and deserving tragedy, he is an often-overlooked hero as well. The omnipotent ruler appears to be quite respectable socially in the play’s exposition. However, as the story unravels several of his imperfections are introduced. The blemishes of Caesar’s personality soon lead to his untimely death. At his fall, Caesar realizes his faults and wrongdoings. Thus Caesar is overall an effective and sympathetic tragic hero.
The William Shakespeare play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar tells the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar and the eight conspirators behind it. The play takes place in 44 B.C. in Rome. Marcus Brutus is the protagonist and face-man of the insidious conspiracy. He is also the tragic hero in this classic work of literature. Aristotle’s definition of the tragic hero is a character that has a character flaw, also known as hubris, and experiences a downfall from a high position in society due to this flaw. After this downfall, a tragic hero experiences an enlightenment. Brutus fits Aristotle’s description perfectly. Brutus has a severe character flaw and experiences a downfall from a high position in society. However, he is an honorable character that truly provokes sympathy from the audience.
In the play the Life and Death of Julius Caesar (just as in all of Shakespeare’s tragedies) there is much death, much tragedy, and of course, a tragic hero. However unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays this time the tragic hero is not particularly obvious. Throughout the play a few main characters present themselves as possibilities for being the tragic hero. But as being a tragic hero is not only having a tragic flaw but also entails much more, there really is only one person to fit the mold. The character Brutus is born into power and is higher/better then we are. He has a tragic flaw that causes his downfall and at the end he realizes his mistake (a trait none of the other characters can really claim).
Over time, some rap artists might adapt the stated sexist and racial beliefs, and think that they become something better and consciously place themselves above their audience and pretend to be more superior than women Hip-Hop Culture + Politics). The following lyrics provide examples and show how misogynistic beliefs are represented in rap music. The presented excerpts are highly offensive and controversial, but they show the contemporary type of rap that has been and is still produced by well-known recording studios (Adams and Fuller 949).
Since the explosion of music videos in 1981, a large portion of their popularity has been due to the objectification of women and their sexuality. “Early content analyses showed that anywhere from 40% to 75% of music videos contained sexual imagery”(Arnett, 2002). Hip-hop music videos especially have a reputation of degrading women. In these videos “women are often depicted in positions of submission to men” (Sommers-Flanagan, 1993).On the flip-side Country music videos are “known for [their] socially conservative themes”(Frisby & Aubrey, 2012).
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.
My object of analysis is going to be “boy bands” which I am defining as “a band of boys usually playing pop music that is marketed towards young women.” I am going to specifically look at the band 5 Seconds of Summer and I am going to look at how their music and success becomes undermined because their target audience is primarily young women. I am going to do this using feminist theory and this project will examine how ideologies regarding the connection between young women and the band itself being written off artistically are almost embedded within society, in that people say things such as “this band sucks” without ever really listening due to their classification as a boy band. This is primarily linked back to who they are marketed toward,
Every story has a hero and a villain, right? The conflict between these two opposing characters is what establishes the plot for practically every story. One character is positively wicked and disrupts the noble quest of the valiant hero. Unlike most stories, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” doesn’t follow this typical plot line with a clear - cut villain and hero for a few reasons.
In modern society, it is relatively clear that people consume hours of television, reading magazines, browse the Internet or look at other forms of communication. It is typically unavoidable and therefore we are prone to view a lot of uncensored media. Popular music is the forefront of media and is a very powerful tool to communicate messages to society. We see that there is a constant debate between theory and the realities of men and women’s daily lives thus creating question as to how this affects us. There are many different sources discussing gender in relation to popular music. The ones I will be focusing on in this essay are Tara Brabazon, Simon Frith, Kate McCarthy, Julia Downes and Jamie Glantz. McCarthy and Frith discuss the objectification and segregation of women, while Downes, specific to the Punk genre, explores barriers created for women and having them to compromise. Brabazon takes a different perspective as to how popular music affects men while Glantz looks at societal boundaries. These sources explore various dimensions of music, with the one common factor of being in relation to gender.
There is a direct relationship between what is portrayed in music and the effect it has on its audience. Generally speaking, in modern music, woman have been placed in a certain mold. The molds portrayed in music have caused women to have negative self-perception. Through the lyrics presented in the songs and the images portrayed in the music videos, certain hip-hop songs may cause women to view themselves in the same light portrayed in the songs. The tone, lyrics, and images presented in the songs effect the intended audiences immensely. Hip hop music that objectifies black women negatively affects their self-perception because they view themselves as commodities.
Both Caesar and Brutus were main characters in this play. Two sides formed during the play, and these two characters were the leaders of each side, respectively. Also, each character held a high rank in the Roman society. Caesar was the ruler of the Roman Empire, and could basically do whatever he wanted due to his outstanding power. Brutus was a general for the Empire and he was respected and was seen as a noble man and true “Roman” by many.
The effects of objectifying women in music videos are entirely negative. Women grow up with the idea that they should always seek to attain a men’s attention. Hip-hop music videos do not represent females as the human beings that they really are. This creates an inequality o...
Teens and the human populous have been draw to music, and the relief it gives off. As recent as the 1990’s, we’ve seen an increase in explicit and violent lyrics and deviant behavior in the music industry surrounding such genres as heavy metal, rock, rap, and gangster rap. During this past decade, lyrics are becoming more violent and sexually explicit. It is approximated that teens listen to an average of 40 hours of music a week, and somewhere along the way, a child will hear something derogatory, or cruel. Along with this, teens don’t necessarily interpret what is said through lyrics in the right manner. In one study, only 30% of those somewhat questionable lyrics by popular bands were comprehended by the teen population.
In the play Julius Caesar, written and preformed by William Shakespeare, there are many characters, but two, Brutus and Cassius, stood out. The play begins in Rome where a celebration of Julius Caesar's victory over the former ruler of Rome, Pompeii. The victory leads to Caesar's betrayal by his jealous companions. Senators and other high status figures are jealous of Caesar's new and growing power, while others, like Brutus, fear the tyrannical rule Caesar could enforce. The conspirators, Brutus and Cassius being the most important, assassinate Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, better known as Antony, and Octavius Caesar, Caesar's heir to the thrown, revenge Caesar's death. Antony convinces the Roman populous to destroy the conspirators and eventually begins a war with Cassius and Brutus' armies. Both Cassius and Brutus commit suicide to save their honor and Antony and Octavius win the war. The characterizations of Brutus and Cassius show a distinct contrast in their character traits and motives for the assassination of Julius Caesar.
The negative perception of women throughout popular culture in the form of music has greatly impacted the portrayal of women on today’s society. This study involves on examination of sexist ideologies in dancehall lyrics that portray women in stereotypical and negative manner. This particular king of music explored in the study is dancehall music, a popular genre in Jamaican culture today. The primarily focus is on the effect of popular songs have on women in society, as well as how song lyrics can cause objectification of women and how are the roles of men and women reflected.