This post is in regards to Leslie Gore’s, “It’s My Party” video, the Fiona Apple video, “Criminal,” Lil’ Kim’s “How Many Licks” video, and the article in response to Apple’s “Criminal” video. Numerous aspects could be analyzed including the lyrics, images, culture, and gender portrayed within these works. However, I am going to focus on the ways in which lyrics and videos examine gender roles. I am currently student teaching grades 10-12, and my students and I often look at gender roles and how a piece of literature or work either identifies with or goes against them. Over time, females’ role in music has changed dramatically, as have female characters seen within literature and other forms of writing. Pairing a character analysis with the lyrics/video of a song can help students explore gender roles and help them better understand the character, as well as their “role” within the novel or work. Our society has witnessed females going against their stereotypes to reveal that not all women are required to think, behave or feel in a specific manner.
Gore’s song smoothly carries and exhibits the gender role for females. In Gore’s lyrics, it is evident that she likes Johnny, but that he decides to go with another girl at her party. The main chorus states: “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to, you would cry too if it happened to you.” Regardless of when this was written, there is no way that this would have been as famous had it been sang / written by a male. A common gender role for males is to be strong and not show emotions. However, it is the complete opposite for females; it is okay for them to shed tears, hug their girlfriends, and be emotional head-cases. Even today, it is rare that one sees men cry over something so insignificant. With that, one does not see a lot of males trying to go against this gender role, in the past or present.
Shifting forward to the 90’s, Apple presents the audience with an eerie, disturbing feeling. Near the beginning of her song she sings, “I’ve been careless with a delicate man. and it’s a sad, sad, world, when a girl can break a boy just because she can.” These words counter both gender roles, saying females can have more power than males, and that it is possible for a man to be easily broken. The video portrays Apple as being both girl and woman, both ignorant and aware of the sexual world. It is also evident that there a few men there, and neither of them are the “delicate man” she references in the beginning. It’s easy to assume she betrays the man who’s “all [she] ever knew of love.”
Flash-forward again to the 21st century, and we are introduced to Lil’ Kim’s extremely sexual, crude lyrics and video. I, for one, am an avid fan of hip-hop. I used to love and listen to this song all of the time. However, I never really listened to the lyrics, nor had I seen the video. I could NOT believe my eyes and ears after I watched and listened to this video. Now, this got me thinking; would I have thought differently if a MALE wrote this and talked about the myriad of different women he sleeps? Probably not. Regardless of my opinion of the video and lyrics, I still give credit to Lil’ Kim for putting her sexuality and vulgar language out to the public. I think some rules / boundaries were meant to be broken. However, I do believe there is a limit.
The history of gender roles and how they have evolved (or not) could easily be examined within female musician’s lyrics and videos. If I were to have my students analyze a character, I would have them consider the context: where and when is this taking place? What roles and rights did women have during this time? What if this character from the 19th century was teleported to today’s society? How would she be viewed? This is not only a great way to incorporate music, history, and culture into the classroom, but it is a creative way to GRAB the student’s attention and hold it throughout the remainder of the unit.
