blog 5

my gender playlist!

1. "Hey Ladies" by The Beastie Boys. I chose this song because I think this song represents a particular group of young college-type males and their search for the ladies at parties. I love the Beastie Boys but they definitely had a frat-like minded approach in their early albums. This show represents young males views, to me, on the search for some honeys.

2. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. Is it not obvious why I chose this song? R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Aretha could surely belt it out like no other.. and she accepted herself as a beautiful full-figured strong, black woman in the 60s. How awesome is that? Definitely an early feminist.

3. "Evil Woman" by Black Sabbath. Okay, first... I love Sabbath. But everytime I hear this song, it always makes me realize how completely male-dominated classic rock and rock n roll are. You don't hear talking about how they might have betrayed a woman or led her on... they just point out how she is the evil woman for doing him wrong. The femme fatale for the 70s? I think so.

4. "Nude As the News" by Cat Power. In my opinion this song is mostly about gender roles and how we shouldn't break them in society. "Backhand, role reversal, where is someone? Backhand, role reversal, I know there's someone." To me this song speaks out on roles, violence, and a woman's sexuality.

5. "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World" by James Brown. The Godfather of Soul. He was a badass. Even though I love this song a lot... it irks me everytime I hear it. It is talking about how many things the man has done... "man made the car to take us over the road, man made the train to carry the heavy load, man made the electric light to take us out of the dark, man made the boat for the water..." etc... and the only mention of the woman in this song is, "but it wouldn't mean nothin', babe, without a woman or a girl." That's all we get. We're just the man's companion... nothing else.

6. "Call Me The Breeze" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Southern rock was definitely a male dominated world. Don't get me wrong, I love Skynyrd, but they're never talking about their strong women. This song is about how a man doesn't need a woman... how he is like a breeze, never changing, just keeps moving on, free. I can't think of many songs with this same subject matter.. in terms of women.

7. "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen. They make the rockin' world go 'round. I like that Queen put this song out... considering Freddie Mercury was a strong gay man. I liked the fact that, in a male dominant rock n roll scene, they accepted women as they are. Fat bottomed girls, although overtly sexual, I think shows how men appreciate a full, natural womanly figure. Sadly they aren't talking about our personalities though.

8. "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones. 'Brown sugar, how come you taste so good? Brown sugar, just like a young girl should.' A song about the love of black women or heroin? That's debatable. Another male-perspective of a woman... nice to see it's a woman of color. Rock n roll repeatedly talks about women in a mostly sexual way. This is another example.

9. "Girl Afriad" by The Smiths. I really love the Smiths, but I also really appreciate this song. I like how they showed young men not always as strong and dominant, but as fearful and insecure as well. They showed the side of young men that are just like young women... nervous, anxious, and self-aware. This shows that men are self-conscious and insecure when you look past the masculine stereotype.

10. "Baby Love" by The Supremes. I love The Supremes, but this song definitely reflects the time period in which this song came out. This song is talking about how you love your man so much, and even though he treats you wrong and is mean to you... you just want him back. Diana Ross asks "Tell me baby why did I do wrong to make you go and leave so long?" Why is this so one-sided? Why is assumed that only the woman was in the wrong?

11. "Femme Fatale" by The Velvet Underground. Put this because this is an age-old stereotype of women... the femme fatale. Smart, strong women are often depicted as simply evil or dangerous in society. "Here she comes, you better watch your step. She's going to break your heart in two, it's true."

12. "Where Do You Run?" by Vivian Girls. I mostly put this because I love Vivian Girls and they are an all girl band, in my opinion, promoting feminism and showing again how women can rock and party just as much as the boys can. I like that the music sounds sloppy and dirty, like men should be, but they're all 'delicate' women.