Week 4&5: Britney Spears Bonanza
I really enjoyed this week’s readings because I believe popular culture greatly impacts your identity, as children and adolescents we are sponges who soak up everything we see and hear. I grew up in the Britney Spears Bonanza era. I remember being addicted to ‘N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson. But, Britney Spears was truly the queen of pop, every girl wanted to be like her. Britney mania set in everyone had hair like hers, dressed like hers, listened to her music, and hung onto everything she did, we all wanted to be like her. She was the first American Idol of my generation. Now I look back at these girls that I once deemed as role models and feel sad that it was their image that created girls my age to fit into this ideal beauty image and for Britney in particular the pressure weighed down on her heavily.
I remember singing to the top of my lungs Britney’s first single “Hit Me Baby One More Time” in the car with my sister. My mom became furious and asked what we had just said. She asked if we realized what we were singing. Of course we did not, she explained it was talking about men treating women badly, and going back for more out of “love” or desperation. My sister and I of course argued this point making up silly excuses, but my mom did not allow us to listen to the song anymore. At the time I was upset, but I have a lot of respect for my mom now that she did that. That song is a portrayal of a weak girl who is so lonely that she is willing to “be hit one more time”. How sad is it that girls all over the world were shouting out these lyrics? We were condoning domestic violence and yet oblivious to it. I wonder how many girls this song has influenced allowing them to believe that being hit is ok, after all the most beautiful, popular star at the time made a number one hit about it….sad.
The story I related to the most was Saskia Boggs “Just Watch” . I grew up in a house where T.V. was everything; it was family time, down time, relaxation time, bed time, morning time. I like the quote she included by Karl Marx that” religion is the opiate of the masses.” That America has a new religion and “it’s called the television, and if it isn’t a religion, then I don’t know what it is (226).” This is so true. Our lives have become consumed with T.V., it has become an idol. We spend hours a day worshipping TV. We spend more time in front of this little black box than we do anywhere else, just wasting our lives away. As I got older I remember watching TV shows like Laguna Beach, I think it premiered my Junior or Senior year. This supposed “reality” TV show was thick of drama, kids with abnormal good looks and money. I remember people comparing themselves to these kids, believing they are role models. We wanted to be just as skinny, how the coolest clothes, perfect hair, and perfect make-up, after all, these were normal teenagers just like us.
As stated in Sarah Schelde story “What Truthiness Taught Me About Being (Un)Cool” I was one “who was afraid to do anything that’s not preapproved by MTV or the “cool” kids(213). Sadly, I was one who lacked imagination. I allowed Britney Spears, MTV, and Laguna Beach tell me who I should be, what I should look like. Like the majority of teenage girls I struggled, never feeling pretty enough, dressed well enough, and all the other cultural expectations.
Luckily today there were some great artists who are breaking this mold through their lyrics like Pink and Gwen Stefani. These women are two great examples of being comfortable in their own skin and fighting against the norm. Gwen Stefani’s song “I’m Just A Girl” lashed out at those who oppressed girls. I love how in the reading “Just a Girl? Rock Music, Feminism, and the Cultural Construction of Female Youth” by Gayle Wald she highlights one of the performances of Gwen Stefani where she started out as this whimpering little girl and all the sudden became angry delighting the audience with her real emotion and declaring that she is a girl(3). Pink is another great example with songs like “Don’t Let Me Get Me” where she sings out against the pressures of being a girl “LA told me, "You'll be a pop star, All you have to change is everything you are." Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears She's so pretty, that just ain't me”. These are two women who continue to shape a young generation and break the mold of the Britney Spears.
I remember singing to the top of my lungs Britney’s first single “Hit Me Baby One More Time” in the car with my sister. My mom became furious and asked what we had just said. She asked if we realized what we were singing. Of course we did not, she explained it was talking about men treating women badly, and going back for more out of “love” or desperation. My sister and I of course argued this point making up silly excuses, but my mom did not allow us to listen to the song anymore. At the time I was upset, but I have a lot of respect for my mom now that she did that. That song is a portrayal of a weak girl who is so lonely that she is willing to “be hit one more time”. How sad is it that girls all over the world were shouting out these lyrics? We were condoning domestic violence and yet oblivious to it. I wonder how many girls this song has influenced allowing them to believe that being hit is ok, after all the most beautiful, popular star at the time made a number one hit about it….sad.
The story I related to the most was Saskia Boggs “Just Watch” . I grew up in a house where T.V. was everything; it was family time, down time, relaxation time, bed time, morning time. I like the quote she included by Karl Marx that” religion is the opiate of the masses.” That America has a new religion and “it’s called the television, and if it isn’t a religion, then I don’t know what it is (226).” This is so true. Our lives have become consumed with T.V., it has become an idol. We spend hours a day worshipping TV. We spend more time in front of this little black box than we do anywhere else, just wasting our lives away. As I got older I remember watching TV shows like Laguna Beach, I think it premiered my Junior or Senior year. This supposed “reality” TV show was thick of drama, kids with abnormal good looks and money. I remember people comparing themselves to these kids, believing they are role models. We wanted to be just as skinny, how the coolest clothes, perfect hair, and perfect make-up, after all, these were normal teenagers just like us.
As stated in Sarah Schelde story “What Truthiness Taught Me About Being (Un)Cool” I was one “who was afraid to do anything that’s not preapproved by MTV or the “cool” kids(213). Sadly, I was one who lacked imagination. I allowed Britney Spears, MTV, and Laguna Beach tell me who I should be, what I should look like. Like the majority of teenage girls I struggled, never feeling pretty enough, dressed well enough, and all the other cultural expectations.
Luckily today there were some great artists who are breaking this mold through their lyrics like Pink and Gwen Stefani. These women are two great examples of being comfortable in their own skin and fighting against the norm. Gwen Stefani’s song “I’m Just A Girl” lashed out at those who oppressed girls. I love how in the reading “Just a Girl? Rock Music, Feminism, and the Cultural Construction of Female Youth” by Gayle Wald she highlights one of the performances of Gwen Stefani where she started out as this whimpering little girl and all the sudden became angry delighting the audience with her real emotion and declaring that she is a girl(3). Pink is another great example with songs like “Don’t Let Me Get Me” where she sings out against the pressures of being a girl “LA told me, "You'll be a pop star, All you have to change is everything you are." Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears She's so pretty, that just ain't me”. These are two women who continue to shape a young generation and break the mold of the Britney Spears.
Comments