Pushing the Boundaries

Faith Beglane

February 26, 2015

Pushing the Boundaries 

            While watching male rappers music videos, the theme is the same throughout all of them. They all show women’s body’s off like they are some type of showcase and that they’re only good for their bodies. This theme has stayed the same from the 1970, until 2015. The boundaries are being pushed further and further and women will continue to give their consent to show off their skin. These videos are extremely demeaning and make it look like women aren't capable of anything besides looking a sexy way and that they should show their bodies without any shame. Although I agree that we shouldn't be shameful of our bodies, I don’t think that we as women should have to broadcast our bodies for the whole world to see with a click of a button. People seem to remember these videos, and the attention that they get from is, is outstanding because most guys like it. In the article Grunge, Riot Grrrl and the Forgetting of Women in Popular culture, Catherine Strong talks about the grunge genre of music. In the article, she interviews people from the time period and most people that she interviewed only remembered men from that time period even though women were just as relevant. These women pushed new boundaries that weren't expected from women. These women sang rock ‘n roll, and punk music. Although their work is just as accessible as men’s, this backs up my point from my previous blog that women and men are looked at as two separate species.  In the article they talk about how people don’t consider this music “serious”, but who decides on what serious is? Isn’t all music serious in some sense? I believe that all music is serious in some way shape or form. Although the meanings behind songs can be more serious than others, all artists want the same thing; to sound good. In that sense, all music is serious. Rap music in my eyes isn’t as serious as country, or older music, but someone who grew up around rap might disagree with me which is why we can’t call one genre of music serious. The next point that Strong makes is credibility. She says that credibility is based on one’s intelligence, authenticity, and subcultures. In the eyes of society women are not authentic, not as intelligent as men, and believe that women have trouble separating themselves from the mainstream. None of these things are true, and they have all become stereotypes for today’s female persona. Women are seen as being easily taken advantage of but I think that because of the feminist movement and more women wanting to have more rights, this is not as big as a problem and can’t be said for most women. Intelligence is something that is underestimated in women. This problem has been around since the first wave of feminism, and I don’t believe that this has changed. Women are often seen as stupid with stereotypes like “dumb blondes” based purely off their hair color that they were born with. Although men are the more dominant gender, who’s to say that they are smarter than women? I believe that women are capable of just as much as men are, but they are not given the same opportunities. These performers were given the same opportunity as men, and were performing songs similar to the males, yet they were still looked at as stupid and are forgotten when one mentions grunge. The last point in credibility is mainstream. Strong says that it’s hard for women to separate themselves from the mainstream, and I believe that this is still true today. Women are expected to look and act a certain way, and so were the performers. These performers were performing and acting similar to men, yet they are so forgotten and were not supported as strongly as they were. Women should be credited for the things that they have done to improve and push the boundaries.