CHAUVINISM and FEMINISM in Music

INTRODUCTION
From the beginning of times we’ve spoken about the role of the man and the woman inside the
society, in which always the man has had a very important role and of great predominance,
whereas women have been seen like self-sacrificing, obedient and submissive, though across
the time the feminine role inside the society has changed, it is clear that the man remains
predominated as macho in his nature. Sexist acts are present in different aspects of daily life,
such as when women and men have different value judgments as regards the same facts.

Before going further, I will explain what Sexism and Chauvinism mean, to understand the rest of
the work. Sexism (or gender discrimination) is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's
sex or gender. Sexist attitudes may stem from traditional stereotypes of gender roles, and may
include the belief that a person of one sex is intrinsically superior to a person of the other. We
call “Chauvinism” to Male Sexism, which is the belief that men are superior to women. The
concept is associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride with the supreme valuation of
characteristics culturally associated with the masculine and a denigration of characteristics
associated with the feminine.” Many women identify that these pressures are perpetuated
through the way we choose to raise our children and establish social constructs based on
gender throughout a child’s development. This is complemented by the distant father-son
relationship in which intimacy and affection are typically avoided. These aspects set up the
environment through which the Machismo ideology perpetuates. It creates a sense of
inferiority in boys to reach this unattainable level of masculinity, which in turn is often
compensated by aggressive actions and an apathetic front to those around them, ultimately
reaching boys of future generations to continue the cycle.

When we speak about chauvinism it is necessary to demonstrate the physical and psychological
mistreatment by which many women are submitted.

How is chauvinism demonstrated trough music? Along the time we’ve seen the music as a way
of distraction so much like for teenagers, children and adults. The case is, does it only fulfill this
function? What is the society doing to mitigate the denigration of the woman in all aspects,
especially the music? Unfortunately, there are plenty of music genres that mistreat women
through their song lyrics, like Tango, Reggeton, Cumbia, among others, and also through their
videos, like most pop music.

In this paper I will be analyzing different types of music, going through different songs to
demonstrate how chauvinism is transmitted in different ways. I will study song lyrics taking into
account the following criteria:
- The depiction of women in traditional gender roles

- The use of (slang) words that portray women as inferior

- The supposition that a woman’s worth is determined by her appearance

- The use of female pronouns when referring to objects or ideas

- The portraying of women as a group with negative stereotypes

- The suggestion of a woman being an object, especially a sexual object

- The referring to women primarily as strippers or other sex workers

- The reference to forcing sexual acts on a woman

- The reference to violence against women in a positive manner

I will also be talking about feminist songs, where women try to fight against chauvinism. These
female artists are a great admiration for women, as they defend their rights and are full of
confidence. Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining,
establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women.

I personally chose this topic because I was extremely surprised when I realized that many of the
songs that we listen to every day, or the ones that are played on the radio and get in the top
rankings, have sexist or chauvinist messages disguised under the surface of nice and comforting
melodies that get into our heads and play themselves repeatedly almost involuntarily. Then we
start singing them, without really knowing what they even mean.
ANNALYSIS
According to the different genres in music, chauvinism was transmitted in different ways.
Tango, for example, became popular among our society in the middle of the 20 th century, and in
its songs, women were treated as prostitutes, objects and in a violent way. A clearly example
could be the song “Amablemente” (kindly) by Edmundo Rivero, where he talks about finding his
wife cheating on him with another man, lets the man go (considering ‘well it’s not your fault’),
and as he treats his wife “kindly” asking her for mates, he stubs her to death.

In Reggeton, men also treat women as garbage, with physical and sexual violence, placing them
in a denigrating inferior position, but it’s hidden behind these catchy rhythm tunes.

The Beatles are a great music symbol, and they have acquired a lot of prestige along the years,
yet they wrote a song where they imply they’re gonna kill a girl if they see her with another
man. The song is called “Run For Your Life”, and the following lines are part of it.

“…You better run for your life if you can, little girl

Hide your head in the sand little girl

Catch you with another man

That's the end little girl

Well you know that I'm a wicked guy

And I was born with a jealous mind

And I can't spend my whole life

Trying just to make you toe the line”

“…Let this be a sermon

I mean everything I've said

Baby, I'm determined

And I'd rather see you dead”

This song expresses a very similar message to the one in Edmundo Rivera’s song, formerly
mentioned, and Cacho Castaña’s song “Si te agarro con otro te mato”. This one says that if he
catches her woman with another man he’ll kill her, hit her and run away.
I would like to remark how hidden chauvinism could be. Look at the Beatles! The following
songs are more examples of chauvinism in music.

“I Put A Spell On You”, by Scremin’ Jay Hawkins. He says “I don’t care if you don’t want me. I’m
Yours, right now. I put a spell on you because you’re mine.”

“Because you’re mine”. Taking possession of a person is considered to be sexist. You can’t own
a person. You can be with one, and be in a relationship with one, but not own one. That would
be slavery.

Of course no-one thinks that by saying someone’s his or hers, he or she is implying slavery, but
it isn’t right.

“Respect”, by Otis Redding. It became a hit in 1967.

“What you want, honey you got it

And what you need, baby you got it

All I'm askin' is for a little respect when I come home”

“…Do me wrong honey, if you wanna

You can do me wrong, honey while I'm gone

But all I'm askin' is for a little respect when I come home”

“…Hey little girl, you're so sweeter than honey

And I'm about to give you all my money

But all I'm askin', hey

Is a little respect when I get home”

My understanding says that he buys her what she wants so he wants her to do what he wants
and treat him with respect. Respect being euphemism, which is a generally innocuous word or
expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant.
There are many other examples of songs with sexist messages, and sometimes they are
repeated with no social consciousness of what they’re really saying, but they succeed in the
music business due to their wide distribution.

In 2012, singer Marina & The Diamonds was filming her music video for her song “How to Be a
Heartbreaker”, directed by Marc & Ish. She said she had 100% of creative control of the video in
her hands and she figured “why not bring some Calvin Klein male models”.

Here’s a question: How many music videos have you seen, so far, in which full-dressed men
walk around semi naked women in a dominant way, making them look like desire objects,
exhibited only to attract and please masculine spectators? It’s a really old sexual pattern.

In spite of the undeniable summit in the respect towards the feminine figure and the evolution
towards the equity of kind in the last decades, this kind of sexual domination keeps on
happening, and it’s evident in music videos and lyrics like “Blurred Lines”. Women exhibited as
an object in men’s hands creates a product that aims to be consumed by masculine public,
becoming accomplice of this deal. We’re used to this dynamic, fed by (and also feeding) art,
communication media, fashion, religion, and for so long that it doesn’t even surprise us
anymore, we see it as something natural, we just take it for granted.

As an attempt to revert this, Marina & The Diamonds got her six Calvin Klein models and put
them on Speedo swimsuits beneath a shower, with her in the middle singing her song and
looking to the camera. Why can’t she do it when lots of men had played the game of
surrounding themselves with sexual objects at their services and no-one made a big deal about
it? She rolled the video, and instantly came across with some troubles. First, they told her the
video premiere was to be postponed because they needed more money and time to fix it, as
she looked ‘ugly’ in some scenes. The intention behind the decision to block the video is to try
to re-sexualize, embellish in the most objective sense Marina as a woman, over the overload of
male sensuality that was surrounding it. I don’t think any executive producer would ever say to
Pitbull “We’ve got to block and edit your music video because you appear to be very ugly in it in
comparison to the pretty girls in bikini around you.”

The chauvinism that hides behind this gesture is enormous, it is a response to the very nature
of Marina’s music video, the intention of its argument, and all this is evident with the simple
fact that they couldn’t do the same in a Lil Wayne or Big Sean music video. Because they are
men and they are not required to please anybody’s sexual demand.

Once, a journalist asked Adele: “Now that you're a famous singer, don't you think that you
should lose weight to give image? “. Do you imagine someone asking to The Notorious B. I. G.
that same question in his time? Unthinkable, isn't it? Because a woman is asked to be
attractive, and is under a constant pressure that men on the other hand are not (or at least not
as aggressively as in women). Fortunately Adele is self-assured and she answered:”I make music
for ears, not for eyes”.

"How To Be A Heartbreaker" was revised and reissued. Once men of the record label saw
Marina attractive enough to be displayed, the video was published on 28 September 2012 on
YouTube, but trouble continued. At the beginning of the distribution of the video, the record
label received letters of rejection from some chains of American music. Marina stated the
following: "Some chains refused to issue the video clip claiming that it was "homoerotic".
However, when talking with them, they accepted that if they had been women who were in the
video, there would be no problem to emit it".

The video had to pass through such closed-minded people, that instead of rejecting it to be
"erotic for the female audience", they disapproved it before for being "homoerotic". This, in
addition to being a crude gesture of homophobia, constitutes the total denial of the existence
of a female audience that can enjoy seeing naked men. It is established that the eyes that see
and consume content are always men eyes. Or at least they seem to be the only ones who
deserve the taking into account by TV companies.

There have been plenty of women who expressed violent and discriminating acts, and how they
shouldn’t, and mustn’t happen, such as Suzanne Vega, with her song “Luka”and Bebe, with her
song “Malo”.

I believe it’s necessary to think about the meaning of the real message written on the songs
lyrics, to prevent these discriminatory and violent acts from being considered as natural
behaviors. It’s not about isolated crimes, it’s a real social and political problem that affects,
undoubtfully, human rights.