2.9 Response 1 - Hard Out Here
Title: Hard Out Here
Artist: Lily Allen
Text Type: Lyrics
The song “Hard Out Here” by Lily Allen is about the negative attention women receive, and tells the reader how society pressures and affects women's choices and their outlook towards their lives. The song includes stereotypes and expectations women ‘need’ to uphold, and also includes double standards of men and women's attitude towards the opposite sex. When I first heard the song I thought Lily was being severely degrading towards women and I was interested in finding out why she was directing such harsh language towards her own sex. But after I learned she was deliberately stereotyping women I was ashamed to realise I wouldn’t have thought badly of the language choice had a man been singing it. This made me angry and realise there is a problem in society with how men can treat women and the stereotype of being a women itself. I know firsthand the expectation and reality of being a woman so I know how hard it is to be accepted into society.
An idea I found interesting in the lyrics was the idea that society’s negative impression on women affects their rights be equal to men. The entirety of the second verse is focussed on the stereotyping of women which I think is important for readers because it shows how half the population are being dictated and openly judged by the opposite sex. An example of this idea in the lyric is “If you’re not a size 6 then you’re not good looking”. This part of the lyrics is expressing the idea by bringing to light the current judgement society has on a woman’s appearance. It makes her feel pressured to become “acceptable” using unrealistic standards. Lily uses the degrading of women in the second verse to alert listeners of the struggles of acceptance women face, and open their eyes to the frequent discrimination women receive. I agree with the truth of this idea and how Lily showed it in the text by criticising women really makes listeners think about the lyrics and that when they discriminate and judge women it has an affect not only on the single woman but on the future of women's rights and gender equality. I can link the idea shown in the song to myself because I am a woman who has dealt with men saying horrible things to me, much like in the song, and have felt the need to do certain things just to be accepted as a ‘proper’ woman in society. I had to go through being accepted into society as the woman I am and let people learn to live with it rather than try to be someone I’m not, which is what Lily has stereotyped in that second verse. Lily’s song really speaks to me because I have faced hardships and negativity from society where they are diminishing me because I am a woman. Lily’s song is opening the world up to see the damage society is doing to the young women of the future.
Another idea I found interesting is the empowerment of women regardless of how society puts them down. I believe this is important because society always have something bad to say about women, so this song is raising awareness and stability for future generations of women. An example of this is Lily uses the term “b*tch” loosely throughout the song, as a form of empowerment rather than degrading. She is fighting back for the rights of women and attempting to reclaim the word because she doesn’t believe men should be able to use strong language against women as a form of insult. She also goes on to say “forget your balls and grow a pair of tits” which though at first seems insulting and a use of foul language, it is really a metaphor to society that no matter how we are treated, women are as tough, if not tougher than the other half of the population; and deserve to be treated as such. I agree with the idea of empowerment of women because I believe equality and women's rights are a part of our near future and people like Lily are helping the rest of the world to learn that through their music. I can link this idea to the classic youtube clip #LikeAGirl, where adults are asked how to do actions ‘like a girl’ and they perform delicately and unenthusiastically. However when children are asked to perform the same actions they are enthusiastic and determined. This is a clear example of what the idea of empowerment is trying to show. It shows how society’s pressure put women down, but people like Lily are giving these children chance to be who they are: strong, determined, capable young woman who aren’t ashamed to be who they are. I really like what Lily is doing because it is so inspiring to see someone who cares about the women of tomorrow and who won’t give up on us.
The writer/composer of the song wants to show us how society has been stereotyping women, and the response from strong women who care about the future of women's rights. In the lyrics it shows us the stereotyping and struggles women go through frequently throughout their lives. Though upbeat, the underlying message is clearly letting all listeners know women are not impressed by the sexist and unreasonable comments. Putting the message in a pop song is smart because young girls who pay attention to the lyrics will begin to understand the issue and learn how to deal with any put downs or negativity coming from society today. The stereotyping will become know to people who listen to the song and society should begin to realise how silly it seems to be expecting so much from a woman, especially physically. I believe the impact of this song on the listener is great because it is an uncommon topic for songs so more attention and curiosity about woman rights is woven into the listener's mind as the song goes on. Songs help bring exposure to certain topics including racism, sexism and homosexual rights, which is why the composer was smart to centre the release on a topic that means a lot to the women of the world.
The song/lyric would be important to the other year 12 students because it is portraying an important issue to do with the world today. I believe women empowerment is something we need to expose the students of year 12 to because as adulthood draws closer we are faced with pathways in society including choosing to blend in or stand out. Within these options is one for fighting for equality or letting life go on as it always has: where women are made out to be lesser people than the man. Exposure to this stereotyping as a negative issue at a year 12 level gives students a lot more insight for when they reach the time in their life to make unnecessary demands of women, or to stand by us in hope for a better tomorrow for the women of the future. Year 12 is also the age where people are discovering themselves and their qualities, which is important for the year 12’s who are being pushed around and shamed by society because of being a woman. We can teach year 12 men that bullying and putting down people based on their gender is not the way of tomorrow, and that it impacts most women very seriously, which I know from personal and second hand experience, shrinks their self esteem and restricts how they behave in social interactions. So I strongly reccomend this song to the people of year 12 to analyse because all of year 12 has a right to become aware that society has a lack of acceptance and a high (and foul) judgement of/towards women, but also that this can all change for the better, one person at a time. We can teach year 12 people to not be ashamed of who they are and fight for what is the future. Empowerment for women, equality for all.
Comments
Post a Comment