...refers to your “biological phenomena”, whether you are heterosexual, homosexual etc, however, your gender insinuates the expected rules, behaviours and expectations considered appropriate for being a female or a male (Magrini 2003:1). In this essay I will discuss how, Judith Butler, Simon Frith, Angela McRobbie and Kristen Schilt explore how ‘traditional gender norms’ continue throughout popular music. Judith Butler looked at how gender is a ‘performance’ and that we need to break the traditional gender binaries. Simon Frith and Angela McRobbie discussed how Rock music is male dominated and that women are more or less in the background. Finally, Kristen Schilt discusses how the band Riot Grrrl portrayed girl power, and how Riot Grrrl associated bands tried to keep the girl power going, but still conformed to the traditional female stereotypes, the very thing they were trying to get away from. Describing gender, Butler states that gender is in fact ‘performed.’ We are performing gender as we behave, walk and talk in ways which connects human beings to impressions of being a male or being a female. She argues that there is “an unwitting regulation and reification of gender relations”, (Butler 1990) which reinforces the fact that there are binary views of gender relations. This means that human beings are essentially divided into two distinct groups, women and men (Butler 1990). There is nothing in between; it’s just two extremes at each end of the scale. It is this approach to...
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...Introduction “If I have to, I can do anything. I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman.” Though simple, these lyrics from the song “I am a Woman” contain a powerful message of female empowerment. Songs like this challenge the traditional devaluation of women as incapable and weak. With the rise of feminism, many more female artists have started to include feminist ideas in their songs. Thus, the topic on how popular music has helped bring forth the idea of feminism is of great relevance to our world today. Literature Review The personal struggles and triumphs that female artists portray in their songs and lives, relates to and in turn empowers females in patriarchal societies. Nelson (1993, p. 77), a rap music journalist, commented that female rap artists in the 1980s had to fight harder than their male counterparts in the industry and yet never replicated the male artists’ success. (As cited in Keyes, 2000, p. 265) Similarly, Madonna worked hard to prove her worth as a female artist in the male dominated pop music industry. (Lugo-Lugo, 2001) The struggles of these two female artists in their respective male dominated trades are parallel to the struggles of females in patriarchal societies. These females desire gender equality and look to female artists and their songs as a source of hope. Female rap artists use rap as a medium to advocate gender equality and in turn created spaces for themselves and other ‘sistas’ as well. (Keyes, 2000, p. 274) In the song lyrics of "The...
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...switch in gender success throughout education; coming into the late 1980’s underachievement by girls was common; girls were less likely than boys to obtain one or more A-levels and were less likely to go on to higher education. Coming in to the next decade of the 1990’s there was a sudden reversal; girls were now doing better than boys who were now underachieving. In 2006 10% more females were obtaining 2 or more A-levels than males. Women are now getting better degrees than men. Sociologists have looked into this gender diversion from a social perspective. What made this reversal so sudden and why did it occur? Feminists believe that the education system is patriarchal and dominated by men, just like the work force is. Feminists argue that the education system is just a primary preparation for leading into the future work force. They believe there are still gender differences in subject choice in schools. Sociologists Heaton and Lawson (1996) argue that the ‘hidden’ curriculum is a major source of gender socialisation; within education, various subjects are aimed at a certain gender group; for example cooking would be aimed at girls doing house work and cooking. While most schools now title this course, Food Technology, feminists believe that the subject is still designed to 'snare' girls into adopting a mode of behaviour a patriarchal society accept and that the gap between girls and boys is still there in today’s society. Feminists also believe that gender stereotyping may...
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...Sinful Salacity We’ve all experienced it. A craving so deep that it devours our every thought throughout the day, and keeps us awake at night. Whether it is for that oh, so elusive Pumpkin Spice Latte in the off-season, or for a long, passionate kiss from that foxy quarterback, this yearning tugs at the edge of our mind until it takes over behind the wheel, and fuels our actions. It can cloud our judgment and reduce us to a state of primal licentiousness. This insatiable desire for material and corporeal consumption is known as lust. The Oxford English Dictionary itself takes several stances on the meaning of the word. The first definition is simple: “Pleasure, delight” (OED 1). This definition doesn’t accentuate the sinful connotation of the word. It describes something charming, attractive, and friendly. The next definition that the OED gives is “desire, appetite, relish, or inclination for something” (OED 2). With this definition, we are able to detect more of a connotation of a strong ache for something that, when attained, brings about a sort of ecstasy only caused by that object of lust. A more recent definition, “Sexual appetite or desire. Chiefly and now exclusively implying intense moral reprobation: Libidinous desire, degrading animal passion” (OED 4), finally associates lust with reprehensibility. It denotes specifically the sinful nature of such passion associated with the flesh, and indicates how lending ourselves to such desires debases our humanity. While a...
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...Girl Power: Patriarchy in Sheep’s Clothing Welcome to Harvard Law School Graduation: a pert, slender blonde wearing bright pink lipstick and a mortarboard is giving the graduation address; her classmates leap up to applaud her as the camera focuses on her darkly handsome boyfriend. Beautiful! Fabulous! What, you wonder, is this girl’s story? Her story lies in the plot of the 2001 movie Legally Blonde, a pink and fluffy spectacular starring Reese Witherspoon. Reese plays Elle Woods, who decides to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law after their breakup. A fashion design major, Elle hits the books pretty hard to get decent scores on her LSATS, even missing parties – and then hires a professional to film her in a soft-core porn admissions video, focusing on Elle floating in a cool blue pool wearing a tiny pink bikini. Lo and behold, it wows the white, middle-aged male admissions board, and Elle goes on to take campus by storm. And there’s good reason Elle makes such a splash: she turns out to be he only beautiful girl at Harvard. All the rest of the girls there spend their time studying and doing nothing else; they are dull, boring, and above all, unpretty. These smart women do anything but have fun. Most of them blur into one bespectacled, intellectual image, but there’s one young woman among them who is even worse than dull – our token Feminist. She has dreadlocks and a defensive attitude, talks about nothing but political rallies and is, of course, a...
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...The pungent odor of the Shiro stew filled the room and the colorful look of the dishes lit up the kitchen. My family quickly assembled around the dinner table to feast on the food women of the family had prepared. Growing up in an Eritrean household, food always brought the family together, even in the toughest times. At three years, old, my family was forced to endure a very difficult challenge- escaping Ethiopia amidst a terrible war. Coming to the United States provided my parents with the opportunity for a better life. After struggling to navigate the "American" way of life, I am proud that my entire family are now United States citizens. However, if it were not for the power of Eritrean food, I am not sure my family would have survived....
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...offensive during the Gulf War. Education Reform- President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into action in order to aid children in poverty. This act was made to provide money for the education of poor children. Cold War- The Cold War ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart. This left the U.S. as the leading superpower. Truck Bomb- A truck bomb exploded in the garage of the World Trade Center. Six people were injured and over a thousand were injured. Columbia Ka-boom!!!- The Columbia space shuttle fell apart when it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. The seven astronauts onboard died and the space shuttle program was suspended for twentynine months. Spice Girls- The Spice girls were a very popular singing group and served as positive role models for young girls by showing female talent and power. Pokemon- Pokemon cards first came out in the U.S. in 1996. Their popularity led to many more generations of cards, shows, games being made as well as the development of a fandom. The Internet is public- The Internet went public in 1991 and is still extremely popular to this day. Harry Potter- The first Harry Potter book came out in 1997 and the series became very popular among children and adults alike. The series taught lessons about racial and gender equality to children. Spongebob- The first season of Spongebob came out in 1999. The show became popular with children and episodes are still being made to this day. Kurt Cobain’s Suicide- Kurt Cobain, the lead singer...
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...more like a possessed clown," Phil joked. The final blow came with the last line. Phil covered his eyes and laughed, "WHYYY PHILLIP. Why would a young boy even HAVE interest in all that girly stuff?" At this moment something felt wrong. I had never, ever thought about makeup before. I never had thought about beauty gurus or anything of the like. Yes I had seen a few beauty videos appear on my YouTube home screen, but I had never seen any of those be made by men. Society taught boys and girls what they must enjoy from a young age, and as far as young Daniel had known, makeup was not for boys. I scoffed remembering my younger self. My parents gave me boy toys like cars and video games. My grandma occasionally liked to dress me up and make me sing spice girls, but that was not something I would have selected under normal circumstances. I liked the color blue not pink, I liked Power Rangers not Barbie. All of this has been hammered into my brain since...
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...From early childhood to becoming a young adult, stories shared help form the foundation for our ideas as we mature into adulthood. What we read becomes what we perceive, influencing the future of our society, shaping our personal beliefs as well as defining the overall culture. The “glass ceiling” is an unseen and theoretical barrier keeping women from reaching higher levels of economic, social and political status. Gender bias in children’s literature perpetuates this glass ceiling. Children’s books are dominated by male central characters from the Cat in the Hat to Babar, and from Peter Pan to Peter Rabbit. New research has found this causes a gender disparity sending children a message that “women and girls occupy a less important role in society than men or boys.” (“Gender in 20th Century” p. 2) In almost 6,000 children’s books published between 1900 and 2000, the study, led by Florida State University sociology professor Janice McCabe, found males are central characters in 57% of children’s books published each year, with only 31% having female central characters. Male animals are central characters in 23% of books per year, while female animals are central in only 7.5%. The Caldecott Award, given to the top children’s book each year, has had only one standalone female character since the award was established in 1938. The study also found books with male animals were more than two-and-a-half times more common. Since children’s books are a “dominate blueprint of shared...
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...definition of a harem is a sphere of women. The painter chose to use circular lines in almost every point in this painting. He created circles within circles, with the round bodies and rounded faces, and rounded trim on the alcoves and furnishings. All of the bodies are very curvy, voluptuous, sensual, and soft. Most of the concubines have rounded eyes, with very curved faces and bodies. Even the breasts and nipples are circles within circles, as are the stomachs and navels. The entire room seems to be a circle and the view that we have is as though through a key hole or hole in the wall. All of the five senses are represented in this piece, touch, smell, sight, taste and sound. They are represented so that each sense is saturated and the power of the sultan is quite obvious. There is truly a celebration of all five senses in this painting. Touch seems to be the most obvious. Many of the women are touching in some fashion, from merely lying next to each other, to fondling of another woman’s breast. The touching seems to be quite accepted and relaxed, indicating there are no inhibitions connected to touching. There is touching in regards to the textiles and clothing. Most, if not all, of the women are sitting on soft pillows and red drapery. The woman in the foreground is lounging on a decorative pillow and several women are lying down on these soft, vibrant, red draperies. The sense of smell is portrayed as strong in this painting. One can smell the incense that...
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...known as the Indus Valley or Harappan civilization, and then the invasion and settlement of the Aryans along the Ganges River plain. The Ganges and Indus Rivers are known as the mother and father of India. Other rivers traverse the land, which has a lot of desert regions, the mighty Himalayan Mountains, and the torrid and humid south where spices lured traders. Yearly monsoons interrupt the dry weather with its hot humidity. Today the countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh are separated from the state of India, but in the past there were an integral part of the culture. Many languages have served to separate the Indians, but Hinduism has been an uniting religious and cultural force in additional to the impact of Buddhism, Janism, and later Islam. Just recently India surpassed China as the most populated country in the world. Ancient India spans a vast period 2500 b.c.e.-250 b.c.e. Archaeology, ancient texts, and artifacts are being used to reconstruct the lives of women. “The earliest materials found by archaeological excavations suggest the worship of goddesses. The earliest recorded religious texts (ca. 1500 b.c.e.) call on the life-giving power of goddesses to give life and to nurture and sustain it.” p. 36 from Vivante. After the Aryan invasion and the development of Hinduism and then Buddhism, India’s extant written texts add greatly to our knowledge. Centered on the Indus River valley, the oldest known civilization in India ranged from ca. 2500-1500 b.c.e. Today most of these...
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...Protagonists’ Desire for change In “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce the protagonists make important life decisions. Both stories are about young men, leading dull lives, who go through a major change, while trying to escape from their lives. In both stories this change takes place while trying to please a female who triggers something inside them, causing them to act. “Araby” is different from “A&P” because it has religious elements as well as a connection through alienation. In “Araby” the narrator is closely following the crush that he has on Mangan’s sister. The narrator makes a kind of gesture to take Mangan’s sister to the bazaar, but she turns it down because of previous plans. Sammy and the narrator are similar in the sense that they both follow their desire for change. ‘Araby’ and ‘A&P’ are stories of unsuccessful attempts to escape from ordinary lives, only in different ways. Both stories end in darkness to prove that alienation can change the way people react to different situations and both show how the characters react towards change. The fate of Sammy from “A&P” surrounds the ideas of self-identity, desire for change and emerging adulthood, whereas “Araby” outlines alienation, desire for change and the dangers of idealization. The reader gets caught by the setting first in both stories. The protagonists describe the neighborhoods and the daily life in the cities that they live in, in detail. Sammy is stuck in the daily routine of the policy...
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...filled with fuzzy socks, pumpkin spice latte’s, orange leaves, and the perfect weather. We had just moved here from Louisiana to a town called Beacon Hills located right outside of Hollywood, California. Beacon Hills is that one town where everyone knew everyone, and no one ever really left. jane , Mom, Dad, and I were outsiders, like one bright white daisy in a field of ravishing red roses. We didn’t know anyone, that is until school and work started.Beacon Hills High was like a movie. At school they had all the cliques; you had the jocks, you had the geeks, you had the goths, you had the rich snobby kid, you had the popular kids, you had the mean girls, and...
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...A particular interest in childhood rose since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by both philosophers as well as writers who depict childhood as a stage of innocence, unlike adulthood which is the stage of experience. This representation is developed in nineteenth century writings which witnessed specific gendered stories either for boys or girls. Those stories were meant to reinstate in the child the requirements of society from his gender in the future. A girl has to prepare herself to be a housewife whose place is the private sphere, or who will be the angel in the home, while a boy must prepare himself to the public sphere, to be the bread winner of the family. This leads us to the claim that children's stories are not ideologically...
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...1) Did the given State originate in conquest? If so, who are the conquerors? Are they still in charge? India has seen conquerors since the 3rd century B.C. and was controlled by the Aryans, Turks and eventually European nations. It was very lucrative to trade with India which was rich in spices, gold and silver, silk and tea. The vast population of India provided potential markets to the European nations who set up companies there. The line between the economic and political power soon got blurry as the nation’s put up military bases in various parts of the country. Great Britain was a dominant political power in India by the 19th century and ruled the country for over a hundred years. The Republic of India as we know it was born in 1950, three years after gaining independence from the British Empire in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi, his follower and the first prime minister of free India, Jawaharlal Nehru and B.R.Ambedkar who drafted the Indian constituency were some of the leaders of the time. 2) How is the economy structured? Does it allow for legal robbery (Nock's phrasing)? The biggest criticism of India’s economy apart from widespread corruption has been that it failed to expand and make use of foreign investments. Instead it worked on expanding local industries requiring strict licensing from the government which in turn gave rise to corruption and inefficiency. In 1991, India developed into an open market economy and put into place many practices such as industrial deregulation...
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