Subjects:
From Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Frank Sinatra and Brittany Spears, music has always been sexual. Pop music and Rock and Roll are especially sexual. Popular music in recent years has perpetuated sexism in young people by showing women as more submissive and sensitive than men.
While it may be argued that women have a more dominate place in the music industry then ever before, the same perception that women are more romantic and submissive than men holds steady. Brittany Spears is one female artist that adds to the continuance of sexism in popular music. By means of her provocative manner in her dress and lyrics, she becomes a symbol of sex as a transitory pleasure, much like a prostitute. Simon Frith in his essay “Rock and Sexuality” states, “The prostitute can be treated with a mixture of condescension and contempt, as someone without an autonomous sexuality” (264). In that sense she becomes the man’s desire without any fluency of her own. Therefore according to Frith, “Sex as self-expression remains the prerogative of the man; the woman is the object of his needs and
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Despite the fact that women are becoming more prolific in the music industry and trying to express their sexuality, it is still the men who are revealed to have the sexual freedom. Because of this, a woman who has lost control is seen as a gripping persona of repulsiveness, whereas an inebriated male retains a far more attractive appeal.
Frith, Simon, “Rock and Sexuality,” from Sound Effects: Youth Leisure and Politics of
Rock and Roll (New York: Pantheon Books, 1981). Music helps to keep the past alive, but it can also transform the future. This manner of thinking about sexuality influences music. Nevertheless, the possibility that music could be against sexism has been opened.
Popular music has perpetuated sexism in young people in recent years. Women must keep control of their bodies because the loss of that control can lead to serious consequences such as pregnancy or a bad reputation. It is hard to escape the frame of mind these songs suggest about males being the aggressor and females being submissive in sexual aspects. Other songs, for example “I wanna lick you” by Ludicris, are solely about sex. ” He further states that, “Such polluted sources issue in a muddy stream where only monsters can swim” (251). Another rap song by Outkast is “Miss Jackson.
“This one’s going out to the strip joints…10 grand let me see you shake it like you got no bones in your body…” are the words issuing from the rapper Wyclef Jean in his song “Perfect Gentleman.
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