[RESEARCH] Gender in Music, and Representation of Women

Music, a worldwide phenomenon that everyone has heard of at any point of their lifetime. It’s a think which gets us pumped up and ready for anything, may that be dancing or just burst in song. But, times like these, you really realise how music has changed from being just a musical and inspirational piece, to just plain disgusting and horrible habits that musicians and celebrities have gotten themselves into.
There are many artists, however, which want to break the wall and say “This is all wrong.” Here are some of the few examples which I feel are very good videos and pieces of music which can really show some of the ugly parts of today’s culture.

P!nk – Stupid Girl

P!nk, the most iconic woman in pop music to this day; everyone knows one of her songs, she’s known for not caring about what other people people think of her and bringing out pieces like Stupid Girl. Many of her songs are pretty based around her own lifestyle, but at some points, she really takes things to a new level, to flesh out and bring out some of the worst forms of realistic culture.
As the video begins, you can see a little girl perched onto a sofa, watching the TV. On both of the little girl’s shoulders is a ‘Devil’ and an ‘Angel’ that is trying to tell her what she should watch and learn from. Each channel the girl goes through, it’s showing how females should act in certain situations and in every day life, how they should look, and how they should be in the eyes of the man. The video actually takes snippets of what other music videos are like, how other celebrities and ‘showy’ women are like in the world, and how THEY get more attention then the normal, ‘unfortunate’ girls.
This is a great video for everyone to watch; you realise by the end that you are fortunate with what you already have, and how you already are. You don’t need to prove or become another to gain what you need in life. Everyone is equal  both male and female, and even if you don’t have the most perfect body, you will possibly have a better personality or better well being instead. Everyone has their own flaws and problems, and that is something worth learning.

Frank Turner – The Way I Tend To Be

Frank Turner is a great composer, and sings ever so beautifully to the songs he writes. It’s an inspirational song, more then something which represents gender, but it also brings out some of the truth in himself, and in others as well.
As the video starts, you can see a man walking towards nothing with a shovel on his shoulder, as if he is lost or unaware of life, of living. As he progresses, he feels the need to do something, to ‘dig’ his fears away of the way he is. Maybe this is to show that he doesn’t like himself for what he has become by looking at beautiful women and wishing (‘each time with each beautiful woman but somehow it never works out.‘ – Lyrics), or what he believes in to be right when others feel like it’s wrong. This being is almost like shining light on how that all men can be, how they can act towards other people and pretend that nothing is wrong. However, the woman, so pure and able to get through anything, he is taking lessons from, and learning from ‘her’ as if it will make him a much more better person. This could mean that Turner is changing the way the roles carry out, and that the woman knows what she’s doing, and the man is lost without her.
The video doesn’t really show the whole meaning of the song, but the lyrics give you a clear understanding of what Turner really wants to show to the listener.

Clutch – Cyborg Bette

Much known for their very descriptive lyrics and songs; Clutch is a an American band whom aren’t very popular, but have some of the most gruesome and imaginative songs from them.
Unfortunately there is no music video for this track, but Cyborg Bette is basically a song based around a robot woman that a man is using as his own wife. Then he goes on to say that the ‘robot woman’ has been created specifically for himself, and for no one else. As the song progresses, Cyber Bette then becomes a little more unresponsive, and almost unlike herself, which the man doesn’t like the way she’s now acting. From here, he then starts to brag to her, after he found out that she was cheating on him, and has been treating him wrong the whole time, that she has easily bought a new model, and she’s ‘Mine, oh mine!‘ This is quite a horrible thought, the concept of actually throwing away women and finding it so easy to grab another. Robots to represent women is a great way to show how women are sometimes represented in general, robots are distributed easily and are created and give them commands to keep in check of what their creators want them to do.
This song is pretty brutal to how women should be represented, but however, maybe the lyrics are trying to teach the listeners just how badly they’re treated in the wide run.

Tagged: Change, Clutch, Culture, Frank Turner, Gender, Music, Music Video, P!nk, Pink, Research, Video