Without doubt over the last few decades music, the topic of gender of music has been quite controversial especially when it comes to women being demoralized and being shown a lack of respect. Hip Hop music is a prime example of this where it is riddled with derogatory terms for women portraying them as sexual objects and property rather than human beings. Overall in music nowadays there is a belief that women have to be border line naked all the time to be successful and on the other hand men are seen to be the dominant figures in the world who have a hold on women.
If I look through popular music from the last year I can’t help but think that the days of music being dominated by women being degraded and being seen as second class citizens are fading, maybe slowly, but still fading.
A perfect example of how music has changed is to look at the artist Adele. In my eyes the perfect example for female artists, showing that being shown as this sexually induced character is not needed to be successful. Adele’s latest album ’25’ is one of the most successful albums ever made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQHsXMglC9A
In 2014, the song ‘All about that Bass’ by Meghan Trainor was a hugely successful hit. The song promotes having a healthy body image and having self-acceptance of your own body image. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk
There is without doubt still this reoccurring hypersexual theme seen in music today. If you look at artists such as Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and Mylie Cyrus, sexual themes are being oozed from the songs pours but I disagree with the belief that today’s music is degrading to woman.
When it comes to how males are seen through music nowadays I do believe that the stereotype of men being portrayed as dominant, wealthy figures is true.
If you look at artists such as Justin Bieber, The Weekend and in particular Jason Derulo, all their songs may not me degrading but they certainly reinforce the male dominance within the music industry through their use of lyrics and in particular their highly materialistic music videos, featuring them being surrounded by tons of women, driving very expensive cars and living in the biggest houses. This is something that definitely needs to be driven out of music.
Thanks for reading 🙂
References:
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=comssp
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2013/10/15/church/
http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/3792
