DOCSLIB.ORG

What About Our Boys? Educating Boys for Gender Justice

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
What About Our Boys? Educating Boys for Gender Justice What About Our Boys? Educating Boys for Gender Justice (draft, not for circulation) DRAFT What About Our Boys?Educating Boys for Gender Justice Urvashi Sahni Urvashi Sahni With with The Prerna Boys, Anshu Jain & Anand1 Chitravanshi Anshu Jain Anand Chitravanshi Table of Contents A Word to the Readers/Preface .............................................................................................................. 3 The Site and Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 5 Conceptual and Ethical Guide ................................................................................................................. 8 An Ethic of Responsive Care ............................................................................................................... 8 Schools as safe spaces and sanctuaries ............................................................................................ 11 Boys as equal persons ....................................................................................................................... 12 Raising Feminist Consciousness in Boys ........................................................................................... 13 Note to the Teachers ............................................................................................................................ 15 A Note on the Lesson Plans................................................................................................................... 17 About Study Hall Educational Foundation ............................................................................................ 17 About the Author .................................................................................................................................... 3 Lesson Plans .......................................................................................................................................... 18 2 About the Authors Dr. Urvashi Sahni is a social entrepreneur, women rights activist and educationist. Through her various organizations, she has been working for the rights of children and women for more than three decades. She is a leading expert in school governance, curriculum reform, and teacher training, with a special focus on girls’ education and the use of technology in education. Dr. Sahni is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. She was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2011. She received Berkeley’s Haas International Award for her efforts to reform education in India and bolster education for girls 1994. Dr. Sahni was also a member of Hillary Clinton’s CHARGE commitment to ensure that more girls complete secondary education around the world. She was declared the Social Entrepreneur of the Year India, 2017 by the Schwab-Jubilant Bhartiya Foundation. She is a member of the Global Girls Alliance. She has a masters and PhD in education from the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley. She has presented academic papers at many national and international forums and universities, including Columbia, NYU, Chicago, and Berkeley, and has given keynote addresses at international drama and education conferences in Edinburgh, Jamaica, Plymouth, Toronto, Northern Ireland, and New York. She has published extensively on critical pedagogy, theatre in education, feminist pedagogy, child cultures, and girls’ education and empowerment. Her current research focuses on developing and scaling her Girls’ Empowerment Program in India with the help of curricular reform, teacher training, and affordable technology. Her latest book—Reaching for the Sky: Empowering Girls Through Education—draws on her 14 years of work with Prerna Girls School, and argues that education can be truly transformative if it addresses the everyday reality of girls’ lives and responds to their special needs and challenges with respect and care. Anand Chitravanshi is the director of outreach programs at Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF), overseeing three education-based initiatives across northern India. One of few male advocates for women’s rights in India, Anand's work includes scaling SHEF's rights-based, critical feminist pedagogy to government-run girls’ schools, using technology to popularize SHEF's quality pedagogical practices, and establishing community transformation centers to enroll out-of-school children in schools. Anand was Urvashi Sahni's research associate during the development of the Boy's Curriculum and is part of the core team that is scaling it in government schools. Anshu Jain worked at SHEF as Urvashi Sahni's research associate for three years and is currently a teaching fellow at Asoka University, Delhi, in the Economic department. His research interests include thinking about children's meanings of care and belonging in educational settings, and identifies most closely with his experiences as a school teacher and education researcher. 3 A Word to the Readers/Preface The conceptual framework and draft curriculum presented here have emerged from my ongoing work in Prerna Boys School in Lucknow, India. The school, started in 2009, is a relatively new endeavour by SHEF,1 a nonprofit founded more than three decades ago. The purpose of this document is to share our best practices and their theoretical underpinnings as we worked at helping boys understand gender equality and to reframe their notions of masculinity and manhood—or perhaps more appropriately, boyhood. We share the growing perception that addressing boys’ attitudes is an important part of achieving gender equality. We further believe that lessons on equality are best taught to girls and boys when they are young and that school is the right place to deliver these lessons. We also believe that lessons in equality are as important as lessons in language, math, and science and should be included in the official curriculum. School education can be a powerful transformative force, provided we transform what we teach and how we teach it. This document is useful for those working toward gender equality in and through education, including policymakers, educators, teachers, and administrators. It is also relevant to people engaged in working for girls’ rights to safety, education, and autonomy. Although this document presents work done with boys, it can support and contribute to the effort of the thousands of concerned men and women who are working to create a safer, more hospitable, and happier world for girls and women. The curriculum is a work-in-progress, based on the work we did with boys aged 13–17, in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India from 2016-2017. It is more of a general guide and framework than a step-by-step instruction manual for teachers. It includes a set of lesson plans that we developed alongside the boys. Though the context is Indian and many of the discussions are specific to India, the general ideas can be easily adapted by teachers to other country contexts as well. Lastly, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, without which the publication of this manuscript would not have been possible. With best wishes, Urvashi Sahni 1SHEF currently runs three K-12 schools, catering to rural children, working-class girls and boys, and upper middle-class children. Through its many programs, SHEF addresses the needs of out-of-school children, as well as children with special needs. In collaboration with the state governments of UP and Rajasthan, SHEF works with more than 900 government schools through teacher training programs. For more on SHEF, see the last section of this document. 4 The Site and Methodology This framework and curriculum for educating boys for gender justice has emerged from 18 months of critical dialogues with the boys of Prerna Boys School in Lucknow, along with some lessons and ideas borrowed from other sources, including my own work with Prerna girls.2 The School was established in July 2009 as a primary school—Pre-K to 5 classes—that we expanded to high school in 2015. The classes are conducted in the afternoon and the student population consists of working-class boys from low-income families, many of whom work in the morning. This initiative was undertaken in response to the demand of the parents of the Prerna Girls School for a quality education for their boys.3 We were also motivated by the belief that in order to achieve a gender-just society, boys and girls both must receive an education that teaches them to critically examine the construction of gender in patriarchal societies. This means that boys, too, must learn to fight, resist, and end sexist oppression in the same way as girls. Boys must also learn how to deconstruct a patriarchal conception of masculinity and reconstruct an egalitarian one in its place. In a hierarchical patriarchal society like India, it is difficult to understand and conceptualize the idea of equality. It is particularly hard for boys given that they are raised with a sense of entitlement, superiority, and privilege. Regardless of the class, caste, or religion they belong to, boys always enjoy a preferred status over their female counterparts. Changing these conceptual frameworks involves a paradigm shift, almost Copernican in nature. School can be a very good place to reframe boys’ worldview by challenging and transcending their perception of masculinity and other firmly entrenched notions of caste, gender, and class. With these motivations,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • PERFORMED IDENTITIES: HEAVY METAL MUSICIANS BETWEEN 1984 and 1991 Bradley C. Klypchak a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate
    PERFORMED IDENTITIES: HEAVY METAL MUSICIANS BETWEEN 1984 AND 1991 Bradley C. Klypchak A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2007 Committee: Dr. Jeffrey A. Brown, Advisor Dr. John Makay Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Ron E. Shields Dr. Don McQuarie © 2007 Bradley C. Klypchak All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Jeffrey A. Brown, Advisor Between 1984 and 1991, heavy metal became one of the most publicly popular and commercially successful rock music subgenres. The focus of this dissertation is to explore the following research questions: How did the subculture of heavy metal music between 1984 and 1991 evolve and what meanings can be derived from this ongoing process? How did the contextual circumstances surrounding heavy metal music during this period impact the performative choices exhibited by artists, and from a position of retrospection, what lasting significance does this particular era of heavy metal merit today? A textual analysis of metal- related materials fostered the development of themes relating to the selective choices made and performances enacted by metal artists. These themes were then considered in terms of gender, sexuality, race, and age constructions as well as the ongoing negotiations of the metal artist within multiple performative realms. Occurring at the juncture of art and commerce, heavy metal music is a purposeful construction. Metal musicians made performative choices for serving particular aims, be it fame, wealth, or art. These same individuals worked within a greater system of influence. Metal bands were the contracted employees of record labels whose own corporate aims needed to be recognized.
    [Show full text]
  • YOUTH SUMMARY Because I Am a Girl the STATE of the WORLD’S GIRLS 2011 So, What About Boys? So, What About Boys? the Sex-Gender Distinction
    YOUTH SUMMARY Because I am a Girl THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S GIRLS 2011 So, what about boys? So, what about boys? The Sex-Gender Distinction WHAT DO WE WANT? EQUALITY! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW! Gender roles Gender roles are the practices, activities and responsibilities that we adopt on the basis of what society expects from us. These are assumptions, or expectations, about what men and boys should do, and what women and girls should do at home and in society. Gender roles influence people’s behaviour, responsibilities, life choices and chances. Expectations on how we should behave start from a young age. This happens by watching how the adults at home and around us interact with each other, as well as from watching television and other media, and our wider communities. Despite some efforts and improvements worldwide to make sure that Children in the United Kingdom were asked to attribute words they associated with being stereotypically ‘female’ or ‘male’. all boys and girls, women and men, are being treated equally and get a This shows that the divide between the sexes starts very early on in children’s lives. fair chance in life, there is still a long way to go. In most societies and Boys and girls in the UK were asked to attribute words that are families, traditional ideas about what it means to be male or female stereotypically associated with being ‘male’ or ‘female’ place women and girls at a disadvantage – at home, in communities, at school and in the workplace. This is not right, it’s not fair, and it is not economically smart.
    [Show full text]
  • Structural Violence Against Children in South Asia © Unicef Rosa 2018
    STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN SOUTH ASIA © UNICEF ROSA 2018 Cover Photo: Bangladesh, Jamalpur: Children and other community members watching an anti-child marriage drama performed by members of an Adolescent Club. © UNICEF/South Asia 2016/Bronstein The material in this report has been commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) regional office in South Asia. UNICEF accepts no responsibility for errors. The designations in this work do not imply an opinion on the legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitation of frontiers. Permission to copy, disseminate or otherwise use information from this publication is granted so long as appropriate acknowledgement is given. The suggested citation is: United Nations Children’s Fund, Structural Violence against Children in South Asia, UNICEF, Kathmandu, 2018. STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN SOUTH ASIA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UNICEF would like to acknowledge Parveen from the University of Sheffield, Drs. Taveeshi Gupta with Fiona Samuels Ramya Subrahmanian of Know Violence in for their work in developing this report. The Childhood, and Enakshi Ganguly Thukral report was prepared under the guidance of of HAQ (Centre for Child Rights India). Kendra Gregson with Sheeba Harma of the From UNICEF, staff members representing United Nations Children's Fund Regional the fields of child protection, gender Office in South Asia. and research, provided important inputs informed by specific South Asia country This report benefited from the contribution contexts, programming and current violence of a distinguished reference group: research. In particular, from UNICEF we Susan Bissell of the Global Partnership would like to thank: Ann Rosemary Arnott, to End Violence against Children, Ingrid Roshni Basu, Ramiz Behbudov, Sarah Fitzgerald of United Nations Population Coleman, Shreyasi Jha, Aniruddha Kulkarni, Fund Asia and the Pacific region, Shireen Mary Catherine Maternowska and Eri Jejeebhoy of the Population Council, Ali Mathers Suzuki.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trevor Project’S Coming Out: a Handbook Are At
    COMING OUT A Handbook for LGBTQ Young People CONTENTS IDENTITY 4 HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS 17 THE BASICS 4 SELF-CARE 18 What Is Sex Assigned at Birth? 5 Checking in on Your Mental Health 19 What Is Gender? 5 Warning Signs 19 Gender Identity 6 RESOURCES 20 Gender Expression 7 Transitioning 8 TREVOR PROGRAMS 21 What Is Sexual Orientation? 9 Map Your Own Identity 21 Sexual Orientation 10 Sexual/Physical Attraction 11 Romantic Attraction 12 Emotional Attraction 13 COMING OUT 14 Planning Ahead 14 Testing The Waters 15 Environment 15 Timing 15 Location 15 School 16 Support 16 Safety Around Coming Out 16 2 Exploring your sexual orientation Some people may share their identity with a few trusted friends online, some may choose to share and/or gender identity can bring up a lot with a counselor or a trusted family member, and of feelings and questions. Inside this handbook, others may want everyone in their life to know we will work together to explore your identity, about their identity. An important thing to know what it might be like to share your identity with is that for a lot of people, coming out doesn’t just others, and provide you with tools and guiding happen once. A lot of folks find themselves com- questions to help you think about what coming ing out at different times to different people. out means to you. It is all about what works for you, wherever you The Trevor Project’s Coming Out: A Handbook are at. The things you hear about coming out for LGBTQ Young People is here to help you nav- may make you feel pressured to take steps that igate questions around your identity.
    [Show full text]
  • M.A. /M.Sc. in Criminology & Police Studies Syllabus
    SARDAR PATEL UNIVERSITY OF POLICE, SECURITY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA M.A. /M.Sc. in Criminology & Police Studies SYLLABUS From the Academic Year 2017 - 2018 Onwards 1 SARDAR PATEL UNIVERSITY OF POLICE, SECURITY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA M.A. /M. Sc. in Criminology and Police Studies From the academic year 2017 - 2018 onwards Scheme, Regulations and Syllabus Title of the course M.A/M.Sc in Criminology and Police Studies Duration of the course Two Years under Semester Pattern. Eligibility Graduate in any discipline with minimum 55% marks. (5% relaxation for SC/ST/PH candidates) Total Credit Points: 105 Structure of the programme This Master’s programme will consist of: a. Compulsory Papers and Elective Papers; I Semester: (22 Credits) 4 Compulsory Papers, 1 Elective Paper & 1 Practical Paper II Semester: (27 Credits) 4 Compulsory Papers, 1 Elective Paper & 2 Practical Papers (1 of them elective), Winter Internship (to be commenced at the ending of I semester and finished at beginning of II Semester) III Semester: (32 Credits) 4 Compulsory Papers, 1 Elective Paper, 1 Practical Paper & Summer Internship (to be commenced at the ending of II semester and finished at beginning of III Semester) Theory Papers: Each theory paper comprises 4 Contact hours / week. 4 Contact Hours = 2 Lectures+ 1 Tutorial+ 1 Seminar 2 • Electives: Electives will be offered only if a minimum of 5 students opt for that paper. • Practical Paper : The Subject called ‘Practical Paper’ may include any of the/some of the following activities such as Institutional field visits(for practical) & debate on particular issues or article writing on particular issues related to the subject / subject related discussion on short-films/ field based case-study etc.
    [Show full text]
  • From Humble Beginnings to a Leader in Child and Family Care
    ® WINTER 2017 Boys Town, Yesterday and Today From Humble Beginnings to a Leader in Child and Family Care ecember 12, 1917, was a chilly day in Omaha, Nebraska. Passers-by hurried along the D downtown streets, their thoughts perhaps on Christmas, only two weeks away, and the preparations they still needed to make. Or, maybe they were wondering how the holidays would be different this year, with America now involved in the Great War being waged on the battlefields of Europe. In all the hustle and bustle, no one paid much attention to the tall, bespectacled priest who was shepherding several ragamuffin boys along the sidewalk. When the little group reached a somewhat run-down Victorian-style boardinghouse, the priest confidently strode to the front door, unlocked it and bade his young charges to enter. Once inside, he turned to the cluster of expectant faces and welcomed the boys Over a proud history spanning 100 years, Boys Town has provided life-changing love and care for America’s children! to their new home. There was no ribbon-cutting ceremony. Father Flanagan had borrowed $90 hard-pressed to provide enough food and No parade with marching bands. No from a businessman friend to rent the clothing for his boys. And as Christmas speech by the mayor. On that ordinary property. For at least a month, the boys approached, the prospects for a happy day, in that ordinary place, Father would have a roof over their heads. But holiday were bleak. By the morning of Flanagan’s Home for Boys (later to be there wasn’t much else.
    [Show full text]
  • Boys and Girls by Alice Munro
    Boys and Girls by Alice Munro My father was a fox farmer. That is, he raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was prime, he killed them and skinned them and sold their pelts to the Hudson's Bay Company or the Montreal Fur Traders. These companies supplied us with heroic calendars to hang, one on each side of the kitchen door. Against a background of cold blue sky and black pine forests and treacherous northern rivers, plumed adventures planted the flags of England and or of France; magnificent savages bent their backs to the portage. For several weeks before Christmas, my father worked after supper in the cellar of our house. The cellar was whitewashed, and lit by a hundred-watt bulb over the worktable. My brother Laird and I sat on the top step and watched. My father removed the pelt inside-out from the body of the fox, which looked surprisingly small, mean, and rat-like, deprived of its arrogant weight of fur. The naked, slippery bodies were collected in a sack and buried in the dump. One time the hired man, Henry Bailey, had taken a swipe at me with this sack, saying, "Christmas present!" My mother thought that was not funny. In fact she disliked the whole pelting operation--that was what the killing, skinning, and preparation of the furs was called – and wished it did not have to take place in the house. There was the smell. After the pelt had been stretched inside-out on a long board my father scraped away delicately, removing the little clotted webs of blood vessels, the bubbles of fat; the smell of blood and animal fat, with the strong primitive odour of the fox itself, penetrated all parts of the house.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberal Feminism's Aspect in Katy Perry's Songs
    ISSN: 1979-4975 PROGRESSIVE Vol. XII, No. 2 September 2017 LIBERAL FEMINISM‘S ASPECT ,1 KATY PERRY‘S S21GS Rini Martiwi1, Eulin Karlina2, Dedi Suharyadi3 1ASM BSI Jakarta/Manajemen Administrasi rini.ntw@bsi.ac.id 2AMIK BSI Jakarta/Komputerisasi Akuntansi eulin.eka@bsi.ac.id 3AMIK BSI Bekasi/Komputerisasi Akuntansi dedi.dsi@bsi.ac.id Abstract ± The objective of this study is to analyze the basic aspects of liberal feminism and explain the representation of liberal feminism ideology in the lyrics of .aty 3erry‘s songs. The Data of research are taken from six songs, there are "One of the boys", "Pearl", "Part of me", "Dark Horse", "Roar" and "International Smile". This study used a qualitative descriptive method to collect data and required information. The results of this research indicated that: (1) There are 14 data containing liberal feminist ideology which is based on the value of personal autonomy of freedom. The basic values of freedom seen of personal autonomy that mostly found are being free of the limits set by patriarchal paternalistic (6 data). (2) The lyrics of Katy Perry songs have a criticism of women who should be free from all form of threats of violence, have a facilities in various field and should not always subservient to the men and social law. (3) Katy Perry wants to tell the women, they have power, the form of power is in physical and psychological strength. Keywords: Liberal feminism, Songs, lyric I. INTRODUCTION rhythms that are tailored to the type of song lyrics Humans are the most perfect creatures of God.
    [Show full text]
  • Bring Back Our Boys – Jared Feldshreiber
    WEEKLY BRING BACK Candle-lighting/Shabbos ends Friday, June 27: 8:12/9:21 OUR BOYS Vol. III No. 18 (#67) June 26, 2014 • 28 Sivan 5774 Free Lakewood Rabbanim Visit Community Unites New York City Offi cials Queens On Behalf Of At Prayer Gathering For Stand In Solidarity With Beth Medrash Govoha Kidnapped Boys In Israel Israel After Kidnapping Of Three Jewish Teenagers SEE STORY ON P. 55 SEE PHOTOS ON 36/37; ARTICLE ON P. 52 SEE STORY ON P. 39 Shabbos Inbox Blue And White Op-Ed Politics And Ethics Hooked On Healing (D)Anger Tragedy Helplessness Situational To Give Management Brings Unity By Betsalel Steinhart Awareness Or Not To Give Is Derech Eretz By Eytan Kobre By Shmuel Sackett hat can we do in the By Caroline Schumsky face of helplessness? By Abe Fuchs o goes the well-known hy do we do this to W This question is ooo… You want to give joke: ourselves? Why do being asked so many times, somehow, some way. S Husband to Wife: Wwe fi ght like dogs and over the last few days, as our and another person were SYou want to dedicate When I get mad at you, you cats until tragedy strikes? Why darkest fears take shape, as waiting on line at a bank the or allocate, but not so sure never fi ght back. How do you does it take the kidnapping of three boys sit who-knows- Iother day when there was how or where or how often? control your anger? three precious boys to bring us where, as three families lie only one teller available.
    [Show full text]
  • By Beyonce Knowles
    © 2018 JETIR September 2018, Volume 5, Issue 9 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINING STRATEGIES IN THE HOLLYWOOD SONG “IF I WERE A BOY” BY BEYONCE KNOWLES Dr. Amrita Tyagi Assistant Professor, Department of English, Galgotias University, Greater Noida Dr. Vijay Kumar Associate Professor, Department of English, Galgotias University, Greater Noida ABSTRACT -In this digital era, complaining has become so pervasive that it creeps into our conversations from the dinner table to our workplace. A complaint is incomplete without three main elements: a speaker, a listener, and a signaling system or language. Language plays a crucial part in our lives to inform people around us of what we feel, what we desire and question or understand the world around us. The fundamental function of language is communication. Songs are one of the greatest creations of human kind in the course of history. It is creativity in a pure and undiluted form and format. The speech act is an utterance considered as an action, particularly with regards to its intention, purpose or effect. Jane Austin claims that many utterances are equivalent to actions which means without performing an action by mere words action can be performed. Songs reflect the society, what’s present in the society creates an impact on the songs written by various songwriters and hence songs are incomplete without complaints, be it any romantic song, sad song or an inspiring one. Complaints can be found in every song about the lover, the world or the people. In this study, the lyrics of a Hollywood song “If I were a boy” by an American singer Beyonce Knowles has been used for the analysis of complaining act.
    [Show full text]
  • AMBASSADOR BIO Is All In
    is all in AMBASSADOR BIO is all in KATY PERRY BIOGRAPHY “I can’t run from where I came from, nobody can,” says Katy Perry. When it came time to make her exhilarating second album “Teenage Dream,” Katy found herself increasingly drawn back home to Santa Barbara, Calif. Back to where they knew her before she became a superstar. Before she kissed a girl and liked it. And, certainly, before she sold 5 million copies of her Capitol Records blockbuster, “One of the Boys.” “I love the vibe that Santa Barbara gives off and I wanted to really tap into the purity of my childhood and that feeling,” says the two-time Grammy nominated singer. “It was really fun to get away and walk into the studio with no make-up on.” “Teenage Dream,” out Aug. 24, will move you, both emotionally and physically. “When I was touring, I wanted people to dance more,” Katy says. “So I wrote an album that made people move, yet didn’t sacrifice the story substance that I had on the last record.” The album, whose producers include Max Martin, Tricky Stewart, Stargate, Dr. Luke and Greg Wells, is a glorious evolution from “One of The Boys,” It showcases an artist who dares us to join her as she experiences every facet of life. 17 is all in “I’m giving everyone the full spectrum on this record,” Katy says. “You’re getting the sugary sweet, but you’re also getting the ‘Oh my goodness, she had to sit down for a minute and let some things off her chest’.” Fun first single, “California Gurls,” declared by Entertainment Weekly as “unforgettable,” is the undeniable summer anthem of 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • The Derailment of Feminism: a Qualitative Study of Girl Empowerment and the Popular Music Artist
    THE DERAILMENT OF FEMINISM: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF GIRL EMPOWERMENT AND THE POPULAR MUSIC ARTIST A Thesis by Jodie Christine Simon Master of Arts, Wichita State University, 2010 Bachelor of Arts. Wichita State University, 2006 Submitted to the Department of Liberal Studies and the faculty of the Graduate School of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts July 2012 @ Copyright 2012 by Jodie Christine Simon All Rights Reserved THE DERAILMENT OF FEMINISM: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF GIRL EMPOWERMENT AND THE POPULAR MUSIC ARTIST The following faculty members have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content, and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts with a major in Liberal Studies. __________________________________________________________ Jodie Hertzog, Committee Chair __________________________________________________________ Jeff Jarman, Committee Member __________________________________________________________ Chuck Koeber, Committee Member iii DEDICATION To my husband, my mother, and my children iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Dr. Jodie Hertzog, for her patient and insightful advice and support. A mentor in every sense of the word, Jodie Hertzog embodies the very nature of adviser; her council was very much appreciated through the course of my study. v ABSTRACT “Girl Power!” is a message that parents raising young women in today’s media- saturated society should be able to turn to with a modicum of relief from the relentlessly harmful messages normally found within popular music. But what happens when we turn a critical eye toward the messages cloaked within this supposedly feminist missive? A close examination of popular music associated with girl empowerment reveals that many of the messages found within these lyrics are frighteningly just as damaging as the misogynistic, violent, and explicitly sexual ones found in the usual fare of top 100 Hits.
    [Show full text]