Have you ever heard a song that portrayed negative stereotypes surrounding a particular gender or sexuality? Singers or bands tend to utilize gender or sexual scripts within their music in order to perpetuate their beliefs or relate to a larger crowd. Gender and sexual scripts are guidelines for how people should act within their certain gender roles or sexual expressions. These scripts are socialized by what society deems as “normal” and individuals who defy these scripts are cast aside. I will be analyzing Meghan Trainor’s song, “Dear Future Husband,” in order to illustrate how songs can passively utilize gender and sexual scripts. The first singer that came to my mind when thinking of songs that use gender scripts, heterosexism, and stereotypes
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The song lyrics list guidelines, or what society has constructed, as to how females should act within their roles. The chorus of this song instructs “future husbands” to listen to the lyrics in order to gain insight into what a woman really wants or what he should do in order to get her as his own (Trainor & Kadish, 2015). The title and opening chorus immediately indicate a heteronormative plot with the persistence of making sure the “husband” gets what he wants from the relationship. Trainor says that if women are treated right by being showered with gifts, such as flowers, they will be the perfect wives and buy the groceries. Buying groceries and doing most of the household work are both aspects expected of the female gender role. Although she says that her husband works “9 to 5” in the song and so does she, in the music video Trainor is seen scrubbing the floor and doing household work while singing this line. She also utilizes female stereotypes such as, females “act crazy” when they are not treated right. Women are often perceived as being over-emotional and acting “crazy” within relationships; this stereotype is hard for women to overcome in order to be taken seriously and rise in their careers. Trainor frequently refers to sex and women’s bodies throughout the song, which, in a way, turns women’s bodies into objects. Through the lines, “If you wanna get that special lovin’” and “And …show more content…
When I thought of myself while listening to this song, I felt like I was following these “guidelines” wrong. Did that mean I would not end up with a partner? I started to wonder what if women actually act like this because of songs or the media. I viewed women that actually follow traditional female gender roles as ignorant to the socialization going on around them, however, they could honestly be choosing this lifestyle for themselves. So, as a feminist, I had to place my anger and frustration with Trainor and artists like her. They actively are teaching women that they should use sex as a way to get their men to apologize to them or act in “feminine” ways while tending to their boyfriends/husbands in order to get a ring. Conversely, this teaches men that if they automatically apologize or open a door for a woman, they will be rewarded with sex, which could lead to sexual assault. Trainor is portraying the social exchange theory, where men could use “costs” of doing nice actions or using their time/energy for women in order to gain the “benefits” of
The song lyrics list guidelines, or what society has constructed, as to how females should act within their roles. The chorus of this song instructs “future husbands” to listen to the lyrics in order to gain insight into what a woman really wants or what he should do in order to get her as his own (Trainor & Kadish, 2015). The title and opening chorus immediately indicate a heteronormative plot with the persistence of making sure the “husband” gets what he wants from the relationship. Trainor says that if women are treated right by being showered with gifts, such as flowers, they will be the perfect wives and buy the groceries. Buying groceries and doing most of the household work are both aspects expected of the female gender role. Although she says that her husband works “9 to 5” in the song and so does she, in the music video Trainor is seen scrubbing the floor and doing household work while singing this line. She also utilizes female stereotypes such as, females “act crazy” when they are not treated right. Women are often perceived as being over-emotional and acting “crazy” within relationships; this stereotype is hard for women to overcome in order to be taken seriously and rise in their careers. Trainor frequently refers to sex and women’s bodies throughout the song, which, in a way, turns women’s bodies into objects. Through the lines, “If you wanna get that special lovin’” and “And …show more content…
When I thought of myself while listening to this song, I felt like I was following these “guidelines” wrong. Did that mean I would not end up with a partner? I started to wonder what if women actually act like this because of songs or the media. I viewed women that actually follow traditional female gender roles as ignorant to the socialization going on around them, however, they could honestly be choosing this lifestyle for themselves. So, as a feminist, I had to place my anger and frustration with Trainor and artists like her. They actively are teaching women that they should use sex as a way to get their men to apologize to them or act in “feminine” ways while tending to their boyfriends/husbands in order to get a ring. Conversely, this teaches men that if they automatically apologize or open a door for a woman, they will be rewarded with sex, which could lead to sexual assault. Trainor is portraying the social exchange theory, where men could use “costs” of doing nice actions or using their time/energy for women in order to gain the “benefits” of