Blog #10

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18505498379

Given above is the link to a playlist I have created for a good body image. Included in the list are the following songs. First is the song Crazy by Simple Plan. This song consists of the singer wondering what is going on in the world with women. The singer wonders with women dieting trying to look like the women on tv, have they all gone crazy and with everyone going crazy, is there going to be anyone to save him if he starts to go crazy? This is a good point. The point being that this idea of looking like society's women is crazy and that if we are all so focused on trying to conform to "something that's wrong" we won't be able to help anyone else.
Second is the song Big, Blonde, and Beautiful from the musical Hairspray. In this song, Queen Latifah is singing about how being big and eating what she likes does not make her unbeautiful. In fact it does the opposite. Queen Latifah argues in this song that people want "the whole tree" instead of just a "twig" implying that a full-figured woman is worth more than a skinny woman. She makes this point in several other analogies also.
Third is the song Video by India Arie. This song is all about how no matter what a girl does on the outside from shaving or not shaving her legs to looking like a supermodel, it doesn't make her any thing but who she is. India Arie says that who a person is is far more important than what they look like on the the outside. Furthermore, because she has learned that her worth does not come from outward adornment, she has learned to love herself for who she really is.
Fourth is the song Anthem by Superchick. This song is a power anthem about different types of girls, from skateboarding girls to guitar indie girls to opinionated girls. This song is meant to invoke certain images and styles of girls and empower the girls in those styles and enlighten others that these girls are powerful and worthwhile.
Fifth is the song One Girl Revolution by Superchick. This song is also a power anthem but this time from the girls in the different styles. In this song, the girls themselves are declaring that "the super doesn't stand for model, but that doesn't mean I'm plain. If all you see is how I look, you miss the superchick within." The song is meant to show people that, again, what is inside a girl is more important that what the world says about what's on the outside.
Sixth is the song So Beautiful also by Superchick. This song shares the same meaning as One Girl Revolution and Anthem encouraging and empowering, yet also warning the world that they are coming and they will be themselves and look themselves no matter what. Both messages important ones to present and hear.
Seventh is the song Big and Chunky from the Madagascar 2 soundtrack. This song is a song sung by a male who likes bigger women. This song is very similar to Big, Blonde, and Beautiful except sung from the perspective of the outside gaze of a man. This song is good because it can tell women that not all men are attracted to skinny women as shown in most films.
Eighth is the song Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. She sings about how everyone is beautiful no matter what others say and that each person shouldn't let other drag them down. This can be related to looks, body size, body type, clothing style, personality, everything. Christina tells every one who hears this song that they don't have to take what others tell them and to remember that they are beautiful just as they are.
Ninth is the song Big Girl by Mika. Mika sings here simply that they (big girls) are beautiful. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, big girls have more fun and are more beautiful because of their curves.
The last song on the list is a Korean song by the singer/actress Kim Ah Joong called Beautiful Girl. This song is a girl singing with confidence about her looks and how she can use her confident looks as a weapon. Having confidence in your own looks and lead you to be confident in life. This song also has a very funny music video that goes with it with a chubby girl sucking it all in and walking around using her beauty weapon only to loose it at the end and be herself despite someone seeing her. A good visual representation of what the singer should have been doing the whole time with what she was singing about.

All of these song choices I chose because they either emphasize being yourself, having confidence or providing real person singers who argue for the opposite of mainstream media (Big and Chunky, Crazy, Big, Blonde and Beautiful). Also interesting to note is that depicted in the playlist are many different ethnicities and both genders. This seems to say that body image is an issue for all of the world and that there are people all over willing to try and do something about it.

This is very similar to the two essays read at the beginning of the week, "I See the Same Ho" and "Tip Drills" which talk about the prevalence of oversexified women and single body types of women. "Tip Drills" specifically talks about the objectification of women in the music video Tip Drills and the author's attempt to effect change through her connections in the music industry. Both essays were very interesting to read as they showed that not everyone in their own respective ethnicities agrees with how they are represented in media. Now if only more people would act upon their disagreement, then maybe society's narrow perspective could be widened and more women shown that it is alright to be who they are.