Sexist Implications In Pop Music In The 1900's

Pop music has been a big part of our culture for a long time, but it has also been misogynistic and disempowering to women for even longer. Men have treated women as sex objects, and women also have put themselves down to appeal to men in songs and music videos. Although there are a lot of sexist implications in songs from the 1900’s through early 2000’s, in the 2010’s music began to get better. Pop music is better than it was in the past because it’s less sexist and focuses on uplifting women.
A good example of a classic song that has sexist implications is, the 1949 christmas song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” by Dean Martin. In the first verse, the song starts out with the man pleading for the women to stay with him in his house, “I really
can’t stay/ Baby it’s cold outside.” Throughout the rest of the song, the man continues to beg and badger the women to stay, and she ends up complying, basically allowing him to trap her inside of his home. Besides the creepy trapping implications, Martin also spends most of the song, demoting her down to her looks, “Beautiful what's the hurry.. Gosh your lips look delicious.” In contrast in 2016, Meghan Trainor wrote the song, “No,” which not only uplifts women, but states that just because a man seeks interest in a woman, doesn’t mean she needs to give him consent or comply with him if she isn’t interested in him. In the first verse, she states, “My name is no/ My sign is no/ My number is no/ You need to let it go.” What she sings, are phrases that men frequently say to women that are overplayed, not necessary and usually make women feel uncomfortable. Trainor is speaking up for all women and telling them that they don’t have to comply with men if they feel they’re in an unbearable situation. She’s also empowering women when she sings the lyrics, “I don’t need your hands all over me/ If I want a man/ Then I’mma get a man/ But it’s never my priority.” For centuries women have been told that they need to have a man and finding a husband should be their main priority in life, so when a popular music artist tells women and young girls that they don’t have to have one, women can amount to more in life than just finding the “perfect” man.
Another song that is demeaning is the 2005 hit, “Buttons,” by the Pussycat Dolls.
Since the song itself was written and sung by women, most would expect the song to not be sexist. Surprisingly, the girl group managed to objectify themselves throughout the whole song. In the chorus the main singer states, “I want you to loosen up my buttons baby.” In these lyrics, the women are highlighting nothing but their bodies and hypersexualizing themselves to appeal to men. Before the chorus, in the first verse, the band states, “Hardly the type I fall for… Don’t leave me asking for more.” This is harmful because it’s telling women to throw themselves at any man, even if that man is not up to their personal standards. In contrast in 2015, Fifth Harmony dropped their single, “Bo$$,” which was about women being more confident in themselves without the help of a man and focusing on their money/career. In the first chorus, the band states, “Working for the money/ Cause that’s what my momma taught me/ So you know you better show me some respect.” This lyric is empowering to women, because in music and other circumstances men are seen as the ones holding money and power and women are meant to be dependent on them, but these girls think women are more than capable of making their own. Another important set of lyrics is in verse two when the singers state, “C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T, that’s me, I’m confident/ Don’t want your compliments, use common sense.” This is empowering to women because in the
past, and even nowadays, a lot of teen girls depend on a guys opinion to determine their beauty, but this lyric shows that as long as you’re confident in yourself you don’t need anyone else's acceptance.
It’s important that young and teenage girls are listening to music that is supporting them because at that age society and social media is already after their self esteem. It’s also important that people listen to music that is less sexist, because sexism can promote rape culture and diminish the confidence of young girls. Although pop music is and will always be problematic, I think it’s foolish to denounce the progress it has made with empowering young women