Jake Tenenbaum Womens Lives Media Content Analysis 10-24-2011

Throughout our class and studies, we learn about the objectification of women in various aspects of life. The author of our textbook, Margaret Anderson, takes a particularly in-depth look at how women are depicted in media. One such theme that Anderson brings up is, Language shapes our definition of reality, but can also transform how we think about gender. Under this theme, Anderson addresses the concept that language affects and shapes our reality; how people think, and how people act. With this theme in mind, I turned to music, undoubtedly one of the most ancient aspects of language. As music has transformed over the thousands of years of its existence, so, too has the wording and meaning behind each song. I began by identifying which genre of music I would analyze. Rap is indisputably the most edgy in its use of words and phrasing. Pop music changes too rapidly to be classified into one section. Metal music is often about emotions, rather than people. Lastly, I turned to country music, which many consider the most wholesome of the genres. But just how wholesome and clean is it? Even if it is clean, is it fair and equal towards all genders? I played with this idea for a while and realized the only way to accurately assess this question was to assess the music that the public enjoyed. I analyzed the list of

Billboard 100s top country songs. From there, I picked out eight songs and analyzed the lyrics for their depiction of women. These songs included: God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton, Long Hot Summer by Keith Urban, Made in America by Toby Keith, I Got

You by Thompson Square, I Dont Want this Night to End by Luke Bryan, Take it Off by
Joe Nichols, Bait a Hook by Justin Moore, and Fish by Craig Campbell. Ms. Anderson discusses the idea of language by addressing the concept of controlling images, refers to the power of the media and popular culture to direct our concepts of ourselves and others. This very same thought can be illustrated in Blake Sheltons, God Gave Me You. Throughout various lines in the song, Shelton explains that his wife-to-be was given to him by God, as by the title of the song God Gave Me You. This act implies women are to be given away, as if women are property. Shelton continues on the explain that God gave him his wife-to-be for the ups and downs and for the days of doubt. As mentioned with the concept of images, this song makes listeners believe that women are property; that women are to be given away as if they are not their own person. The song, Long Hot Summer by Keith Urban is another example of a country song that objectifies women. However, Urban does not do this through ownership, but rather depictions. Anderson asks the question, Do the images found in the media matter? According to Kalof, 1999, studies have found that seeing stereotypical sexual imagery in music videos affects college students attitudes, encouraging them to see sexual relationships as adversarial. Urban brings this issue to light when he sings I wanna see your brown skin shimmer in the sun Within the context of the song,

Urban is basically saying that he wants to see this females body without clothes, especially with the heat. Toby Keiths Made in America deeply employs the reflection hypothesis. The hypothesis assumes that the mass media reflects the values of the general population. In this case, Keiths country song reflects the ideas of the conservative American, which is his general market. However, within the song, Keith states, Shes that wife that decorates on the Fourth of Julyshes golden rule, teaches school According to Keith, women are meant to be the homemakers and schoolteachers. Unfortunately, this implies the stereotype of occupations, which could strongly influence the relationship between men and women. The role-learning theory, which describes the idea that sexist and racist images in the media encourage role modeling, is seen in Thompson Squares I Got You. At the top of the song, Square compares women to a cars gasoline to run, a crops rain, dirt and sun to survive, a songs rhyme and a clocks time. Following this stanza, Square states, Yea, youre it, the missing piece that makes me fit. I got you, the breath I breathe, and there aint nothing else I need. Baby I got you. Once again, we can see women being personified as property, especially Square presents ownership with I got you. Furthermore, we see women personified as objects, as women are compared to cars, crops, songs, and clocks. In application, the role-learning theory can teach women that they are no more important than an old clock or a crop. This can teach young women very negative things about themselves and how they should feel about their own beings.

In Luke Bryans I Dont Want this Night to End, Bryans words employ many of the previously discussed theories. Bryan mentions how [the girls] pretty little eyesare pulling [him] in, as if looks are the only thing that Bryan cares about. Bryan continues on to tell us that the girl has [her] hands uprocking in my trucksinging every song while he talks about setting the cruise control and losing hold of everything he has because Youre looking so damn hot. This is incredible, that he is loosing control of himself and his body because of her looks. In other words, women need only to focus on their looks to drive men crazy. As the song progresses, Bryan assumes that she will spend the nigh and hell hate the morning because she will have to leave. This is obviously not unique to Bryans lifestyle. Bryan not only objectifies women under the role-learning theory, but also under the reflection hypothesis. Joe Nichols illustrates the objectification of women directly in his title for Take it Off. The title of this song, alone, implies women to get naked (especially because it is being sung by a man). Throughout the song, Nichols paints the many reasons to take it off. If the worlds weight is on your shoulders, [if you] got a week of worries on your mind then you should grab a cold one and twist the top, take it off This speaks to men, grabbing a bear, and women taking off their clothing. Although it does not explicitly say it, popular culture has led us to understand who is the main target of these messages. Finally, the song concludes with Got a blanket we can crawl underneath. If it gets too hot to sleep, we can take it off, baby we can take it off. This song is very suggestive. Not only does it suggest that women take it off for men, but that by taking it off, men and women will automatically end up in bed together. This

is actually a rather large setback for women. While local laws allow women to expose what men can take off (shirts), this is not a national law and still a huge discrimination against women. Bait a Hook is a song by Justin Moore that claims tells the tale of a mans exgirlfriends new boyfriend who doesnt act like a man at all. The duration of the song finds faults in the mans lack of masculinity. For instance, he cant even bait a hook, he cant even skin a buck, he dont know who Jack Daniels is, he aint never drove a truck Moore then begins to question the female, has he kissed you in a hay field as the summer rain falls down? Has he took you to meet his mama, back in his home town? Does he drive the interstate, or does he take them old back roads? I dont think so After answering his own question, Moore suggests it wont be long, til you start getting bored Apparently, women are only allowed to be in love with men who project masculinity in the most stereotypical ways. This also means that the woman cannot be the driver, the hunter, the fisher, or the one drinking Jack. Bait a Hook is a prime comparison of men and women, in which women are subjected to simplistic beings and the men are the only ones to do the work. The eight, and final song that I am analyzing for this paper is Fish by Craig Campbell. I held this song off for last because I think it might be the most offensive of all of the songs I have analyzed. The entirety of the song is a metaphor for having sex. The very first line, The first time we did it I was scared to death, she snuck out in that cotton dress, jumped on in and we drove to the lake, put her hand on me knee and said I cant wait. From this point, Campbell says, Turns out my baby loves toFISH,

though obviously replacing a different f word. The entire concept of the song revolves around this man who uses fishing as a metaphor with sex. Later in the song, Campbell sings, After that thats all she wanted to do, but that was okay cause I did too, she always wants to go down by the dam, and I love how she looks with that rod in her hand. Obviously, the rod is a metaphor for a mans penis, and the whole stanza refers to the woman being solely into the sex, and the man is too. I love to see her silhouette reflectin off the water, with her hooks and her sinkers and her pretty pink bobbers. The first time I saw her I knew I was in love, cause I found a girl who loves to Fish. The stanza proves that the man is only in love with this woman because of her breasts and her figure, not her personality or anything that is not connected to her appearance. Overall, this song depicts women in a very negative light as not only property with my baby, but also as sex objects. This, in turn, creates a very negative light for those girls who listen to music and think that women are either very much into the sport of fishing, or understand the song, and think that men are only into women for sex. Often thought of as the more wholesome genre, country music has gained a reputation for clean, American tunes. However, through an in-depth analysis of the just the Billboard Top 30, one can see that it is not as wholesome as once perceived. That is, unless, wholesomeness stands for inequality and perversions. According to Alan Jackson, Country Music: The Spirit of America. If this is true, I hope country music

fans inform these country stars about what harm these lyrics can do, and that country music, though once the spirit of America, is now the spirit of the less-reformed America.

Appendix
"God Gave Me You" Blake Shelton Ive been a walking heartache Ive made a mess of me The person that Ive been lately Aint who I wanna be But you stay here right beside me And watch as the storm blows through And I need you Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt And for when I think I lost my way There are no words here left to say, its true God gave me you Gave me you Theres more here than what were seeing A divine conspiracy That you, an angel lovely Could somehow fall for me Youll always be loves great martyr And Ill be the flattered fool And I need you God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt And for when I think I lost my way There are no words here left to say, its true God gave me you On my own Im only Half of what I could be I cant do without you We are stitched together And what love has tethered I pray we never undo Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt And for when I think I lost my way There are no words here left to say, its true

God gave me you, gave me you. He gave me you. "Long Hot Summer" Keith Urban I cant sleep Aint no sleep acoming Im just lying here thinking bout you Im in deep Falling deep into the picture in my mind of everything were gonna do Over at the lake and down by the river You can feel it start to rise Wanna jump in my car, go wherever you are Cause I need you by my side Its gonna be a long, hot summer, we should be together With your feet up on the dashboard now Singing along with the radio, its such a beautiful sound And when you say my name in the middle of the day, I swear I see the stars come out When you hold my hand in the back of my mind, just waiting on the sun to go down, the sun to go down I wanna see your brown skin shimmer in the sun for the first time I try to be the one who knows just what to do to you to get me that smile One chance of meeting, you were walking by me on the street and I said hi And that was the beginning of my heart spinnin like these wheels in my head tonight Its gonna be a long, hot summer, we should be together With your feet up on the dashboard now Singing along with the radio, its such a beautiful sound And when you say my name in the middle of the day, I swear I see the stars come out When you hold my hand in the back of my mind, just waiting on the sun to go down, the sun to go down The only place that I wanna be is where you are Cause anymore than a heartbeat away is just too far Its gonna be a long, hot summer, we should be together All I really want is more than this moment right now And when you say my name in the middle of the day, I swear I see the stars come out And when you hold my hand and I look into your eyes I swear it looks like youre waiting for the sun to go down, the sun to go down I swear its like youre waiting for the sun to go down Waiting on the sun to go down Hey, yeah Oh, Im loving thinking bout you I cant sleep, Im just lying here thinkin bout you

"Made In America" Toby Ketih My old man's that old man, Spent his life livin' off the land, Dirty hands, and a clean soul. It breaks his heart seein' foreign cars, Filled with fuel that isn't ours And wearin' cotton we didn't grow He's got the red, white, and blue flyin' high on the farm Semper Fi tattooed on his left arm Spend a little more in the store for a tag in the back that says USA He won't buy nothin' that he can't fix, With WD40 and a Craftsman wrench He ain't prejudiced, he's just made in America He loves his wife and shes that wife That decorates on the Fourth of July But says 'Every day's Independence Day' She's golden rule, teaches school, Some folks say it isn't cool But she says the Pledge of Allegiance anyway. He's got the red, white, and blue flyin' high on the farm Semper Fi tattooed on his left arm Spend a little more in the store for a tag in the back that says USA He won't buy nothin' that he can't fix, With WD40 and a Craftsman wrench He ain't prejudiced, he's just made in America Born in the Heartland, raised up a family Of King James and Uncle Sam He's got the red, white, and blue flyin' high on the farm Semper Fi tattooed on his left arm Spend a little more in the store for a tag in the back that says USA He won't buy nothin' that he can't fix, With WD40 and a Craftsman wrench He ain't prejudiced, he's just made in America Made in America Made in America My old man's that old man, He's made in America

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"I Got You" Thompson Square A car's got gasoline to run, down the road A crop's got rain, dirt and sun, to make 'em grow A song's got rhyme, a clock's got time You got me and baby [Chorus] I got you Yea you're it, the missing piece that makes me fit I got you, the breath I breathe, and there ain't nothing else I need Baby I got you, Yeah yeah yeah yeah I don't need a big ole house, full of stuff What my arms are wrapped around, that's enough Your morning smile, your kiss goodnight And everything's alright [Repeat Chorus] When the right goes wrong When I'm scared to death and got nothing left to lean on I got you Yeah yeah yeah yeah Yeah I do Baby I got you Yeah yeah yeah Yeah you got me to [Repeat Chorus] Yeah baby I got you Yeah yeah yeah yeah Baby I got you Baby I got you "Don't Want This Night To End" Luke Bryan Girl I know I dont know you But your pretty little eyes so blue Are pulling me in Like the moon on your skin

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Im so glad you trusted me To slide up on this dusty seat And let your hair down Get out of town Got the stars coming out over my hood And all I know now is its going good You got your hands up Youre rocking in my truck You got the radio on Youre singing every song Im set on cruise control Im slowly losing hold Of everything I got Youre looking so damn hot And I dont know what road were on Or where weve been From staring at you girl All I know is I dont want this night to end Gonna cuss the morning when it comes Cause I know the rising sun Aint no good for me Cause youll have to leave Gonna make the most of every mile Do anything to make your smile Land on my lips Get drunk on your kiss Clock on the dash says 3:35 Theres plenty of gas and the nights still alive You got your hands up Youre rocking in my truck You got the radio on Youre singing every song Im set on cruise control Im slowly losing hold Of everything I got Youre looking so damn hot And I dont know what road were on Or where weve been From staring at you girl All I know is I dont want this night to end

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You got your hands up Youre rocking in my truck You got the radio on Youre singing every song Im set on cruise control Im slowly losing hold Of everything I got Youre looking so damn hot And I dont know what road were on Or where weve been From staring at you girl All I know is I dont want this night to end I dont want this night to end No I dont want this night to end "Take It Off" Joe Nichols If you're feelin that summer time heat Got the top up on your jeep Take it off, go on now take it off. Got your boat up on the trailer back it down in a river, take it off Go on, now take it off. [Chorus:] If the weight world's on your shoulders Got a week of worries on your mind Go on, do what you wanna do Soak you up a little sunshine, Dig your hand down in a cooler grab a cold one and twist the top, Take it off, yeah take it off. You're a pretty little country thing bikini under them cut off jeans, take them off Come on mama take them off Those sunglasses on your head anything you dont want to get wet better take em off, jump in and take em off [Chorus:] If the weight of the world's on your shoulders Got a week of worries on your mind

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Go on, do what you wanna do Soak you up a little sunshine, Dig your hand down in a cooler grab a cold one and twist the top, Take it off Na na na na na uh uh uh Na na na na na We can go fishing in the full moonlight If you get one on line I'll take it off, girl I'll help you take it off. Got a blanket we can crawl underneath If it gets too hot to sleep We can take it off, baby we can take it off [Chorus:] Na na na na na uh uh uh Na na na na na Take it off Baby, take it off We can take it off. "Bait and Hook" Justin Moore I heard you had to drive him home after two umbrella drinks I heard he's got a Prius, 'cause he's into bein' green My buddies said he saw y'all, eatin' that sushi stuff Baby that don't sound like you, that don't sound like love, Sounds like it sucks... He can't even bait a hook He can't even skin a buck He don't know who Jack Daniels is He ain't ever drove a truck Knows how to throw out a line, But not the kind in a field and stream book No darlin' I ain't even worried, you'll come runnin' back He can't even bait a hook. Has he kissed you in a hay field as the summer rain falls down? Has he took you to meet his mama, back in his home town? Does he drive the interstate, or does he take them old back roads? Can he melt your heart with a country song, every good old boy should know? I didn't think so... He can't even bait a hook

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He can't even skin a buck He don't know who Jack Daniels is He ain't ever drove a truck Knows how to throw out a line, But not the kind in a field and stream book No darlin' I ain't even worried, you'll come runnin' back He can't even bait a hook. It won't be that long, 'til you start gettin' bored I'll be smilin' on the river, reelin' in one more... He can't even bait a hook He can't even skin a buck Hell he don't know who Jack Daniels is He ain't ever drove a truck Knows how to throw out a line, But not the kind in a field and stream book No darlin' I ain't even worried, cause you'll come runnin' back He can't even bait a hook No baby I ain't even worried He can't even bait a hook "Fish" Craig Campbell The first time we did it I was scared to death She snuck out in that cotton dress Jumped on in and we drove to the lake Put her hand on my knee and said I cant wait I had everything we needed in the bed of my truck Turns out my baby loves to... [Chorus:] Fish, she wants to do it all the time Early in the morning, in the middle of the night Shes hooked and now she cant get enough Man, that girl sure loves to fish After that thats all she wanted to do But that was okay cause I did too She always wants to go down by the dam And I love how she looks with that rod in her hand If they aint bitin she dont give up Turns out my baby loves to... [Chorus:] Fish, she wants to do it all the time Early in the morning, in the middle of the night

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Shes hooked and now she cant get enough Man, that girl sure loves to fish I love to see her silhouette reflectin off the water With her hooks and her sinkers and her pretty pink bobbers The first time I saw her I knew I was in love Cause I found a girl who loves to... Fish, I love to see her lyin There on the bank neath the full moon light Man, I cant even believe my luck I found a girl who loves to... [Chorus:] Fish, she wants to do it all the time Early in the morning, in the middle of the night Shes hooked and now she cant get enough Man, that girl sure loves to fish Yeah, I know she loves to fish Psst, you awake, lets fish

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