Maddie and Tae have not only written one the hottest country songs on the charts right now, but the song also is one of the few songs in the country industry that addresses gender roles. I personally love country music, but it is obviously sexist by nature. Strong manly men doing hard labor, whistling at pretty southern belles in short jean shorts and cowgirl boots. That is the base of most of the music videos and songs in the genre. Although this reflects the gender stereotypes that are strongly rooted in the south where country music is most popular, it has caused some problems with the females in the industry. Huge female stars, such as Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, and Gretchen Wilson have written songs about strong women that stand up to men and enjoy doing things that "men do." None of these songs reversed the roles like Girl in a Country Song does, though.
The Song itself is about how girls are tired of being objectified in country songs. It literally says, "Like all we're good for is looking good for you and your friends on the weekend, nothing more." Maddie and Tae express their disgust for how girls are shown as useless pretty trohpies in country music videos. To further show this in their video, it opens up with country boys sitting on a tailgate of a truck, whistling and calling for two girls walking towards them in daisy duke shorts, a bikini top, and cowgirl boots. This then changes, showing the men in short shorts and revealing tops, obviously mocking them. The girls are also shown washing cars, a common image of women in music videos. The men are then showing doing the same thing, which shows how ridiculous it actually is. Althought it doesn't completely reverse the roles since the girls in the video are still objectified, the humorous portrayal of the men has made a ripple in the country music world, and has brought attention to the way women are shown.
Everyone knows that Jenny from the Block is a strong, sexy and successful woman. Her newer song, I Luh Ya Papi challenges gender roles by objectifying men, similar to Maddie & Tae's hit. The music video is the opposite of most of the popular rap videos, where women dancers are barely dressed dancing behind the male lead. This one shows J-Lo dancing in front of men in very little clothing. Although there are also girls in the video dressed in skimpy clothing and dancing, the point of the video is to show the men as sex objects. However, unlike Maddie and Tae, J-Lo is not mocking the men. Where the men in the country video are meant to be humorous and not at all sexy, the men in J-Lo's video are obviously attractive and objectified. I found it interesting that J-Lo's video also had men washing a car, soaking wet and dripping soap down their bodies, but this was to show them as sex figures.
In addition to the portrayal of men, the women are also presented differently. There are parts with J-Lo and her dancers in short shorts dancing, but then there are scenes with them in baggy sweatpants dancing almost "ghetto" like rappers. J-Lo has a strong sex appeal in this video, but it is a dominant sex role. She is in control and she seems like she could have any of the men in the video, rather than the other way around. The lyrics do not challenge gender roles as obviously, but she is asserting herself as a sexual and dominant woman, which goes against the stereotype of how woman "should be."
Kudos to Maddie, Tae, and J-Lo. You go girls.
I really like that you chose J-Lo's song as a portrayal of reversed gender roles. I think that women are almost always objectified in modern music videos, and to see it opposite is something that can be considered shocking. I can see why this video can be challenged. It is something that is different than the stereotypes. But she is only portraying men the way women are often portrayed. I think this is a great video to show the gender role reversal.
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