Women in Music

In media, women are degraded and sexualized, especially in music. Instead of being seen as strong, independent and beautiful women, we are seen as the complete opposite. We are portrayed as sex objects, angry, gold diggers, and untrustworthy. And are said that we use our bodies to get what we want.

For example, in Chris Brown’s song “Loyal”, he talks about how women are not loyal to our men. He says that we would leave or cheat on our men for another man with more money than the person we are with. He says: “These hoes ain’t loyal.” Not only does he say that we are not trustworthy but we are also hoes too. The sad part is that it became the number one song in America.

Picture From Anaconda Video

Another song that is degrading to women is Nicki Minaj’s song “Anaconda”. In the song, she talks about how much a guy loves her big butt, which is funny because it isn’t really hers. She says that the song for girls with big fat butts. And she says: “F*** the skinny bitches”. She also mentioned that she slept with the guy because he sold drugs. She is making women feel bad about the way they look and weigh. She is telling women that they should only sleep with men that have money, even if it is illegal. Even in the video for the song, the women are barely wearing any clothes.

Music influences the way men treat women, women treat women, and how we women treat ourselves. So now men will only go for women that have big butts. They will think that every woman they encounter will be disloyal. Women will start to feel insecure about their bodies, and might even get surgery to make parts of their bodies bigger.

 
Most music today bring women down, instead of lifting them up.

Am I Perfect Yet?

There are so many ideas and beliefs that people have. They vary from cultures, genders, religion, school and many more. There are many beliefs regarding women. For example, the belief that women need to be perfect regarding their appearance and the way they act in order for them to be accepted in this society. This belief is not only out there, but it is supported through the media.  The media sends out advertisements through television, the internet, our phones, billboards and many other ways. I have analyzed a magazine beauty advertisement in order to show how magazines support this belief.

The ad is a Clearasil Daily Face Wash. In this ad there is a woman's face in the center of the page, she is smiling and looks very happy, she has her hair down but with one hand she is holding her hair out of her face; her face is spotless. In the background there are compliments that people have made about her amazing face. These compliments are from friends and even random people. Not only is this face wash promising a beautiful face but it will also make people admire us. And today, many girls do want to be the center of attention because of the belief of perfection.

As I said, her face is spotless with no pores, no acne, no scars and no facial hair its just like a porcelain doll's face. This is indicating that her face is perfect. When I look at the models face, the first thing that comes to  mind is "WOW, I want that beautiful face too!" and of course its making me desire that perfect face. This is how advertisers are supporting the belief of perfection. It's frustrating how its expected for us, women, to be perfect and to look fabulous. Also how it is so easy for us to be manipulated into believing that it is true, that we do need to be and look perfect.

Source: L'Oreal Paris

Today, there are so many women that attack their face with make-up. I see it on the streets, on public transportation, and at school. I asked a friend why she always wore  make up and she said "What do you mean why? I'm a girl, I'm supposed to wear make up!" At first I didn't pay too much attention to her respond until now that we've been analyzing invisible narratives. We have been hearing everywhere -mainly on TV- that women are supposed to work on their appearance and we hear it so much that we believe it and follow it.

There are so many other things in which we need to be perfect at. We need the ideal body, the correct attitude, we need to be excellent in the kitchen, and great housewives. We need to be seen not heard because not even our voice matters just our image. We even follow these stereotypes and beliefs because in our minds it's what we have to do. We support the beliefs that oppress us.

Tell Me What's Definition of Love?

What is True love? Love can refer to a range of different feelings it involves people, places, and things. Older people may think that love is not for teenagers and young people because they believe “you want find out what love is until you get older”. Others may think that true love is a fantasy, waiting on your knight and shining armor to come and rescue you. But love is really a feeling that grows within. 

  

In the movie "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Janie struggles to find the true meaning of love and what it feels like to really love someone. Her grandmother told her that love is when a woman is a mule and she submits to her husband.

People may think that women should submit to their husbands because in the Bible Women came from a man’s rib, and In the Bible it also says that Men is the head of the household, which means he takes control of his wife. But submitting is not a form of love. It’s allowing for someone to have authority over you, which allows them to make choices for you. True Love should not be based upon who’s stronger and who’s weaker. It should be based upon feelings and how much you care about someone.

In the novel, Janie resists her grandmother’s definition of love and finds her own through her own experiences. In the beginning Janie didn’t know the true meaning of love but after the experience of three husbands she finally discovers it. She didn’t need a lesson about love it was within her all along and she had to go through a course of failed relationships to find her true love. 

www.adventistegatineau.org

Everyone experience love in a different way. Real love does not stay the same and does the same thing all the time, it moves and explores different things. Love grows and gets bigger and the passion grows deeper. 

Gender Roles are not for the Homonormative

Have you ever wondered why both men and women are taught to behave a certain way, that differs from their counterpart. In the society we live in, gender roles have a huge influence on the way individuals socially interact with one another - and we think absolutely nothing of it. We also believe to this day, men are supposed to be the ones who initiate everything and take charge - from basic conversations to dates and to marriage proposals. Women on the other hand are supposed to be passive and wait for the men - wait for them to text back, pay for the entire bill, and bring home the income. I know many individuals, both men and women, who are outraged at the fact that these gender roles are still in place but as I stated before, these constructs are so instilled in our heads that we think nothing of it. Now what if I were to take it one step further and say that these same roles do not apply to homosexual couples.

I know we discussed this briefly in class but, I really encourage readers to see things through my perspective. Now that you are self-consciously aware of how gender roles play out, when was the last time you looked at a homosexual couple and thought “I wonder who is the man and who is the woman in the relationship?” This drives me absolutely crazy when people assume that gay relationships are modeled after the same principles of straight couples. I understand that most of the time, individuals are not as in-the-know with the gay culture therefore it creates some sort of curiosity to how things work. But it is amazing how even in the San Francisco Bay, people are not as aware.

It seems as though the media only augments gay couples that have someone who is feminine paired up with someone who is masculine. Despite the gradual progression we have made for civil rights, we still live in a heteronormative society. I believe that is why people still try to mirror gay couples with straight couples. The media only displays a limited representation of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community. But much like the rainbow, the LGBTQ community is not only filled with a colorful culture but a diverse group of people as well.

Being part of the LGTBQ community, I always get questions from people regarding relationships and how they are formed. One can take it as offensive to be asked some of the questions that I have gotten but I take it as a great opportunity to educate them on how different it is from straight couples or even just to be more politically correct. People have asked “So, who asks who on a date” or “who pays for the date?” I respond and say “well we actually take turns when it comes to jumping the gun but we don’t sit there and say ‘okay it’s your turn to ask me’ that’s just silly.” After all, if you strongly admire someone wouldn’t you want to take the chance to talk to them?  As for paying the expenses, again it is a mutual thing and you just jump in on it. Sometimes you pay in full, other times you split it, and the rest of the time you don’t pay at all - it’s a respect thing to me.

Now for those brave souls, they usually will ask how it works intimately or in simpler terms “who is pitcher and who is catcher?” Well that in itself forms a completely different conversation that should be discussed elsewhere.

Jobs Discrimination Against Women

Jobs Discrimination Against Women

KEBK news radio

There is a way of how things are looked at in our society where women cannot do heavy jobs that are only for men. Based on this, men see women as “weak” and not being strong enough to do jobs that only apply to men. For this reason that a lot of men think that women cannot do the same type of work they do and the job “should only” be for men. Women shouldn’t be put down to do something they believe they can do and are capable of just as men. Women can be physically and mentally strong just as men but all this invisible narratives lower women to a completely different level.

When women apply to certain jobs they are being rejected based on how things are looked at. Many men say women belong in their homes being “housewives” and handling chores and making food for their families. It upsets me of how women are looked at and not in the way that women also are capable of doing different type of jobs just like men do. Not because men are seemed as “strong dominant gender” means a woman's perspective has to be low.

Personally being a women I get offended when men compliments on womens power and creativity. I don’t say women are able to completely do all kinds of jobs such as construction work and other jobs that has to do with carrying and lifting heavy objects. But when I talk about other jobs I mean as jobs that has to do with engineering, mechanics, more women being doctors and not nurses, and letting more women become the “genius” ones also. It’s unfair how much women are being put aside like if we didn’t mean anything to the work force. It is frustrated for women to not be notice of what a women can do just like men.

Also when it comes to income, men makes more money than women in many of the jobs. Just because men take position of the jobs that are “harder”. As I start speaking about this I also can relate to how men gets pay more. In the store that I work in, almost all the men working their get’s pay more an hour the all the women working their. Why? Because women are not being put in the same work position as men just because women can’t do it. Yet, we don’t get the chance to prove the skills we have to do the same. In recent news, “even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to work in lower-paying occupations than men do. And some part of the pay gap may also be due to gender discrimination –women are about twice as likely as men to say they had been discriminated against at work because of their gender (18% vs. 10%).”

Why is that women always have to be left behind and be put under men in the pyramid? All this shows how men are more important in the workforce more than women. There is a lot of stereotypes that discriminate women from men. And they are all invisible narratives that no one really pays attention too. All this actions affects women but no one seems to put much attention to it because it has always been this way. Women should step up more to the plate and fight and defend for women rights. Discrimination against women should be unacceptable because women also play important roles in this world. The more women lets men put women down the more they are going to step all over us and this invisible narratives would never be “visible”.