...Different Genders with Different Roles: Representation of a Rae Sremmurd Music Video Have you ever seen a hip hop music video? If you have, you have probably seen people waving around money, women shaking their ass, or lyrics that degrade women. According to Judith Lorber, gender is a social construction: “it is a role created by society, and it is a role that is not necessarily biological”. Usually in a music video different genders play different roles. Men are shown holding money, because it is a sign of having power, while women are objectified by being portrayed half naked. The American hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd showcases these roles in their music video “Shake It Fast” featuring Juicy J. Just like hip hop artists in the past Rae Sremmurd is trying to show their hypermasculinity because it has always been a part of hip hop, and sex sells in hip hop. Hip hop artists have always been excessively conceited, or self-centered, which is why they always feel the need to surround themselves with money, and half naked...
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...Gender roles are a set of norms dictated by society that describe behaviors that are generally considered acceptable for a person based on their sex. These roles are acknowledged through both verbal and nonverbal messages from society. Babies in the hospital are wrapped in either a pink or blue blanket to show their gender, this is an unspoken gender message. When a boy on the playground decides to play with a doll that is lying around, other children might try and stop him, or even taunt him saying that dolls are for girls. This spoken message is one that is taught to children at a young age, not necessarily by their parents but by the culture surrounding them. Cultural messages are dictated by society to help shape perceptions of self and others. Cultural messages help to perpetuate gender roles in a variety of mediums, from television, to books, even the music people listen to. Music videos are a great way to view a culture’s message about gender. In all genres of music, men and women represent specific roles. Rap/Hip-hop, Rock, and Country music are all prime examples. Traditional male gender roles include things like always being in control, being tough, working hard, and being the primary caregivers for their families. Young boys are subjected to these behaviors from the very start. They hear it from their fathers, their peers, and others they look up to. Musicians use self-presentation to strategically act out a self in response to the expectations of their...
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...Although nowadays there are many feminists against gender stereotypes, gender stereotypes still exist everywhere. It is hard for people to eliminate gender stereotypes overnight. Most people know that stereotypes are not true, but many still assume of roles based on gender. We may all be guilty of many gender stereotypes, such as assuming that men have to make money for supporting family, and women are supposed to be housewifes. In “ How Toys teach children stereotypical gender roles”, Denise Starr summarized traditional gender rules, which was “ Boys are doctors; Girls are nurses. Boys are football players; girls are cheerleaders. Boys invent thing; Girls use the things boys invent, Boys fix things; Girls need things fixed. Boys are presidents;...
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...Essay Question 2 Gender has shaped Hip-hop since the very beginning by influencing Hip-hop narratives and redefining gender roles; it comes to no surprise that gender has also influenced MCs and their work. In fact gender identifications have been so impactful they help determine an artist’s success in the music industry. MCing is known to be a male dominated art form and it is very difficult for females to become successful without having to conform to the preconceived notions about women in the music industry. In the Hip-hop world many male artists have created stereotypes for both men and women and their place in the Hip-hop music (NHP 06-11-2012). For some male artists these stereotypes have made success more achievable while, on the other hand, these stereotypes have made it harder for female MCs to rise to success. There’s no denying that Hip-hop stereotypes are an important component of Hip-hop performance (NHP 06-13-2012) in fact many artists today feel the need to utilize these stereotypes in order to get ahead in the game. For example, Big Sean is one talented MC in mainstream Hip-hop that doesn’t refrain from having half naked women dancing around in his music videos. His videos emphasize the most popular stereotypes which refer to women as “hoes”, “bitches” and “gold-diggers” (NHP 06-13-2012). Although these names are degrading and disrespectful to women, it is quite unfortunate that they have become acceptable in the music industry. It is also unfortunate that...
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...This article is a detailed, academically supported body of work, designed to retort the following questions: How and why are semantically sexualised women used as a perceptive marketing stunt’ and ‘what role does the media play in legitimizing gender discrepancies through framing and cultivation strategies? Coaxed by the issue of female objectification in the mass media, the following research was conducted both practically, and theoretically, to overtly annunciate the social and democratic problems associated with advertised female subordination. The relative research involves a semiotic analysis of two sources, coupled with a survey of 40 candidates of varying ages. Furthermore, theoretical mechanisms of media framing and cultivation have been deconstructed throughout this article to uncover the impact of magnified female subordination on the domestic expectations of children and young adults. Through the collection of data, it was able to be conclusively recognized the impact of objectification on social attitudes. Results had shown the many conceptions concerning the female purpose, these include; a woman’s role as a domestic and sexual slave to her male partner. Through the convergence of data, semiotic analysis and academic theory, it may be meticulously understood how female objectification in the mass media is a social complication in the construction of an egalitarian future. ‘Women’s bodies are predominantly valued for its use to others’ Fredrickson & Roberts 1997 ...
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...Why does it seem that women in Country music today are always portrayed in the same, stereotypical way? The newly popular country duo Maddie and Tae are protesting ‘Bro Country’ and have decided to turn the tables in their hilarious video for ‘Girl in a Country Song.’ Since being posted on the YouTube Channel MaddieandTaeVEVO less than four months ago, the video has gotten 12,000,000 views. This video puts a very interesting twist on what most viewers think of a “country” song, and It’s no surprise that this video has become so popular,as it is an obvious parody on how most modern country music videos portray women. This isn’t your everyday parody video. It is very well thought out, and even from the first few lines, the theme of this video becomes apparent right away. But the theme of "Girl in a Country Song" and its video can't be misunderstood. The song is not...
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...Music Video Effects on its Listeners EN 1320 / Composition I Music Video Effects on its Listeners Some would argue that these videos are simply a way for musical artists to express themselves in a way that they normally could not with just music, but statistics and research would argue otherwise. Studies have shown that a vast majority of music videos today have a negative impact on adolescents. These videos have a large influence on how teens view themes such as sex, drugs, violence and even influence their behaviors like how they see themselves and how they think they should fit in by establishing gender stereotypes. These themes are very dangerous as most of today’s youth get their information from the media. While some music videos are seen as an art form, they force much of today’s teens to hold very unrealistic views of life by skewing what their priorities and goals should be. Today’s music and its videos have a huge influence on many factors of a young adolescent’s life. One aspect in particular is sex. Studies have shown that sexual content appears in more than 75% of the videos being viewed (Ashby, 2005). Needless to say, this is a very high exposure of sexual content in music videos. The dangerous part of this is that young impressionable minds are viewing these videos and getting most of their information about sex and life decisions from the media instead of from parents. The danger is shown in other...
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...GENNDER REPRESENTATION Gender simply means the hierarchical relationship between male and female. Due to the state of being different in sex, the people are assigned roles and viewed at each other differently. This difference starts to exist immediately the child is born, let say through clothes, names, sex and body differences, just to mention few. As the children grows as their gender relations becomes more determined accordingly to their sexes. Gender representation is the way the gender relations are portrayed in different fields to reveal the real gendered life situation in the society, be it in politics, media, education, economic and other fields in the particular society. Music, movies, television radio and magazines as parts of media, gender has been represented through music in this text as follows; This text concerns the representation of gender, or the discourse of gender. If you watch television, walk on the street, wait for the bus or do other things, you are always confronted by images of men and women. In movies, television series and advertisements you see these images and they may influence you consciously or subconsciously. Since media is such a big part of people‘s everyday lives, and is some ways may influence how people perceive themselves and the world, it is interesting to see how representations in movies portray gender. These images, whether it is known or not, may have an important impact upon people‘s lives and how people create their identities. It...
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...research is to state the effects of pop music (and music videos) to overall well being of children and teens. This paper will focus on the negative side, on two major fields: Behavior (including health) and Interpersonal relations. I picked 10 current Pinoy music videos of varied genres. I formulated a mini questionnaire and let random children and teens answer it. It took me almost 3 weeks to gather information and make conclusions. I chose to do a research on the effects of listening and watching pop music/music videos because me, myself is an avid listener and viewer of pop music. It will be much easier for me to do a research if I choose a topic, which is very relatable/close to my heart and to my being. And also, the reading assigned to me in the class, which is an experiment to pop music video viewers and its effects to gender and sexuality of teenagers, influenced me to do this paper. Below is the actual survey questionnaire that I gave to 8-20 year old children and teens, to be followed by an explanation of why I chose those kinds of questions. Questionnaire 1. State your gender: _____M _____F 2. Age range: _____5-12 _____13-25 _____26-30 3. Do you watch music videos? _____Yes _____No 4. How often do you watch music videos? _________Hours 5. Where do you watch music videos? _____TV _____Phone/iPod _____Youtube 6. Do you like to see dance routines within a music video? _____Yes _____No Why? _________...
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...Currently when you turn on television, you will come across a lot of music videos playing, what surprises most about these music videos is their actual presentation. As you watch and listen, you see naked girls, cars and money. These main aspects surrounded the hip-hop artist and flooded the screen. As the music raged on, a different state of shock fell upon me while studying what occurred on my TV. The constant display of inequality and hegemonic power made me uncomfortable and disrespected, yet this particular musical artist’s song sits at the top of the charts in the music industry. From a Feminist Anthropologist’s perspective, the actions presented in this specific video I watched, along with many others, shows a complete imbalance between male and female gender roles. However, this behavior portrayed does not go unnoticed. In a song performed by the pop artist, P!nk, titled “Stupid Girls”, she states, “What happened to the dream of a girl president, She’s dancing in the video next to 50 Cent”. [1] This quote is particularly important because P!nk is inferring that women will aspire to be less because of the way other women are presented in the media they are exposed to. I feel the demeaning nature of the treatment of women by hip-hop artists is a problem and is a focal point of concern for many Feminist Anthropologists today. According to Carole McGranahan, a post-structuralist anthropologist, post-structuralism focuses greatly on the existence of power within hegemonic...
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...Sociology of Gender Gender is defined as the social distinctions between masculinity and femininity. People often use the terms gender and sex interchangeably. The former is defined above, whereas the latter is defined as a determination of male or female on the basis of a set of socially agreed-upon biological criteria. Music Videos such as Stupid Girls and If I Were A Boy by singers Pink and Beyonce respectively demonstrate clearly the assumptions or categorizations we evoke simply by using the terms girl or boy. Although the topic of gender in sociology is vast, this paper focuses on how gender is reproduced and how the gendered body is displayed in society. There are three ways in which gender is reproduced in society. It is reproduced through the family, education and the media. From birth begins gendered expectations. According to the social norm, the color pink is mainly associated as a feminine color and the color blue masculine. Family and friends who go to see the birth of a baby girl fill the hospital room with pink balloons, teddy bears with pink ribbons and if a boy was born the room would be filled with presents which are blue in color. Growing up, girls receive presents such dollhouses and kitchen sets which reinforce their femininity. Parents raise their boys and girls differently. Even though research shows that boys at an early age (around 2 years) are just as interested in playing with the same toys girls play...
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...Media in the Socialization of Children and Young Adults The media today are a powerful tool in modifying the behavior of children and young adults. This behavior can be seen as negative or positive depending on the situation. Children’s development is influenced by many factors but as Lund (2003) noted the significance of the mass media cannot be overstated: “The accumulated experience of media exposure contributes to the cultivation of a child’s values, beliefs, dreams, and expectations, which shape the adult identity a child will carry and modify through his or her life.” Studies investigating Social Learning Theory, done by Baker (2007, p.26) have consistently reported that children can model roles and behaviors seen on television. Media play a significant role in the socialization process, body image, and moral judgments in children and adolescents. Cartoons on television are some of the first factors of socialization in a child’s life. Although many adults feel that cartoons are obviously fantastical, unrealistic, and therefore harmless to children, the research evidence proves otherwise. “According to developmental literature, children before the age of ten years often have difficulty differentiating between reality and fantasy”(Baker, 2007, p.25). Anderson found (as cited by Lund) that students who had regularly watched educational television as children had higher grade point averages than those who did not. Other research has found a more negative influence...
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...Introduction The Love Language video presents a male and female communicating with each other. The female initially seems very uninterested, but the male is persistent and is very interested in getting to know the female in the video. There’s constant use of nonverbal cues being sent that can easily be misinterpreted. The video depicts several communications concepts including stereotyping, barriers, non-verbal communications, mutual attraction, and self-disclosure. The Love Language video ultimately reveals the reason the female initially seem uninterested and why she was giving the male in the video a hard time; the female is deaf. Social Learning Theory The social learning theory argues that children abandon behaviors when they are punished and repeat behaviors that are rewarded. This process of reinforcement continues throughout life, where men are continually encouraged to engage in masculine behavior and women are encouraged to behave in a feminine manner (Wood, 2007). As children become adults, they transfer these beliefs onto future generations (Basu, 2004). According to this theory, girls and boys assume a passive role rather than an active role in the learning process. We see the social learning theory displayed as the male in the video initiates the interaction between himself and the female sitting next to him. He first tries to initiate a conversation by saying “nice day today, huh”, but he gets no response. He then asks to borrow her pen and then the female...
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...Capitalism and Women’s Role in Modern Hip Hop Music has always had a huge impact on society; it serves as a means of expression and as a way of communicating and connecting with others. While there are positive aspects to music as it uplifts society during times of hardship it also serves as a means of reinforcing gender norms as well as upholding capitalist ideals. Since its inception, hip hop has remained one of the most popular genres with today’s youth, but it is clear that women play a different role in the genre than men. Through a study of several hip hop and rap songs it becomes apparent that hip hop glamorizes brand names, “fast money”, and women. When women are objectified they are no longer encouraged to amass wealth, instead they are encouraged to simply be with men who have money. By reviewing popular song lyrics of famous hip hop such as Iggy Azalea’s, “I’m so Fancy” and Kanye’s “Mercy”, it is clear that there is a common theme of the obsession of wealth and beautiful women. Hip hop often dehumanizes women as they are perceived as plentiful and a luxury “item”. The modern woman, and women of the working class have no representation in hip hop. Women are further oppressed through hip hop as the average life style of those who cannot afford to spend lavishly are often left out and depicted as envious. Understanding how hip hop and capitalism is related is important to understanding why modern women are oppressed through this genre of music. Consumerism plays a...
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...Stereotyping is Shorthand for Identification: "One way that texts like Waterloo Road and Skins for example allow for audience identification is through stereotyping and giving characters an extreme representation". Angela McRobbie (Gender Theory) Post Feminist Icon Theory: "Lara Croft, Lady Gaga and Madonna for example could be identified as post feminist icons as they exhibit the stereotypical characteristics of both the male and female strength, courage, control and logic but also are willing to be sexualized for the male gaze. This control element of their own representation is crucial in understanding the theory". Baudrillard Hyper Reality: "Some texts are difficult to distinguish in terms of the representation of reality from a simulation of reality e.g. Big Brother. The boundaries are blurred as codes and conventions create a set of signifiers which we understand but in fact the representation is a copy of a copy". Uses and Gratifications Theory: "Different audiences gain different pleasures from a media text e.g. Gravity can be enjoyed via diversion or escapism, it can use surveillance to give information to audiences and can also be discussed on forums and blogs as a form of developing personal relationships(common also in video games). Personal identity can be developed with audiences who relate to certain characters more than others". Blumler and Katz (Audience Theory) Carol Clover...
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