Lyrics to You Belong With Me
The work of culture I selected was a song. The song and music video You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift is important to discuss. Both the song and the video are filled with stereotypes that promote false ideas about what is important to teenage girl. Although the song did not cause any public controversy, I believe the subject matter needs to be discussed. I think the message that Taylor Swift is sending in the song and music video You Belong With Me is that all girls should worry about is boys. She is promoting the idea that as a teenage girl you need to have a boyfriend in high school. There are many examples in the song and music video that prove the ideas she is promoting.
One example of the stereotypes Taylor Swift portrays in the song is that your appearance and your popularity matter when trying to get a guy to be interested in you. For example one of the lyrics in the song states, “ she was shorts skirts, I wear t-shirts, she’s cheer captain and i'm on the bleachers.” So she is comparing herself to a cheerleader that wears short clothing and somewhat saying this is why that guy is with her over me. She’s sending the message to girls that you need to wear short skirts and be a cheerleader for guys to like you. Also at the end of the music video she gets all dressed up and takes off her glasses and that’s when he notices her. She is portraying this idea that you need to take your glasses off to be pretty and for a boy to notice you. As she goes about her daily life activities she always seems to be thinking about him. She constantly watches from the outside while he argues with his girlfriend and waits around for them to break up. It is clear that the words she sings and the scenes in the video show what she thinks a teenage girl is like or needs to be.
The work of culture I analyzed relates to a lot of other pieces of culture as well as the life of a teenage girl. In many modern day movies and tv shows that take place in a high school setting all show the cheerleaders being the popular ones. The head cheerleader always dates the captain of the football team and he always ends up breaking up with her because she cheats on him or he realizes she only cares about herself. This is the same as in the music video I talked about. When younger girls watch things like this they grow up believing these stereotypes, but in reality that's not how it is. Personally this work of culture offends me because I do wear a uniform similar to a cheerleader, and I get called a cheerleader like it’s a negative thing. Cheerleaders are not always mean people, and girls don’t have to wear short skirts and take off their glasses to be noticed. Overall this music video is entertaining but promotes ideas that are not only offensive but just aren't realistic.
Your thesis was really strong and you had good evidence to support your arguments, but honestly you could've gone even more in depth in your explanations as to what bigger ideologies are coming into play. I completely agree with what you're saying and you make some really good points! Nice!
ReplyDeleteYour thesis was really strong and you had good evidence to support your arguments, but honestly you could've gone even more in depth in your explanations as to what bigger ideologies are coming into play. I completely agree with what you're saying and you make some really good points! Nice!
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was really well written and made me really think about how teenage girls are represented in media. I completely agree also. Good Job!
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