While on buzzfeed a while back, I came across an article
about one of my favorite artists, Ke$ha: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mariasherm/13-of-the-most-inspirational-things-keha-has-ever-said.
The article was titled “13 Of The Most Inspirational Things Ke$ha Has Ever Said,”
and number eleven is what really caught my eye. In it, Ke$ha is quoted as
saying:
“Just because I’m sassy and have a mouth on me
doesn’t mean I’m coming from a negative place.
There’s irony in what I do that gets overlooked. I’ve listened to a lot of rap
where men talk a certain way,
often about women, and I’m not offended. It’s mean to be funny. I’m throwing it right back at them, with humor,
but some people can’t take it. They’re not used to women talking back.”
I really liked this statement, so I decided to see if Ke$ha
had anything else to say about gender in music. Turns out (according to a quick
google search) that Ke$ha identifies as a feminist, and one of her main goals
as an artist is to end sexism in pop music.
An article from contactmusic.com (http://www.contactmusic.com/news/kesha-wants-to-change-sexism-in-pop_3389766)
reports that Ke$ha’s song Tik Tok was highly controversial, as you might
expect, because any people felt that she was promoting drinking and promiscuity
in the song. While this may be true, Ke$ha points out the underlying unfairness
of this; there are a multitude of popular songs by males that promote the very
same things, especially when it comes to rap music, yet these men don’t receive
the same criticism that Ke$ha does. This
was part of her statement in the article:
“If men
can talk about drinking in every awesome rock 'n' roll song and every awesome
rap song, why can't a woman? Just
because I drink doesn't mean I'm a drunk. Just because I have sex, and I'm not embarrassed doesn't mean
I'm a whore.”
I also found it shocking that Ke$ha has actually been
accused of promoting the “date-rape culture” because of her song “Blah Blah
Blah” (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2010/01/20/date-rape-anthem-kehas-blah-blah-blah/). I agree that the lyrics the article cites are
pretty questionable. However, when you consider the fact that Ke$ha is trying
to turn what men do to women back on the men, she’s doing a pretty good job of
it with songs like these.
I’m not saying that I agree with all of Ke$ha’s statements
or actions, however, I think that what she’s doing here and the things that she’s
pointing out are very interesting. Society
is so quick to criticize women who come off as being promiscuous, or who admit
to drinking; why don’t they do the same
with men?
I agree that this is very interesting, the double standard music promotes is something I find infuriating, especially in rap. The same thing happens with Nicki Minaj when she makes songs that are about sex, drugs, and drinking.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't like a lot of popular songs because of their message, but I find more people likely to criticize a song based on lyrics by a woman instead of by man.
I think you raised a really good point, Kim. Why is society quick to criticize women but not men on matters like these? Based on what I have heard in the past, I think it might be because women are supposed to be "proper." This is the only reason I can think of at the moment that could be the answer, although, to me, it's not a good/right one!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Katherine. I often don't like to listen to popular rap songs because of the messages they portray. In fact, I have found myself getting annoyed when I sing/hear the "Blurred Lines" song, because of it's degrading rated-R video and lyrics.