Grammys 2010 – Feminisim, backlash and everything in between.

I was going to write a Grammy opinion piece (yes, as late in the game as I am and as tired as everyone is of hearing about this stuff), but I found a brilliant article that I agree with 95%, is humorously and intelligently written and argued, and is just a general fun read.  Click here to read it.  I’ve re-posted my favorite quotes below; hopefully these will entice you to read the whole article.

I will say a quick piece on what I disagree with about the article – I don’t think Lady Gaga is the pinnacle of feminism, either.  The fact that she hides her unusual-by-pop-star-standards face and wears “crazy outfits” that tend to show off her figure doesn’t make me feel like she’s fighting against any stereotypes, and I think in raising her up on some high-art pedestal reinforces the same dichotomy of virgin-vamp that Riese rightly proposes we should fight against.  In an ideal world, women could make their choices freely (abstinence, sexual experimentation and everything in between) without feeling lame, shamed, or frightened.  I also think that, dress in strange costumes and film stranger music videos though she will, Lady Gaga is still just churning out catchy, danceable pop sugar for us all to enjoy.  Though I admittedly have not delved into her whole catalogue of songs, the popular ones I’m familiar with don’t tread on unfamiliar territory anymore than Swift’s do.  She sings about getting wasted at parties (“Just Dance”), and love (“Poker Face,” “Love Game,” “Bad Romance,” and to an extent “Paparazzi”).  Yes, Gaga’s version of love is dirtier than Swift’s…but can we all agree that women might want more than romantic love?  This is why I’m 100% behind Beyoncé, who kicked out a tune about how women deserve to be treated with an all-female backing band to boot.

Friendship, self-love, adventure, meaning; all these are song topics that would be truly revolutionary.

“I’ve already shared some of my qualms with you: that I feel her win represents a sinister endorsement of mediocrity/Wonderbread, that it means Digestible beat Daring and I prefer daring, that I’m irked by her consistent inability to recognize more deserving nominees in her acceptance speeches, and that her entitlement to a blatantly untrue ‘fairy tale’ narrative tastes disingenuous and cheap.”

“Listen up; if I ever get my life together enough to reproduce other life forms, they will not be joining Taylor Nation – they will be brave, creative, inventive, envelope-pushing little monsters who will find a pretty, skinny white blonde girl in a white peasant shirt strolling through nature-themed screensaver-esque fantasylands singing about how “when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them” not only sappy, but also insulting to their inevitable brilliance.”

“It goes without saying — because, of course, no one wants to say it — that Swift was able to succeed so early ’cause her family was both supportive & wealthy enough to enable her ambitions. Swift had dreams, she chased ‘em, and she got ‘em; all before puberty! That’s not a Cinderella story, that’s more or less the most awesome childhood of all time.”

“Swift’s songwriting is as thematically ambitious as a 15-year-old’s LiveJournal, which is to say, like a 15-year-old’s LiveJournal, it never strives for thematic weight or challenges ideas not already covered by Sweet Valley High or The Children’s Illustrated Bible.”

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