Please listen to this song. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh9ZZgDqzAg
It made me smile, no mean feat considering how fed up I am today. Had a complete energy slump after working on my feature last week. Better get used to it, that's how it goes.
The lyrics are unashamedly misogynistic but it's such a bouncy little number that in spite of myself I was laughing when I heard it.
I particularly like the dialogue between the band halfway through the song:
"Hey man! I saw your wife today!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, she's ugly!"
"She sure can cook though!" Brilliant.
I'd be very interested to see what you gentlemen think. If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, should you never make a pretty woman your wife?
Does wife have to be synonymous with doormat/frump/cook/reproductive vessel? Is a woman seen as a bit risky or threatening when she can cook, kick ass in the boardroom, raise a family, do the lady on the streets and a freak in the bed thing, and still look fabulous? Or is upsetting of the mother/whore dichotomy still a bit too unsettling for some men?
Why are women sometimes seen as one thing or another? ie in the song, an ugly woman is pitted as a safe bet, cooking meals on time and "giving peace of mind". However, a pretty woman can "make a man look small, and very often is his downfall."
In other words, you can't be an attractive woman and have morals - if you're attractive you're a hussy. Only the downtrodden wife in the kitchen is left - but that's ok because no other man will look at her. She could be a right floozy for all we know! But because she's been labelled as ugly the singer has out this possibility firmly out of his mind.
Both women have been objectified and put in boxes. One is labelled 'sexual object'. One is labelled 'wife/mother'. When did the two become so mutually exclusive?
Some comments please?
Gender politics never cease to bemuse me. But I love them, and I'm glad I share this planet with the intriguing species that is men.
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4 comments:
Hmm, interesting that a 45-year old track gets you thinking about gender politics. Has nothing changed in the intervening period?
I don't think finding a minger is the key to happiness, and I certainly don't think most men equate attractiveness with sluttishness.
You say "When did the two become so mutually exclusive?" I have to ask when did the two become so mutually exclusive again?
Two turn-of-the-century films come to mind - American Beauty and American Pie. Hmm, hadn't even thought of that connection too! Anyway, in AB, the slutty girl is a virgin and the homely one is exposing herself to her neighbour through the window. In AP and its sequels, the band geek is the sexual deviant. Even Mean Girls refers to "sexually active band geeks." Not that I'm making a point about band geeks. Just that these geeks might be what Jimmy Soul thinks of as ugly, and what you call right floozies.
I know these are American films and also not today or yesterday, but I think they illustrate a generational change in these stereotypes and attitudes.
When it comes to "the rest of your life," there really are so many more issues at play. But that's just me.
men who are threatened by women who have it all are weiners. but men who have the whole package are just as rare as women. it just takes longer to find the good ones.
it's not our fault we're so brilliant. don't settle
Such a pertinent point Ali Wag. You definitely shouldn't settle. If it ain't fireworks, it ain't happening.
Aidan: I agree with what you're saying and those two examples are useful. God I could spend all day analysing American Beauty!
But I still feel that some men today are totally scared when a woman fits into numerous categories, and can't just be labelled as one or t'other.
When I meet people who contradict my expectations of them (it's bad but let's face it, we all judge on first impressions a little bit, it's only human), I really like that.
For example: guy who is masculine but also has a feminine side (ie is in touch with his emotions and doesn't freak out if you say you wanna talk about something): uber attractive. I'm sure a lot of girls would agree.
But when a girl veers off the feminine path slightly and displays any traits that are stereotypically masculine, my feeling (and I have collected quite a few opinions on this over the years), is that this is a lot less popular. I wonder why?
Now this is a massive generalisation, but there are some elements of truth to the song. Many girls who would be considered "hard work" or "high maintenance" are often the really hot ones.
That aside though, this song is really a product of it's time. Women can and often do fit into many different boxes now. Gender roles are not so set in stone. So while the modern woman may kick ass in the boardroom, the modern man knows how to cook. its this convergence of the two roles that has happened in the time since the song was written.
Just a little side point though. The chorus goes "if you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, you have to make a pretty woman your wife. So from a personal point of view, get an ugly girl to marry you." Hinting that if one guy marries the ugly girl, there will be more single pretty girls to go around? Hmm, so if that's the case, then the rest of the song must be some sort of selfish reverse-psychological attempt to get guys to marry the ugly girls, leaving the pretty girls single...
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