Am I the only one who can’t stand like 90% of what comes on the
radio? If the world could come to a mutual agreement to only play Sam Smith and
Ed Sheeran on the radio, I’d totally be okay with that. Speaking of Sam Smith,
you go Grammy award picker people (how are Grammy winners picked???) for
selecting him to win FOUR awards!
Anyways, back to my rant. What’s with all the songs we play
in our cars and so cheerfully sing to? The other day I was walking around my
office singing “I’m in love with the co-co” not realizing that song is about
cocaine… w.t.f. And that is definitely not the only song that has major drug
references, but what’s even more common in so so sooo many songs, is blatant
sexism. And what’s weird is that the objectifying of women isn’t just coming
from male artist, female rappers (Nicki Minaj for example) seem to be doing it as well.
I personally try to find happy songs that make me want to
take someone into my loving arms (see what I did there? ha!). Unfortunately, I
still find myself unconsciously jamming out to some songs that make me wonder
what the heck music has come to. Here’s an example, over the summer I remember
going out to the bars and happily dancing to horrible songs (“just shake that
ass bitch”… I mean really??), only to later realize that there are some horrid
messages engraved in those lyrics. Remember Wiggle by Jason Derulo? He sings
about how a girl has him in the club making wedding plans… all because she had
a nice ass?!? Well guess what Jason, she probably has a nice personality too,
but did you ever stop to think about that, no ya didn’t! And what’s up with playing
songs about how “bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks”?!?! YG says in that song that hes got a "bitch" with "big ass titties" and Tyga says he needs "a bitch that could f*ck, cook, clean right," the whole song is so sexist it's sickening. What the hell!
I digress. But seriously, why can’t we have more nice songs
that empower women? These messages that are being sent in most popular music are basically
idolizing body parts, which the average woman may not feel comfortable with
flaunting around. They say that TV shows have a link to cosmetic surgery
procedures, but I think that the music industry also has an effect. There are
so many songs that are so overly sexualize, like Only by Nicki Minaj -“She was
sittin down on that big butt, but I was still starin at them titties though” -
it just sends a horrible message to girls. If we act like the greatest thing a
woman has to offer is her “big butt” or “titties,” then how are girls without
the “ideal” body going to feel? And by ideal I mean the unrealistic, and
usually surgically made bodies that are shown in the music industry...
Oh Nicki *sigh*
Some may think I am dramatic, but I think the perfect
resolution for all of this is to simply stick with only playing Sam Smith's music. Or ya know, other artist could just stop singing about big butts and
stuff.
I completely agree with your view. In most songs a lot of artist take more time in making music that degrades the majority of their fans “women”. I always argue with myself that I’m not going to listen to that kind of music but it’s hard because they make it so catchy. In reference to the plastic surgery the, a lot of the idolized bodies are not real and are insulting to natural women who think of themselves as beautiful. The idealistic woman is something made up of money; hair, skin, breast, butt, lips, and much more can ALL be bought. Most of the woman in school, with 9-5 or overnight jobs not careers, cannot afford surgery, but will settle with me up that won’t even be good enough for the people they look for in approval, men. Men are also influenced by media, only wanting the woman artists speak about, the ones with the fake breast and butt. Nicki Minaj who I am a fan of has a song called ‘Anaconda”, in which she dramatically praises thick women, which I am in favor of, but also criticizes thin women when she says “where my fat ass big bitches in the club, f*ck the skinny bitches, f*ck the skinny bitches in the club”. I’m skinny and still find myself singing the whole verse in the car. In the book Gender, Race and Class in Media :A Critical Thinker, author Kristy Fairclough explains how celebrities are what we base ourselves on, from what hairstyle to wear to what our noses should look like. How do you think this ties into class?
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