Man I Feel Like A Woman Analysis
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Alexandra P. Garcia Ortiz
Professor Terra Joseph
CMP 120 G1
17 November 2014
Man! I Feel Like A Woman
Up until the last few decades, women everywhere were expected to act a certain way in public and around others. There used to be a lot of rules of how a ‘lady’ was suppose to act, and it was expected of women everywhere to know these rules and to act accordingly. Nowadays, these rules are being challenged day by day. The expectations are still there from the generations before, but generation Z has already begun to breakout from this shell, and the women of today are more empowered than ever. Country singer Shania Twain is one of the voices of today that promotes the empowerment of women everywhere. Through her song Man! I Feel Like A …show more content…
Woman, Twain challenges the views discussed in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” and Peggy
Orenstein’s Just Between You, Me, And My 622 BFFs by encouraging girls everywhere to be their own person and that acting how they feel like doesn’t make them any less of a woman, or in any way indecent.
Man! I Feel Like A Woman is Twain’s 1999 hit single from the album “Come on Over”; the music video was shot in New York City and it makes a notsosubtle attempt to reverse popular music video gender norms by having objectified men in the background rather than women. The lyrics express a desire to feel free and to act how one pleases for self satisfaction and the purpose of simple joy and entertainment. Although Twain objectifies herself in the music video by removing her clothes until she’s left in a short black dress, when compiled with the
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lyrics, it serves the purpose of sending out a message which constitutes that she can be a respected woman even if she wears “men’s shirts, short skirts” (Twain). The song was a big hit with women around the world and women who enjoy different genres of music. In its time, it was an anthem of empowerment.
However, is Twain’s song truly meant to make us aspire to be our own person if even she belittles herself by stripping in her video in order to attract attention? Orenstein makes a point about objectifying oneself that I perceive as relevant. She states:
Perhaps that highwire act, as much as anything, reveals the lie of girls’ popular culture: if the sexualization and attention to appearance truly
“empowered” girls, they would emerge from childhood with more freedom and control over their sexuality. (448)
In other words, if sexualizing oneself (like pop culture role models) truly empowered women, they would not be subjected to harassment and objectification by other humans with harmful intentions. The easy access to social media has allowed the female youth of today to turn towards their peers to seek for acceptance and validation about their looks and personality. The consequence of this is that more young girls nowadays are thinking that it has become a norm to strip on camera for others and that in turn, they will be accepted by them. The effect is always a loss of respect and dignity when the pictures become public; and then the world finds itself asking, why did they do it in the first place? I agree wholeheartedly with Orenstein’s colleague,
Deborah Tolman, when she theorizes that “girls … are not connecting more deeply to their own feelings, needs, or desires. Instead, sexual entitlement itself has become a performance, something to ‘do’ rather than to ‘experience’” (451). To summarize, sex has simply become a
Garcia 3
trend to girls instead of something meaningful; that the way to survive socially in this world is through perverse behaviour for the pleasure of others, typically men. But, who are we to say that the Shania Twain presented to us in the video isn’t her own person in the first place?
Who are we to condemn her for flaunting her sexuality if she wants to do so? Every woman in the world has a right to wear whatever she pleases and society should not judge them for wearing what they want. Girls everywhere have a right to wear what makes them comfortable, and if they want to wear something that makes them feel beautiful, we should support that notion rather than condemn it. After all, there’s no better way to empower women than making them feel confident enough to convey who they are through whatever means they desire. Although it is true that girls are taking advantage of social media to objectify themselves, it is not fair to say that all women do it for this purpose; because we have a right to post whatever we please on our social media even if not everyone agrees to it, and that’s the kind of notion
Twain is trying to implore in her song.
A lot of these notions about hiding one’s sexuality and repressing one’s natural desire comes from generation X. In Kincaid’s piece, she references a lot how the young girl was told she should present herself to avoid “becoming the slut I have warned you against becoming”
(385). The girl gets reprimanded numerous times for doing things that would attract …show more content…
unwanted male attention, and she is being taught to think that if she wants to attract this attention, she would be consider a slut. A lot of women nowadays use the term “slut” to insult other women. It sends a message to society that women who indulge in sexual pleasure and desire are impure and even dirty. The modern term being used for this is called “slut shaming”, and it’s basically a type
Garcia 4
of verbal harassment towards women who indulge in sexual pleasure and aren’t afraid to feel good about it.
But why is “slut shaming” such a prominent thing in society amongst women when men are exalted for their sexual encounters? Why is something equally pleasurable to women as it is to men considered sinful when it is a woman who desires it? These types of double standards cause a lot of of emotional stress and pressure on women who wish to express their sexuality and not be shamed for it. At times, this want to find pleasurable encounters with others causes women to express themselves through social media, which only further complicates matters if evidence of their sexual quests are made viral. All of this could be avoided if humankind accepts the fact that women aren’t objects meant to be conquered by men and that they have desires and sexual needs just as much as men do. Double standards only hinders the growth of society, and it is something that needs to disappear.
I personally feel that song lyrics hold arguments in them, typically in the chorus, and that in Twain’s case the line: “I wanna be free ...
to feel the way I feel” would be her main focus in the song. After all, what better way to empower oneself than to vocalize one’s desires and expectations in a groovy country tune? This is also the lyric where I feel she makes her point the best, where I can piece together what she means to say by it and understand that she’s delivering the message that we are allowed to feel any way we do and that it doesn’t make us any less of a woman than we already were. By singing this line, we can assume Twain didn’t feel free to “get out of line”, “forget I’m a lady”, “color my hair, do what I dare” or “go totally crazy”. This song makes us understand that doing these sorts of things are not common around her, and that by doing these things she’s breaking a norm and yet she’s also being herself. I feel a lot of people
Garcia 5
will be able to relate to this because of all the strict gender norms placed upon them. Some examples for women would be things like sitting with their legs crossed, having long hair, and even watching what they eat. Are women not allowed to spread their legs, have short hair or
eat what they please? Well if anyone ever feels this way, they can always belt out the lyrics from
Man! I Feel Like A Woman and show everyone how proud they are to be who they are, because why is society making women feel the opposite in the first place?
So why should people add Man! I Feel Like A Woman to their workout playlist? Through this song Shania Twain proves herself to be attractive to everyone—including herself! Because before society begins to think about pleasing others, it should please itself first with the liberty of freedom of expression and the ability to voice one’s persona and know that it’s ok to do so.
Women everywhere should take a page from Twain’s songbook and recognize that “the best thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun”, and to be able to have fun in any way one desires because in the end, people are often hardest on themselves. And you know what? Man! I feel like a woman!
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Works Cited
Man! I Feel Like A Woman. Perf. Shania Twain. Mercury Nashville Records, 2003. Film.
Twain, Shania, and Robert John Lange. "Man! I Feel Like A Woman Lyrics." AZ Lyrics. Web. 9
Nov. 2014. <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/shaniatwain/manifeellikeawoman.html>.
"Man! I Feel Like A Woman." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man!_I_Feel_Like_a_Woman!>.
"Shania Twain." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shania_Twain>.
Orenstein, Peggy. "Just Between You, Me, and My 622 BFFs." Rereading America. 9th ed.
Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2013. 446453. Print.
Alexandra P. Garcia Ortiz
Professor Terra Joseph
CMP 120 G1
17 November 2014
Man! I Feel Like A Woman
Up until the last few decades, women everywhere were expected to act a certain way in public and around others. There used to be a lot of rules of how a ‘lady’ was suppose to act, and it was expected of women everywhere to know these rules and to act accordingly. Nowadays, these rules are being challenged day by day. The expectations are still there from the generations before, but generation Z has already begun to breakout from this shell, and the women of today are more empowered than ever. Country singer Shania Twain is one of the voices of today that promotes the empowerment of women everywhere. Through her song Man! I Feel Like A …show more content…
Woman, Twain challenges the views discussed in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” and Peggy
Orenstein’s Just Between You, Me, And My 622 BFFs by encouraging girls everywhere to be their own person and that acting how they feel like doesn’t make them any less of a woman, or in any way indecent.
Man! I Feel Like A Woman is Twain’s 1999 hit single from the album “Come on Over”; the music video was shot in New York City and it makes a notsosubtle attempt to reverse popular music video gender norms by having objectified men in the background rather than women. The lyrics express a desire to feel free and to act how one pleases for self satisfaction and the purpose of simple joy and entertainment. Although Twain objectifies herself in the music video by removing her clothes until she’s left in a short black dress, when compiled with the
Garcia 2
lyrics, it serves the purpose of sending out a message which constitutes that she can be a respected woman even if she wears “men’s shirts, short skirts” (Twain). The song was a big hit with women around the world and women who enjoy different genres of music. In its time, it was an anthem of empowerment.
However, is Twain’s song truly meant to make us aspire to be our own person if even she belittles herself by stripping in her video in order to attract attention? Orenstein makes a point about objectifying oneself that I perceive as relevant. She states:
Perhaps that highwire act, as much as anything, reveals the lie of girls’ popular culture: if the sexualization and attention to appearance truly
“empowered” girls, they would emerge from childhood with more freedom and control over their sexuality. (448)
In other words, if sexualizing oneself (like pop culture role models) truly empowered women, they would not be subjected to harassment and objectification by other humans with harmful intentions. The easy access to social media has allowed the female youth of today to turn towards their peers to seek for acceptance and validation about their looks and personality. The consequence of this is that more young girls nowadays are thinking that it has become a norm to strip on camera for others and that in turn, they will be accepted by them. The effect is always a loss of respect and dignity when the pictures become public; and then the world finds itself asking, why did they do it in the first place? I agree wholeheartedly with Orenstein’s colleague,
Deborah Tolman, when she theorizes that “girls … are not connecting more deeply to their own feelings, needs, or desires. Instead, sexual entitlement itself has become a performance, something to ‘do’ rather than to ‘experience’” (451). To summarize, sex has simply become a
Garcia 3
trend to girls instead of something meaningful; that the way to survive socially in this world is through perverse behaviour for the pleasure of others, typically men. But, who are we to say that the Shania Twain presented to us in the video isn’t her own person in the first place?
Who are we to condemn her for flaunting her sexuality if she wants to do so? Every woman in the world has a right to wear whatever she pleases and society should not judge them for wearing what they want. Girls everywhere have a right to wear what makes them comfortable, and if they want to wear something that makes them feel beautiful, we should support that notion rather than condemn it. After all, there’s no better way to empower women than making them feel confident enough to convey who they are through whatever means they desire. Although it is true that girls are taking advantage of social media to objectify themselves, it is not fair to say that all women do it for this purpose; because we have a right to post whatever we please on our social media even if not everyone agrees to it, and that’s the kind of notion
Twain is trying to implore in her song.
A lot of these notions about hiding one’s sexuality and repressing one’s natural desire comes from generation X. In Kincaid’s piece, she references a lot how the young girl was told she should present herself to avoid “becoming the slut I have warned you against becoming”
(385). The girl gets reprimanded numerous times for doing things that would attract …show more content…
unwanted male attention, and she is being taught to think that if she wants to attract this attention, she would be consider a slut. A lot of women nowadays use the term “slut” to insult other women. It sends a message to society that women who indulge in sexual pleasure and desire are impure and even dirty. The modern term being used for this is called “slut shaming”, and it’s basically a type
Garcia 4
of verbal harassment towards women who indulge in sexual pleasure and aren’t afraid to feel good about it.
But why is “slut shaming” such a prominent thing in society amongst women when men are exalted for their sexual encounters? Why is something equally pleasurable to women as it is to men considered sinful when it is a woman who desires it? These types of double standards cause a lot of of emotional stress and pressure on women who wish to express their sexuality and not be shamed for it. At times, this want to find pleasurable encounters with others causes women to express themselves through social media, which only further complicates matters if evidence of their sexual quests are made viral. All of this could be avoided if humankind accepts the fact that women aren’t objects meant to be conquered by men and that they have desires and sexual needs just as much as men do. Double standards only hinders the growth of society, and it is something that needs to disappear.
I personally feel that song lyrics hold arguments in them, typically in the chorus, and that in Twain’s case the line: “I wanna be free ...
to feel the way I feel” would be her main focus in the song. After all, what better way to empower oneself than to vocalize one’s desires and expectations in a groovy country tune? This is also the lyric where I feel she makes her point the best, where I can piece together what she means to say by it and understand that she’s delivering the message that we are allowed to feel any way we do and that it doesn’t make us any less of a woman than we already were. By singing this line, we can assume Twain didn’t feel free to “get out of line”, “forget I’m a lady”, “color my hair, do what I dare” or “go totally crazy”. This song makes us understand that doing these sorts of things are not common around her, and that by doing these things she’s breaking a norm and yet she’s also being herself. I feel a lot of people
Garcia 5
will be able to relate to this because of all the strict gender norms placed upon them. Some examples for women would be things like sitting with their legs crossed, having long hair, and even watching what they eat. Are women not allowed to spread their legs, have short hair or
eat what they please? Well if anyone ever feels this way, they can always belt out the lyrics from
Man! I Feel Like A Woman and show everyone how proud they are to be who they are, because why is society making women feel the opposite in the first place?
So why should people add Man! I Feel Like A Woman to their workout playlist? Through this song Shania Twain proves herself to be attractive to everyone—including herself! Because before society begins to think about pleasing others, it should please itself first with the liberty of freedom of expression and the ability to voice one’s persona and know that it’s ok to do so.
Women everywhere should take a page from Twain’s songbook and recognize that “the best thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun”, and to be able to have fun in any way one desires because in the end, people are often hardest on themselves. And you know what? Man! I feel like a woman!
Garcia 6
Works Cited
Man! I Feel Like A Woman. Perf. Shania Twain. Mercury Nashville Records, 2003. Film.
Twain, Shania, and Robert John Lange. "Man! I Feel Like A Woman Lyrics." AZ Lyrics. Web. 9
Nov. 2014. <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/shaniatwain/manifeellikeawoman.html>.
"Man! I Feel Like A Woman." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man!_I_Feel_Like_a_Woman!>.
"Shania Twain." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shania_Twain>.
Orenstein, Peggy. "Just Between You, Me, and My 622 BFFs." Rereading America. 9th ed.
Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2013. 446453. Print.