Do Women Still Expect a Fairytale Life?
Why should we study the representations of girlhood? As Mayne said in her article, representations reflect, reinterpret, and recreate norms. (Mayne) Analyzing the ways girlhood is represented at different historical moments offers and important lens on the broader societal discourses surrounding norms of gender, race, and sexuality. So how is girlhood represented today? When people are studying the 21st century how will they view adolescent and teenage girls? Previously in history girls and women have been suppressed.
In Kearney’s article, Producing Girls: Rethinking the Study of Female Youth Culture, he saw girls being portrayed as only cultural consumers and that there is a lack of girl representations as cultural producers. Women and girls are continually portrayed as on the “quest for perfect beauty,” or “the quest for Mr. Right.” Focusing on consumer practices of girls reinforces ideas about women and consumption and ignores girls’ roles as cultural producers. Female youth aren’t depicted as active producers of culture because adolescence is depicted as a time of “acting out” and experimentation. Also, production is coded as a masculine activity, and consumption as a feminine one.
I find the lack of feminism and feminism influence to be disturbing throughout pop culture. Just look at any Rolling Stone cover to know that male artists are regarded as “kings,” “geniuses”, etc. and see words like “dirty,” “naughty,” and “sexy” applied to the female artists. I do think that if one looks hard enough, they can find positive representations and women who are producers rather than consumers. My favorite example right now in pop culture is Sara Bareilles.
Sara Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records worldwide and has been Grammy nominated three times. Bareilles' is often compared to artists such as Fiona Apple, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones due to her vocal ability and incorporation of piano in her music. Her musical influences include Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera and Joni Mitchell. She is often praised for her songwriting abilities, with critics stating she "conveys vulnerability and wisdom in lyrics that speak honestly about relationships from a woman's point of view", and that her "writing voice is uniquely her own."
Maybe this music is called “uniquely her own” because she is telling HER story, not THE story that the current mass media markets as a young women’s life story. Sara Bareilles is in stark contrast to artists such as Taylor Swift, who sing about their perfect fairytale life and happy ending that involves finding a man. A song by Sara that I think portrays this perfectly is Fairtytale. In this song, Sara breaks away from all the societal norms around girlhood that is embedded in our culture since we were young. This norm is embedded through children’s books and Disney movies that the American youth has grown up with. Sara specifically denounces such stories like Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. What do all these childhood stories have in common? Being saved by A MAN. My favorite lyric is “Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, man made up a story said that I should believe him. Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight, but I don't want the next best thing. So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me, can't take no more of your fairytale love.
In this song Bareilles is not placing any importance on sexuality, or her body, like many other female artists today. She is also denouncing any reliance on a man. She is going against the norm by not being seen as flighty, emotional, or unserious. If girls are situated as marker’s of society’s moral location I think Sara is a good portrayal.
Many people claim that we are living in a post-feminine world and that feminism is no longer needed. I do not think this is true. I am glad that there are still women making great music and showcasing their talent instead of their body parts, for example: Sara Bareilles, Adele, Regina Spektor, and Brandi Carlisle. Feminism may be “dead” in the mainstream, but it is alive and thriving within indie subcultures. These artists show that there is potential for girls to represent themselves in popular culture in a way that repudiates traditional narratives of girlhood.
"Fairytale"
Cinderella's on her bedroom floor
She's got a
Crush on the guy at the liquor store
Cause Mr. Charming don't come home anymore
And she forgets why she came here
Sleeping Beauty's in a foul mood
For shame she says
None for you dear prince, I'm tired today
I'd rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming
'cause I don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried about the maiden though you know
She's only waiting on the next best thing
Snow White is doing dishes again cause
What else can you do
With seven itty-bitty men?
Sends them to bed and calls up a friend
Says will you meet me at midnight?
The tall blonde lets out a cry of despair says
Would have cut it myself if I knew men could climb hair
I'll have to find another tower somewhere and keep away from the windows
Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom
Man made up a story said that I should believe him
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight
But I don't want the next best thing
So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me
Can't take no more of your fairytale love
I don't care
I don't care
Worry bout the maiden though you know
She's only waiting spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb
Appreciation
But the story needs some mending and a better happy ending
Cause I don't want the next best thing
No no I don't want the next best thing
Mayne, Judith. “Women, Representation, and Culture.” In Reading Women’s Lives.
Brown, Adriane. Girl Power & Self Representation. Powerpoint.
Brown, Adriane. Intro to Youth Studies. Powerpoint
Kearney. Producing Girls: Rethinking the Study of Female Youth Culture.
I definitely agree that Sara Bareilles is a artist who speaks her own story, rather than the story that has been forced down other artists’ throats and projected through their music. Sara is an artist that appeals to both those “can-do girls” and the “at-risk girls” because her lyrics speak of stories and situations that all girls go through at some point in life. The most remarkable lines from the song, Fairytale, are “Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, Man made up a story said that I should believe him.” These lines express the history of the suppression of women who have been long told that they need men in their lives. Conversely, Sara Bareilles speaks of how women shouldn’t buy into these stories and make their own decisions about their lives.
ReplyDeleteI loved your point on she's telling HER story rather than THE story. I think more artists should be following Sara Bareilles' lead but the problem is that most artists don't write their own music anymore. Artists like Sara Bareilles' are relatable to girls who live in the real world. She's telling the story of what everyday girls go through and doesn't try to put off this fairytale image because it's just not reality. She sings about real life and empowers women to rely on themselves for happiness.
ReplyDeleteI loved this article. I definitely agree with you on the point that you are making in reference to how we label our popular media artists. For instance you said how males are referred to as kings and geniuses, while women are only referred to in derogatory terms like naughty and sexy. This is mainly because MEN have control of the media, and women have to basically follow into these labels into order to be successful. I love how more and more women are beginning to express their voices in the music industry by singing songs about basically whatever they want. For instance Lady Gaga will sing about her sexuality without fearing what people will think. The trend of having more women voice their opinions and write their own songs will only continue to grow as the years go on.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first went to youtube to find the music video “fairytale”, the music video by Taylor Swift was the first to come up. I was curious to see the difference after reading your blog about Sara Barriella’s song. Taylor Swift’s video focused on the fact that “Today was a fairytale” because the male told her she was pretty. It was the typical story line about “magic” in the air between a man and a woman and how they fell in love. Bareilles offers a completely different view focused on what women can be rather than focusing on the need for a man - “Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight, but I don't want the next best thing.” I appreciate her atypical view. You don’t see it often in popular culture today.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a fan of Sara Bareilles, mostly because of how similar I always found her music to other artists, including some of the ones you mentioned (Regina Spektor and Adele), and nothing she ever sang caught my attention. After reading your blog though, I listened to a few more of her songs and you're right, she does denounce pop culture in how she lacks dependency on any man (in her music at least). No matter what she sings though, she is still a straight, beautiful, white, can-do young woman, which contrasts with the message of a lot of her music. I might have to give her another try. You mentioned how titles of mainstream artists differs between genders, which is something I have never considered, and I think is an excellent point.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great subject, and Sara is a wonderful musician and has a great artistic perspective. I love how this blog directly applies to female youths because they are conditioned from the time they are young, watching Disney movies about princesses, to believe that love and the man of their dreams is perfect; truly like a fairytale. However, this is seldom the case in reality. Sara challenges the commonly held belief that the man is the who controls the relationship and knows what is right in the relationship, because she is pointing out how men frequently let women down in romantic relationships. It is refreshing to know that there is a mainstream artist who has this feminist outlook.
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