Gender-Based Violence and Music

            It is interesting to think about how much music influences the way we look at life. I was alarmed when I started listening more closely to the words of some of my favorite songs. For instance, the song "Face Down" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, is quite disturbing. Lyrics like, "do you feel like a man when you push her around?", "face down in the dirt, she said this doesn't hurt", and "a new life she has found", make me almost embarrassed that I've enjoyed this song for so long! Taking such a heavy topic and weaving it into catchy music can hinder the way we address topics such as abuse.

Take a listen for yourself... catchy right?

            Gender-based violence is the act of an individual placing harm upon someone of the opposite sex, often times in the desire to "gain" empowerment or control. Young children listen to songs that promote learning and education. Young teens are drawn to songs about dancing and upbeat rhythms. So, as an adult, why am I drawn to songs like "Face Down" that are all about abuse? This song generalized this "female" as a victim of abuse. Never do they promote woman-power, express the emotional/mental tolls of abuse, or even give the "victim" a voice. Ultimately, this leads to the idea that women are always played as victim, never stand up for themselves, and do little to stop the process of violence.

           

           I think it is very important to understand the influences of our music. Gender-based violence is not inherited, it is learned. Today's music is expressive towards drugs, alcohol and partying; it is very well known that the leading attributes to gender-based violence is drawn from the three exact things. That's the problem with music- it have evolved from harmless to suggestive, and our youth may be suffering the consequences. The song "Face Down", like many other catchy songs, denote a scary stigma about society: men are punishers and women play victims. Is this really how we want to portray our genders?

Week Nine: Women Should Expect Sexual Assault in the Military

Current Event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZsAosKcgY4.

In February of last year a Fox News journalist (no one should be surprised that this comes off Fox by the way) by the name of Liz Trotta said that military women should expect sexual assault. She believes that women have no reason to be in the military. It is a man’s world. Women aren’t as strong and she believes that they are made into heroes by the press for a good story. She says that the military is a combat machine and women should not be in it. In this video, two journalists by the name of Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur, discuss these comments and what they think. There are some really great points too. They believe that women are not as strong as men also but that does not mean they should be making sandwiches in the kitchen. Another guy mentioned that a woman doesn’t need to be physically strong. They can press a trigger on a gun or press a button to launch a bomb too. Liz Trotta said that they should keep feminism out of the military. Someone mentioned that this is interesting because she takes advantage of feminism by having a job a woman would never have been able to have earlier. At the same time she fights feminism. The journalists are obviously frustrated.

This does expand our collective knowledge of feminism and the issue at hand because it is very important that we remember that there are women out there too who don’t believe in feminism. It is hard to believe. After all, they should know of the struggles we go through also. This also adds to our collective knowledge about women in the military, because it brings up some very important issues that both target women in the military. Not only that, but it also brings up some good points to support women in the military as well.

This piece fits in with this week because this week is all about sexism and women in the military. More importantly, it is also about sexual assault in the military. Liz Trotta is so willing to place the blame of the assault to the women. She is also coming from a very androcentric idea. She believes that men are meant to be in these positions because they have a penis. These journalists that are talking about her comments clearly do not agree. Androcentric ideas are pretty harmful when it comes to equal rights for women. It is affected how everyone thinks and we definitely don’t need that while we are trying to fight this huge fight. Another words, it fits in to both Women’s Studies and sexism in the military and who is supporting it.

It is obvious that Liz Trotta is part of the wheels of the cycle of oppression. Here is this woman that everyone is supposed to be looking up to and all she can talk about is how women are not equal to men. When she says this, some people are going to believe. They are going to believe her because she is in the media. In addition, she is in a position of power. This is going to either make people believe the way the journalists did and say “this is crap” and try to change these erroneous beliefs, or there are going to be people who believe and become sexist beyond belief. Trotta is a huge part of the cycles of oppression.

The new knowledge product for me is that there are women out there in the media who are willing to throw us under the bus. This is so strange. She knows what it is like to be a woman. Yet, she disregards this and says everything against it. It is so important to know that just as every person has potential to be an ally in your fight; that every person has the potential to be an enemy in your fight. In the cycle of oppression there is a part in which a person can try to change or there are those that just stay in that cycle. Women in the military are very worthy of holding whichever position they want and sexism should not be an issue. Yet, it still is.

I think that to be a woman in the military that you have to really want it. There is a lot of crap that women have to put up with. This shouldn’t be the way it is. We have unlimited potential and we all deserve to be empowered and to enjoy life to the fullest. Yet, we have these people telling us what our potential is. I was obviously very upset with Liz Trotta but in some ways I was irritated with the journalists. They said that women are not as strong as men but I believe they have the potential to be. Unlike what they said, I believe that women do not only have to have brainy jobs. Some women are built strong and we should not forget that. Ultimately, what it comes down to is that all these gender roles we are supposed to have, need to be useless. We are so much more than what is between our legs. In fact, if everyone believed this statement we might not have all the trouble we do now. Things need to change. More than anything the mental mindset.

Best Music Video of 2012?

I recently stumbled across the website for a well known fashion magazine called V Magazine, while I was looking through their pictures of what was supposedly "high fashion" I couldn't help but notice how objectified all these women were. It was nearly impossible to find a picture of a women who was in a position of power, most of them were barely clothed. I kept scrolling until I found something that really grabbed my attention, the title reads "Best Music Video Of 2012: 2 Chainz" I've heard a few songs by this dude and found it very hard to believe that out of every single music video made in 2012 he was crowned number one. I clicked on the link and for the first time watched the music video for Birthday Song. I realized I had never actually listened to this song all the way through, or in the short time that it would be playing I didn't listen to the lyrics. I recall when it came out one of my friends was talking about how he lost respect of Kayne for being in such a lame song, and now I can see why.

The most known line from this song is also the least creative and directly encourages dehumanizing and objectifying women. The line is "All I want for my birthday is a big booty hoe/She got a big booty so I call her Big Booty". When I further investigated this song I found a website talking about how dumb that line was, shows no creativity, and so on, but there was a few people with comments like it's just music don't take it so seriously, or 2 Chainz is our generations Shakespeare. I find it slightly surprising that people don't realize the affect that the music you listen to has on you. By repeating this line and encouraging music that calls women hoes, or talks about their body it is keeping women from achieving all they possibly can.

As I continued to watch the video I noticed several other themes such as, the women in this video never show their faces. The shots are always just them from behind shaking their butts, giving lap dances, or being over sexualized. However, women are not the only ones who have negative stereotypes encouraged in this video, men also do. One part shows a group of men beating up another guy, and acting generally violent. It worries me that young boys and girls are seeing this video and thinking that's the gender role that they have to fit into. After this weeks reading I realized that boys who see this could start to believe that this type of behavior is permissible and will start to treat women as objects and continue a culture of violence.

I would like to encourage further discussion on the idea of how music can influence all generations. Is it true that young people watching music videos are going to take it as a truth? Should lines in songs be taken serious or just as part of an artist trying to make music and express themselves? How can we change the way that women are portrayed in music videos or magazines? These are a few things I believe that are important to think about and discuss so that we become more informed watchers and consumers rather than just going along with what's popular.

Here is the video:

http://www.vmagazine.com/site/content/429/best-videos-of-2012-2-chainz

And the Lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2chainz/birthdaysong.html

It is called motherbaby for a reason!

Today it is almost impossible to count the number of births that you have known about that has taken place in a hospital, but it is worse that it is mostly impossible for most people to count any births that have taken place at home. I can honestly say that I am someone that cannot count any births that I have known about taking place outside of a hospital.

I come from a very medical family. Almost everyone in my family on my mothers side works in the medical profession as a nurse, doctor, E.M.T., or caregiver. This has made me very aware of tons of stuff that goes on in a hospital.

To start off why in the heck do people go to hospitals? Because it is happy and friendly? Because they just love the smell? Well, for most people the answer is NO! People tend to go because they are sick, not feeling good, there is an emergency, or they are dying. Does this sound like a place for a natural miracle to take place? It sure doesn't to me.

In a hospital the doctors and medical staff are worried about a schedule, what is suppose to be done when and to get it all done in a timely manner. This is a major issue because the baby and mother are not allowed to bond at all, instead they are both told when they are going to do something and that is just the way it is going to be.

A mother and her baby should have time to bond during the pregnancy, birth, and after the baby is born. The bonding is not only for the sake of emotion level things, but it is really important medically. When a baby is first born they get stem cells before the cord is cut and their mother will expose them to different  bacteria so their immune system is able to start building up. In a hospital I do not care how much they clean, or how clean it looks, they are NOT clean. There are so many germs, especially bad ones since that is when people tend to come to the hospital is when they have bad germs affecting them. I really do not see the logic behind doctors handling babies as they are just born rather than their mothers, and exposing them to all of these nasty germs.

Babies have rights as the article that I read titled "Babies Have Rights, Too" and it is so true babies may not be able to talk but they are still people. It is crazy to think how doctors and medical staff treat babies like they are "a piece of meat" as the article states.

After all of this it really makes one ponder why in the world as a society we are treating the future so poorly by having  babies being born in a hospital.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ed_BabiesHaveRights.asp

2013 Oscars

In class we have touched on women in media and the oppression that results. However, we also discussed the possibility of talking specifically about women in film. As you could imagine there is a true lack of women involved in the production of (mainstream) films. A prime venue to experience this is while watching the 2013 Oscars (it was formally renamed this year from it's prior title, The Academy Awards) this evening.

In tonight's program there were 24 categories in which individuals, specific production teams, and entire films could win awards based on achievement in the film industry. Out of those categories acknowledging the work of a single person or team there were 25 women nominated (outside of those categories exclusive to gender, i.e. best actor/actress in a leading role) or were part of a group award. Out of those 25 women nominated, 7 women won or were part of a group that won an award (consisting of a total of 6 categories). Furthermore, of the women who were a part of winning an award, two won awards in categories that would be stereo-typically associated with a woman's 'role' in society (i.e. Best Make-up Design and Costume Design). 

Interestingly enough I found that while watching the awards show, at first I didn't think of it being strange that men were consistently being brought up on stage in numbers far surpassing those of women. Then I realized that this was another example of institutionalized sexism and how we have all been conditioned to think of it as a normal part of a functioning society. 

We see how this could be a problem when we look at the other forms of media in which men are in charge. Not only does it not offer a diverse view of the issues and situations we're seeing in these films, but it is likely to further marginalized already oppressed groups.

I think that it's important to look at all aspects of our lives that could be promoting a patriarchal system of oppression  even avenues that we may not immediately think of. While I'm sure that many of the men who won their awards this evening were plenty qualified and deserving of the award, my issues lie in the fact that women aren't even given a chance to exhibit their skills and or talents. Levels of women in film production are low to begin with, of course men are winning the awards. 

The list of winners and nominees can be found at: http://oscar.go.com/

Court rules Texas can ban Planned Parenthood from health program

Court rules Texas can ban Planned Parenthood from health program

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/us/texas-abortion-ruling/index.html

This article talks about how Texas is banning Planned Parent Hood affiliates participating in a health program for low income women because the family planning networks perform abortions. Planned Parenthood sued Texas, winning an injunction against the law by arguing that abortion is constitutional and Texas efforts would block women’s access to preventive health care. By banning Planned Parenthood clinics this could hurt low-income women by losing a source of affordable healthcare, such as breast cancer screenings, birth control pills, std screenings, ect. I think that banning health care to low-income women is completely unfair. Over 50,000 of Texas’ poorest women would be affected. If women were to not have access to abortion clinics, they would be bringing in a baby into the world that they would not be able to afford. Because these women would not be able to afford check ups, this could easily jeopardize their health.  If a poor woman were raped, she would not be able to have access to an abortion because she would not have the funds to pay for it. This would leave her in extreme poverty because now it would be her and a child who she now needs to care for. It is sad that people of the state vote for a law that may take healthcare away from lower income women. I believe that healthcare should be available to everyone, even those who are not available to afford it. If we are not able to provide healthcare for everyone, (whether not they are poor, middle class or high class) we may see medical outbreaks such as diseases or STD’s. I think that every woman should have access to partake in an abortion if she needs to as well as access to a doctors clinic if she is ill or sick. Banning these rights, shows that we still are not respecting the choice women have or should be given in this day and age. 

Minami Minegishi, two tiers of Japanese misogyny, and the limits of western feminism

Several weeks ago, a Japanse pop-star by the name of Minami Minegishi posted a video on YouTube that received widespread global attention.  Minegishi is seen in the video with a shaven head, and delivers a teary apology to her friends, fans, band members, and production crew for letting them down.  What horrible thing did Minegishi do to prompt such an emotional apology?  Well, she allegedly had a boyfriend.

Thus, we approach the issue of severe misogyny in Japanese culture (specifically the "otaku" subculture) by looking at two tiers of profit-driven oppression.  The first tier most related to this incident is the overreaching interference by the AKB48 band producers / owners into the lives of its members.  AKB48 is a female pop-star band which succeeds because of a strict code of conduct regarding the band members' relationships: they aren't allowed to have any.  The consequences of violating this rule to any degree include shaming and removal from the band.  Shaming comes about by how the rule is labeled as a virtue to strive for.  Band members are expected to be role models for the other members, and deviating from the strict rules is seen as letting their fellow band members down.  This is evident in this posted video:

"As an original member of AKB48, I am supposed to set an example for the junior members, but I was thoughtless and showed a lack of self-awareness. I didn't know what to do, so I decided to shave my head without telling other band members or my agency. I don't expect to be forgiven by doing this, but the first thing I thought was that I didn't want to quit AKB48."

Members of AKB48 have also been removed from the band in the past for similar violations.

This type of oppression serves a very specific purpose: appeal.  The logic is fairly simple: a band member who is single is more appealing than one who is in a relationship.  It allows the fans to further idolize and dream about how they might have a relationship with one of the members.  This rule is even defended by the band's members:

"If there weren't a 'love forbidden' regulation, we wouldn't be idols.  If there weren't such a rule, the world wouldn't turn."

Maintaining this requirement thus serves to increase the sex appeal, and by extension the success of members of AKB48.

The second tier of oppression is more relatable to western culture, and that is the issue of marketing by sex appeal in general.  Promotional material for AKB48 will often depict the band's members in scanty dress.  This is also seen in features in sex-oriented magazines such as Weekly Playboy and even song titles such as "My School Uniform is Getting in the Way," despite the young age of some of the members, which can be as low as 13.

However, both tiers cannot be so readily explained with more western ideals of feminist theory.  Western feminist theory will often deal with issues of sexualization as a form of objectification.  In the case of AKB48, however, this is not exactly the case.  The band members are often highly-sexualized, but they are done so in parallel with a strong emphasis on personality, or "person-hood."  The band members are not marketed as simple sex objects, but as sexy people that can be communicated with.  A sense of attachment and attraction that supersedes mere sexual idolization is thus created between the band members and their fans.  In my opinion, this form of sexualization is a far more potent formula than simple sexual objectification.

Unfortunately, this also means that far more drastic and invasive means are required to make use of such a formula, as we have seen.  AKB48's members can't simply be shown as sex symbols; they have to have their personal lives dictated by their careers, and the normalcy of this control is engrained into their sense of being, such that any violation of it is viewed as a personal failure.  Under western feminist theory, this might be interpreted in the context of how oppressed groups under a status-quo may themselves help perpetuate the status-quo's existence, but such a viewpoint is limited as it does not take into account the agency of AKB48's owners in promoting this engraining and what could even be considered indoctrination.

Thus, I propose that a different framework for studying issues of Japanese misogyny is needed thanks to the extreme differences between western and Japanese culture.

Source article: http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/8/3967268/akb48-minami-minegishi-how-a-j-pop-cult-took-over-japan

Translation of the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=JSYhNJBPL9I

Overpopulation Itself

Population to this day is increasing and will continue to increase over time. The awareness of over population is the economic concerns for “over- crowding”, that supply cannot meet the demand. Now, I say over population is a scary theory to make presumptions about. This theory comes into the part of cities marketing urban living. As more cities build bigger buildings, more people will meet its demands by living there. Why build big cities if they are meant to hold large amounts of people? The idea of over population is the fear for cities to become insufficient to people needs. However the solution is easily made, why not move somewhere else? The analogy I make of this is the limitations for reproduction justice. In the one of the readings, “Abortions Right and Reproductive Choices” by Fried and Yanow says reproductive choice is the ability of women to control her life as to the control of her reproduction. Meaning increasing the extensive choices to access birth control, have safe abortions, and education in comprehensive sex. However economic barriers have made it impossible to establish. Overpopulation is basically that there are “too many babies being born”. That is not the case, big cities are meant to supply the people needs. We can meet both ends if overpopulation is a current concern then why not support pro- choice decisions? More so make reproductive services to be just as important to meet the demands of marketing. Women cannot simply pick up their problems and take elsewhere. The fear in overpopulation does not measure the amount of the fear of women bearing a child that needs cannot be met. The economic standard is supply and demand of it citizens, by the full accessibility to reproductive services to all women of socioeconomic standings, ethnicity, and age is without any fear of limitations in needs for its demand.    

http://overpopulationisamyth.com/