Blog #11: SPARCC Summary

 Hello Again all,

For this week's blog post I decided I would attend a student run presentation that covered the complexities, norms, and double standards that are shown while analyzing gender roles in hour music media. I decided to attend this presentation because I thought it would have the most significant/relevant findings that can be tied into current events happening today in music media. While attending this event I learned a number of many interesting thoughts, ideas, and insights into how gender roles are present in music media and how it affects our relationships with people of differing gender identities. This is is what I learned:

• Women are portrayed as passive objects within music media today which presenters believe to be very problematic in terms of its portal of women. Causing increase acceptance of objectification of women within our society. While also negatively influencing the minds of our youth who may not be able to discern the complexities of the objectifying lyrics they are listening to. 
• In music there have been findings that the word “man” is said over “boy” significantly more than “girl” being said over “women,” which the presenters of today attribute to out societal acceptance of masculinity over femininity. 
• They believe that this sort of cultural objectification of women in music can have a terribly negative effect on how women are viewed and tends to reinforce oppressive gender stereotypes  
• A woman as the object of a male’s desire was the most dominate opinion of those who were surveyed on what they most ideally view each sex’s role in music videos they watch. 
• Hypothesis: the music industry favors male artist over female artist  
• Women meant up 22% of artist 12% of song writers and less than 5% of entertainers 
• In the genres of Hip-hop, country, and Pop music, the objectification is present in some form in most songs created by both male and female artists. 
• Most people surveyed acknowledged that the music industry does indeed heavily favor male talent over women talent because of the fear of shift in power dynamic as well as the fear that women may perform more adequately at the same occupations compared to their male counter parts. 
• Respondents to the survey also believed that country music flew under the radar in terms of its reinforcement of negative gender stereotypes because of the outdated beliefs of gender roles that are portrayed in their music. 
• Said to have a dated viewpoint said to be left in the 50’s by presenter. 
• Though there has been notable change in terms of the amount of female artist who have shown to gain a substantial following and notoriety in mainstream media, they still have a significant way to go in terms of there being equal treatment and representation of women in music media compared to men.