Songs

Earlier this morning I attended my Women's Studies class. It was constructed very differently then most classes, but it was actually pretty fun. We learned about bianaries, which was a new word to me. They are defined as a way of structuring the world in term, ideas, identities, or structures as 2 factors defined in opposition to eachother. In a simpler way, males are shown in one light and females in another. I found it so interesting how my professor tied the media into this lesson. She played 3 different songs that we all know and probaly love. But next, broke them down and we focused on how women are REALLY being portrayed by males, and themselfs. By just reading the lyrics from each song you can see the heirarchy created which is extremely negative towards woman.

1. Big Pimpin' by Jay-Z "you know I thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em, cause I don't fuckin need em"
2. Slave 4 U by Britney Spears "I'm a slave for you, I won't deny it, I'm not tryna hide it"
3. My humps by Fergie "I'm gonna get you drunk, get you love drunk off my hump"

We all have heard these songs, I myself am guilty of liking the beat. I never picked these songs apart but if I had sooner I would have seen and realized how women are subconciously degraded. I do feel that for many years it was NOT okay for women to act in this manner, so now the towel has been thrown in and their are no rules. Women now refer to themselfs as "cunts" in their lyrics because it would NEVER be acceptable years ago. It's a rebellion. It's chaos. These artists have audiences of all ages, and to the younger male listening he hears Jay-Z's song and probaly thinks to himself, more women = Pimpin. All of a sudden because Jay-Z lost sight of the real definition of a pimp (agent for prostitutes that collects some of their money) his audience did too.

Sterotyping

My dream career has always been to be a journalist for a fashion magazine such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Vogue, etc. Naturally, a past time for me is to read these magazines. Anyone can see society's clear sterotypical definition of "beauty" while reading these. The problem is, this definition is not normal, or average in any way. This sterotype is a blonde hair, very slim, blue eyed woman. Girls strive to be this character that society is molding them into, they go to the extremes such as eating disorders, plastic surgery, etc. I have to ask myself "Is this the career I really want to be associated with?" My answer is YES! I'd love to be part of the movement of changing this definition of "beauty." I read an article entitled "Which shade of lipstick would you choose?" on http://www.cosmopolitan.com/ and the three pictures they had to choose from were three different girls ALL blonde hair blue eyed and thin. How is someone like me supposed to choose what color lipstick to wear? I'm a brunette, brown eyed, and more of a thicker body type. I know there are more girls out there like me that are confused and sometimes hurt when they see such articles. I'm not going to limit this to just females either, because males are being targeted too. You never see a chubbier male featured spreads of "Most Eligible Bachelors." There needs to be more options, more real people.

Sex and Gender

Sex: Biological

vs.

Gender: Culture

Since taking a few classes, I can honestly say I've been more conscious of my sex and gender. I call myself a feminist, I feel that girls have it so hard in the society we live in. With shows like Real Housewives of "whatever city" on television and even Jersey Shore, the females on those shows are given women a bad name. I have to admit those shows are my guilty pleasures! But now, I almost feel guilty watching them. When the new episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey aired this week, I had a whole new outlook. All I could think was "Wow, can these women honestly say they're really happy?" Is this was the media wants women to think they need to do or to happy? They are proud to be stay at home moms, that have nanny's taking care of their children and their biggest worry in the world is what color pair of Loubitans to buy next. And the morals they are instilling into their children, and other children around the world: To mary a rich man, depend on him to support you, expect to have everything handed to you. I say shame on them. And as a hardworking, independent young woman who has to pay for her own apartment, and education I think I have the right to do so.