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Introduction

Influence of Society: Music of the Past and Present Introduction Music has constantly been used as a medium in the spread of gender stereotypes through misogynistic lyrics, sexism as well as the objectification of women. Despite the active involvement of females in American music since its early commercial years, they are still not of equal status of their male counterparts and that present contributions appear to denote women status further in the society. On the other hand, because of commercial demand for sexually explicit image in media, it has become easier to wrongfully communicate feminist ideology to the public than before. Consequently, presently feminists might transcend inappropriate representation of female that enforces traditional gender stereotypes. And that despite the advancement of technology and mediums to spread feminism ideals now, women in the past were better able to counter stereotypes. Therefore this paper will seek to prove that music in the past are much more capable in countering gender stereotypes as compared to the present. The paper will classify feminist effort in music before the 21st century as the past and present efforts in the 21st century as the present. The formation of gender stereotypes in music These stereotypes that deem women as a subclass towards men were stemmed from the traditional patriarchal beliefs driven by the White supremacist capitalist during the colonial rule (Linda, 1993, p.639). ...read more.

Middle

In the past, Queen Latifah's and her back-up dancers were more conservatively dressed in their videos. Thus, the message that Queen Latifah was trying to send across was more explicitly clear. By dressing conservatively, audiences can pay attention to the message conveyed by the song without being distracted by sexual innuendoes. In saying this, Queen Latifah did not portray herself and back-up dancers as sexual objects. Not only did she do that, she also used the military dress to exude an aura of dominance over her male counterparts without having to resort to dressing scantily. As compared to the present, influential female artistes like Lady Gaga dressed outrageously and often involves themes of bondage in their songs and videos. In Lady Gaga's "Alejandro", Lady Gaga is seen engaging in sadism and masochism imagery showing the need for love and satisfaction. Britney Spears, another female artist icon of the present, uses sex as the primary driving force behind most of her work. One such example is the music video of "Womanizer" where she bared her upper body as shown in parts of the video and was also seen grinding other men. While it may be true that the female artistes may have intended to sexually empower their female audiences to take charge of their lives or aim ...read more.

Conclusion

Hence the future may hold some promise for society to reduce the number of stereotypes via the medium of art called music. Word count: 1967 words Reference Adams, T. M. & Fuller, D. B. (July 2006). The Words Have Changed but the Ideology Remains the Same: Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music. Journal of Black Studies. 36 (6), p938-957. Retrieved on 8 July 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40034353 Roberts, R. (Summer 1994). 'Ladies first': Queen Latifah's Afrocentric Feminist Music. African American Review. 28 (2), p245. Retrieved on 13 July 2011 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/209809717 Ronal Weitzer & Charis E. Kubrin (October 2009). Misogyny in Rap Music : A Content Analysis of Prevalence and Meanings. 12 (3), p3-29. Retrieved on September 27,2011 from http://jmm.sagepub.com/content/12/1/3 Stacey J.T.Hust & Ming Lei (Winter 2008). Research In Depth: Sexual Objectification, Sports Programming and Music Television. Retrieved on October 11, 2011from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.smu.edu.sg/docview/210173596?accountid=28662 Linda Kalof (November 1993). Dilemmas of Femininity: Gender and the Social Construction of Sexual Imagery. 34(4), p639-651. Retrieved on October 25, 2011from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4121372 Lugo-Lugo & Carmen R (2001). The Madonna Experience: A U.S. Icon Awakens a Puerto Rican Adolescent's Feminist Consciousness. 22(2) p118. Retrieved on September 14, 2011from http://search.proquest.com/docprintview/232349043?accountid=28662 ?? ?? ?? ?? Female Artistes Countering Stereotypes in the Past and Present 1 ...read more.

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