Excerpt from: “Gender Equality: Now”
“Girls and boys women and men are expected by society to play certain roles and behave in certain ways based on traditions, religion, and other beliefs these behaviors are learned and shaped the gender norms in a society.”
Excerpt from: “These are the best speeches on Gender Equality”
“Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights….Women are not even accepted as human beings, they are treated with injustice and inequality. Women are denied, they are neglected even in the developed countries.”
Excerpt from: CBS News – “How the Pandemic is deepening gender inequality nationwide”
“But what I find really alarming is 7 months into this recovery we’ve just saw the latest data and women are dropping out of the labor force”
Jordan: “When gender equality comes to mind, what do you think of first? Perhaps women “belonging in the kitchen?” Or men being paid more in the workplace? How about who is “supposed” to take care of the children and the home? No matter what your socioeconomic status is, basically everyone can relate in one way or another.”
“Taylor Swift, one of the biggest pop stars ever known, also relates to the daily struggles that women face in order to have the same opportunities as men in society. She created a song for her album Lover that encompasses the gender norms that have been ingrained in our world and questions how life would be if only she were “The Man.”
“ The song tells a story of the different avenues that men and women take that are unequal. She starts off saying how she would act and come across to others. Then she dives into the different standards of men versus women when it comes to dating.
Excerpt from: Miss Americana – Netflix
“Going through guys like a train…. Can we just get a pan down, I just wanted to show the legs cause as I was telling you ahead of time you’re gonna walk home with more maybe than just a trophee tonight, I think lots of men.”
“I’m not going to walk home with any men tonight.”
Jordan: In addition she discusses how men are always heard and believed which in my opinion, also ties in the idea of the “Me Too Movement because there is often controversy around whether or not women tell the truth about their assault stories and have to PROVE themselves. I found this to be a clever remark for her to add into the song. Then comes the chorus:”
Jordan: “This part of the song reiterates the entire point of the song like a chorus should. She says, “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can…”. She is saying that from a woman’s perspective, we have to try 10 times harder to just get to where a man comfortably exists.
Then Swift dives into more issues of inequalities.”
“Swift makes digs at the wage inequities and how men are able to flaunt their wealth but women cannot or they look greedy and self absorbed. Then she touches on how it’s okay for men to be bad people and hot headed and have no consequences. After this portion of the song, Swift goes back to the chorus and ties it all together at the end but they all show how much easier it is for men to live in a world where they are praised and women suffer.
Swift makes digs at the wage inequities and how men are able to flaunt their wealth but women cannot or they look greedy and self absorbed. Then she touches on how it’s okay for men to be bad people and hot headed and have no consequences. After this portion of the song, Swift goes back to the chorus and ties it all together at the end but they all show how much easier it is for men to live in a world where they are praised and women suffer.
Now I want to discuss the aspects of the music video that are VERY important to the theme of the song and contribute to its meaning and significance.
The biggest aspect of the music video, which is revealed at the end, is the fact that Taylor is quite literally playing the man character! She had makeup and prosthetics on his face to make her look manly. I think it is ironic that she plays all the roles of a man and performs them well throughout the song and only at the end is it revealed that she really was the man in disguise. This goes to show that she CAN do everything a man can do on equal levels. All because she was dressed to look like a man, she was treated fairly.
Now I want to look at some things that have come about in recent times in regards to gender inequality and how the pandemic affects those struggles.”
Jordan: “There are many parts in the music video that show the man being praised for doing everyday tasks, especially ones that women do just as well and receive no praise in return. It is ingrained in society’s norms that women stay home with the children and men work. In the video, the man takes care of the little girls once and is fawned over.
Another part of the music video is of importance when you see the lady laying in his bed while he puts on his suit and goes to work. I find that this clip of the video perfectly fits the stereotype of women staying home while the man does all the “hard, money-making work.
I think one of the best things about the video is at the very end when Taylor is on screen. The man character comes off set and asks Swift how he performed and she criticized him to do better and be “sexier.” This shows an exchange of power from the normal situation of a man critiquing a woman, and reverses that narrative. He then says “okay no problem.” I just really liked how this left a lasting powerful impression on the viewer that a woman can be in charge of their own lives and situations! Now I want to play a youtube video clip that talks about gender stereotypes.”
Excerpt: “Gender: What Can I do to Challange Gender Steryotypes?
“But it’s not only the clothes that we wear, it’s also to do with our body language, its how we sit or stand or walk. It’s how we interact with others, our hobbies, the people we hangout with or even the types of jobs we choose once we finish school. Gender tends to play a big part in making those decisions.
Jordan: “exactly what this women is talking about is what we see in Taylor Swift’s video.”
From the clip: “And it’s worth naming that none of that stuff is actually biological. So obviously nobody’s born to wear pants or a dress or to wear makeup or shave their legs, this is all stuff that we are taught to do and expected to do in society based on our gender.
Excerpt from: ‘How Gender Equality Benefits Everyone”
“As Malala Yousafzai, a 19-year-old Pakistani activist for female education, once said, Feminism is just another word for equality.”
Jordan: “As I close today, I want to express the significance in this song as well as the idea of gender equality as a whole. I think what Swift is doing is remarkable. She is a big name popstar using her platform to shed light on a topic that many people push under the rug. Her goal for this song was not to bash men but rather give a detailed, and at some points a purposefully exaggerated, depiction of today’s gender inequalities.
Although we have a long road ahead of us for equality between men and women, I am pleased that people of fame have begun to shed light on this topic.”
Leave a Reply