#you guys are so brave dealing with this discourse for over a decade

[tv-opinion]

the show was my first introduction to this story and i think the ethical dilemma of what joel did in salt lake city is really compelling as obviously it’s a good thing ellie is alive however he selfishly stripped her of her agency and burdened her with endless guilt and the feeling that her life needs to be profound so color me surprised to see how many people just think joel did the right thing and saying the show made ellie “bratty” because she outright says joel is selfish like MAMA HE IS SELFISH HELLO😭

[zijunyang]

Pop Music and Feminism: How Pop Celebrities except Taylor Swift and Beyoncé use their platforms to fight against social justice

Over the past years, there has been a growing norm of sexual assault and harassment towards women within the music industry or from other mainstream media. Such cases of women harassment have led to the development of various organizations, both locally and internationally, to root for women empowerment within societies. Consequently, female artists within the music industry have stood up against multiple cases of abuse and harassment directed towards them and their counterparts. They have been standing up against the vices through the music songs that they are writing and singing or through making use of the societal positions they are holding to influence others towards standing against the vices. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are two of the most well-known musicians when it comes to Pop culture and Feminism areas. However, there are a large number of other female artists who are using their voices to do the same thing — inspire and empower young girls all around the world.

Musicians like Janelle Monáe, Halsey, Grimes, FKA Twigs and Kacey Musgraves have been in the frontline in this battle in multiple ways; they have promoted feminism and girl power within the music industry through their songs and various initiatives they have championed. They have also been using lyrics and their person to encourage equality and discourse within society. They have been writing songs that are aimed at allowing women to express their anger and dissatisfaction confidently, show their pride as women and well as advocate for their freedom within the society.

Grimes

As one of my personal favorite artists of all time, Grimes's uniqueness and boldness really help her to get a place in the music industry nowadays. Her album sales or singles sales are not really pleasant, but she is considered one of the critics' favorites, especially when she released her album "Visions". The story behind the album "Visions" was described as completely dark. Two of her best friends died and she experienced an unforgettably horrible sexual harassment that made her scared of men for a while, which also created one of the greatest song of all-time "Oblivion". The message of this song is extremely important for the women nowadays because it talks about something that most women have been through. Pitchfork named this song as the second best song of the decade, which is also the best song of the decade as a female leading song. NME ranked this song number 229 of 500 Greatest Songs of all time. What makes this song so special is the message and her expressions. It is absolutely amazing to see Grimes's whole process of getting through her terrible nightmare in this song. She started this song by expressing her fear of men. "Cause someone could break your neck, coming up behind you always coming and you'd never have a clue." ("Oblivion" Grimes 2012).

That was not the only time Grimes decided to do something for women. Back in 2013, when she officially finished her Grimes World Tour, she spoke up against Sexism publicly. “I’m tired of men who aren’t professional or even accomplished musicians continually offering to ‘help me out’ (without being asked), as if I did this by accident and I’m gonna flounder without them, or as if the fact that I’m a woman makes me incapable of using technology. I have never seen this kind of thing happen to any of my male peers” (Grimes, 2013). While she was defending herself, Grimes actually pointed out an very horribly interesting situation for women in the music industry. She is a singer, as well as a producer, director and song writer, which is considered exceptional talented. Nonetheless, she claimed that men who are not even good at producing music would “offer help” without even asking Grimes’s opinions. This is not the first time that a celebrity talked about women in the music industry are underrated and are seen as “toys” being controlled over by men. Not all of them are brave enough to speak about it because may ruin their careers. Take Kesha as an example, she and Dr.Luke, a considered professional producer, had gone through a lot in the court. Kesha claimed that Dr.Luck had sexually offended during her early years of her career (which is the era of her albums “Animal” and the EP “Cannibal”). It took her years to confront to this and unfortunately Kesha did not get a glorious victory. Taylor Swift is dealing some similar problems recently with the 2 owners of her previous record company Big Machine Records. Female artists in the music industry have to work harder than male artists to get a place, and will still be underrated by them. Grimes may not influence or change the situation, but is definitely a great try and provided references for women who are planning to step into this music business industry.

Grimes is always bravely outspoken, and this is why I always believe she should have a higher place in the music industry for her to be able to make a real difference with her powerful thoughts and her fearless heart.

Janelle Monáe

During an interview, Janelle Monáe stated that she wrote the song in response to the threats that were directed towards her rights as “a woman, as a black woman, and as a sexually liberated woman.” During the interview, she mentions various lines within the particular song such as “Black girl magic, y’all can’t stand it, y’all can’t ban it…” she proceeds to quote the next line which states that “we gave you life, we gave you birth, we gave you God, we gave you earth.” Such lines are seen to be motivating women by reminding them of their worth in the society as well as how prominent their existence is to the community (Dworsky, 34). As a result, she is seen to be advocating for women’s empowerment and respect for women within society. Through her song ‘Django Jane,’ Janelle Monáe is seen in the video to be tackling interdisciplinary concepts of feminism that are embodying feminism, racism, and sexuality. In this track, Janelle Monáe talks about the power of a woman in conjunction with her accomplishments. The truck is promoting feminism and girl power by giving the women in the society strength, courage, power, and ability to stand against the vices that are channeled towards them.

Janelle Monáe, in another song, features another female ‘Grimes’ in the producing another song titled ‘Pynk’ in this song Janelle Monáe is sonically, aesthetically and lyrically articulating a vision of women liberation as well promotion of equality among all races within the society. Within the song, Janelle Monáe creates an environment where cis men are seen to be developing jealousy for not being established women. This she does by empowering women through the song by singing that, “cause boy, it’s cool if you got glue, we got the pynk.” All through the music video, Janelle Monáe is also seen to be paying homage to feminism being distancing women from boys as she gives various incidences where the two populations have different abilities (Dworsky, 34).

She as well motivates and encourages women by telling them that their abilities are way more superior to those possessed by men. She encourages women to live the best life they have always desired and also to ensure that no one comes between them and their happiness. Janelle Monáe as well takes to various social media platforms where she engages her followers on various issues that touch on equality and discrimination of the minority groups within the society. This is also an indication of various ways in which Janelle Monáe is promoting feminism and girl power within the music industry.

Moreover, Janelle Monáe featuring Erykah Badu recorded a song named QUEEN, in the song she is seen to be promoting women empowerment in various activities and ways. An interview, Janelle Monáe stated that the song was meant to encourage and motivate anybody who is suffering or had suffered marginalization, inclusive of the oppressed women of the society. She uses the song to provide hope to the marginalized group within societies that they are not limited to specific achievements. Still, instead, they as well bear the ability and capability to realize their goals for life. According to Janelle Monáe, through the video for the song, the major marginalized group highlighted in the video are women. Therefore the song QUEEN is seen as a tool for advocating for and promotion of feminism within the music industry and the society at large. This is evident from the lyric of the song that states, “they call us dirty cause we break all their rules down, and we just come to act a fool, is that all right? (girl that’s all right).” Thus the lyrics for this song are, in particular, advocating and supporting feminism and girl power within the society and by far the music industry.

Halsey

Halsey’s accomplishments in the music industry is unquestionable. Although she may not be a huge superstar like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, her contributions in women’s rights are remarkably incredible. She has been actively engaged in a large number of activities that are about fighting for equal rights, as well as actively expressing her opinions on multiple social media like Twitter and Instagram. She is gradually taking over the name of “New Feminist Icon” in the past few years.

Last year, one of the most fascinating moments in the 2018 Women’s March was when Halsey delivered an incredibly stunning and empowering speech called “A Story Like Mine”. In the poem, Halsey tells about her best friend Sam’s raped experience and how horrible it was dating back at adolescence, she also tells about her personal stories with guys that she used to be in relationships with. Unfortunately, these stories were not really pleasantly developed. In the last part of the speech, Halsey started to raise up awareness and started to express what was on her mind. With honesty, bravery, anger and power, she marked herself as a phenomenal real girl warrior. She had provided so many inspirations in the speech. The day after she gave that speech in New York City, she went trending on Twitter, as well as the hashtag #WomensMarch2018. She also put her attitude and her thoughts into her music. When she wants to fight for LGBT rights, she released "Strangers" featuring Lauren Jauregui, a girl she asked to collaborate with because she was part of the LGBT community, and she rejected Katy Perry because she is not one of the community. She also released a single this year, which is called "Nightmare". It is an very aggressive and somehow powerful anthem. Some people may criticize this song because of the genre makes it sound like a violently abreact and the lyrics are too angry. This was actually her intention. She made several pop songs and those so-called “radio-friendly” singles which she proved that she has the ability to please the general public audience. However, she chose to release a punk rock single, which is unlikely to be played by a large number of radio stations. The track "Nightmare" is a great to show her attitude, and a great way to fight against those who are being toxic to women. Therefore she made this track sound aggressively dangerous, including straightforward lines like ""Come on, little lady, give us a smile", No, I ain't got nothin' to smile about", as well as "I've been polite, but won't be caught dead, Lettin' a man tell me what I should do in my bed". ("Nightmare" by Halsey)

Halsey is still rising up, and I believe more and more women and girls will be empowered by all of her movements that she dedicated to.

FKA Twigs

FKA Twigs, as well through her song Papi Pacify is also seen to be advocating for and promoting feminism within the music industry and by extension, the society at large. She expresses the power of female beauty and how important, beautiful women re to society; she mentions that all women are beautifully beautiful in their distinct ways. FKA Twigs also stresses sexuality in her song, where she advocates for the respect that the women sexuality deserves from their male counterparts. The video of the song contains various scenes where she is physically abused by a man when performing her song; she is seen not to be dwindled by the harassment and abuse directed to her by the man. Instead, she pushes forward into finishing her performance (Derbas, 188). The scene ends by showing how FKA Twigs got physically overpowered by the man, and this particular scene is seen to be promoting feminism by portraying the picture that men physically abuse women. They get overwhelmed despite their efforts of resistance, and this is because men are physically advantaged compared to women. Therefore, FKA Twigs wrote the song intending to encourage and motivate women not quickly to give in to the demands of their oppressors, but instead, they should stand against such persons for they as well have rights that should be respected. This move is seen to be promoting girl power and feminism within the music industry and the general society.

FKA Twigs also champions for girl power and feminism in her track named Figure 8, where she is seen to be advocating for equality in the society through respect of rights of women and other oppressed populations of the society. Having been subjected to various acts of racial abuse and oppression of her sexuality, she states in the lyrics that “let me live, through you vice, mass appeal, I feel in ten breaths it’s a miracle if we are still alive.” She goes ahead and says that “you can control me, but only when I tell you to.” FKA Twigs uses this song to encourage women and the oppressed in the society that they are in charge of various happenings that go on in their lives, and they can control whatever injustice that is done to them (Derbas, 190). Another incident where FKA Twigs is seen to be promoting feminism and girl power is through her song called ‘I’m Your Doll’. The video of the song has an incident where FKA Twigs is using a doll to represent the beautification of women; this is meant to pass to the women that they bear the responsibility of shaping their beauty to whatever standard perfectly suits them. The involvement of the female doll in her video was meant to bringing the picture that taking away the autonomy of women against their consent is a way of violating the rights of women.

Lastly, FKA Twigs uses her song named ‘In Time’ to address various people who, at one point in time, tried to have a troll on her and other women. In the song, she tells these people that they got a damn god heart for having a troll on her as well as the women population at large. Other than Janelle Monáe and FKA Twigs, there also exist several female artists who are promoting feminism and girl power within the music industry and society at large. An example of such artists as Beyoncé, who though her songs are seen to be passing feminism messages to her listeners across communities.

Kacey Musgraves

Another women in the industry who has a fearlessly outspoken mind is Kacey Musgraves, a beloved country singer who won several Grammy awards and created a number of hits. She is also one of the critics’ favorites because of her lyrics contain both simplicity and bravery in every song. However, the only difference between Kacey and other women I had mentioned in this research paper is that Kacey is the only one who claimed was not a feminist. “I just write about life. It's not a girl power thing. I guess I am an opinionated woman, so maybe I could be perceived that way, and that's also not a bad thing to be. But [my music's] not intended to be that. It's just about people, really. And me." (Independent Woman, Published Jul 03, 2015 by Stuart Henderson). She declares her statement, but this does not make her lyrics less empowering.

Kacey is always highly praised by music critics because her rebellious honesty, including Pitchfork, Billboard and Rolling Stone. Honesty seems to be the key to open her heart, and also a key to help open other women’ minds. One of her most controversial songs is “Follow Your Arrow”. “If you save yourself for marriage, you're a bore,If you don't save yourself for marriage, you're a whore-able person” (“Follow Your Arrow”), the lyrics are straightforward and genuine, and also easily be resonated. She came from a small village in Texas where women are mostly living their lives within different kinds of stereotypes. Instead of growing up in a big city and having strong and powerful slogans to fight for Girl power, Kacey escaped from her hometown and wrote about her truths. To her, maybe it is just like a dairy, but to the world, to those who had been in the same situation or are right now living in that reality, it really helps them to open their hearts since it resonates so much. “If you can't lose the weight, then you're just fat, But if you lose too much, then you're on crack, You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, So you might as well just do whatever you want” (“Follow Your Arrow”). The song “Follow Your Arrow” covers more than just one thing. It contains almost all the controversial things people in the country music industry are not dare to talk about. She covers religions (“If you don't go to church you'll go to hell”), LGBT rights (“kiss lots of boys, Or kiss lots of girls, If that's something you're into”), Women’s rights, which are mostly equal rights. Somehow she managed to put all these information in one song and releases it to inspire people. It had won several big awards including Song of the Year for Country Music Awards at 2014. Rolling Stone ranked this song number 39 on its list of '100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time’. Billboard also listed this song as the second best song of 2013. Those well-known music critics recognized her lyrics and I believe whoever listens to this song will gasp in admiration. What I personally love about this song is that it sounds like an attack, an attack with attitude mixed with aggressive and soft emotions. She is probably the bravest woman in the country music industry of this decade who were not scared of telling the truth.

Conclusion

There are so many more musicians like these brilliant women. Some of them may not be famous, but without a huge fan base does not mean that they are not doing good enough. What makes their power so important is the message they are trying to give, and the community they are trying to influence. I hope the world will have more Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to help women stand out, and the fighting of equal rights will finally comes to an end.

[lindyhunt]

Everything That Upset the Internet This Week

What is the web-o-sphere angry about this week? A white news anchor defending blackface on Halloween, a female comedian siding with a man accused of sexual harassment, and an underwhelming TV sitcom death. Here’s everything you need to know.

Megyn Kelly encourages blackface

THE STORY: On October 22, a week before Halloween, Megyn Kelly decided to discuss costumes with a few guests on her NBC show, Megyn Kelly Today. An innocuous topic of conversation, one would assume, but not quite what Kelly had in mind, considering she kicked off the discourse with this: “Political correctness has gone amok. There are strict rules on what you may or may not wear issued by someone who thinks they’re the boss of you.”

After much discussion (and eye-rolling) of costumes generally considered racist, Kelly brought up the concept of blackface, bemoaning how it’s now frowned upon in polite society.

“But what is racist?” Kelly asked about white people donning blackface as a costume. “Because you do get in trouble if you’re a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. When I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressing up as a character.”

Kelly went on to defend Real Housewives of New York castmember Luann de Lesseps, who decided to dress as Diana Ross last Halloween. “She made her skin look darker than it really was and people said that was racist. I don’t know,” Kelly said. “I found that, like, who doesn’t love Diana Ross? Who doesn’t want to look like Diana Ross for one day? I don’t know how that got racist on Halloween.”

THE REACTION:

Dear @megynkelly — you and I are approximately the same age. Blackface was NOT okay when we were kids. Take it from a big-hearted boy who just wanted to show his love for Nipsey Russell on the worst Halloween of my life. https://t.co/pnsk0WmuTw

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 23, 2018

NBC cancels #MegynKelly Today talk show after controversial blackface comments.

👨🏽‍💻 #TwitterNewsChat

For the umpteenth time: blackface went hand-in-hand with day-to-day hateful and discriminatory treatment toward black people.

It’s never appropriate.

🗣 Never. pic.twitter.com/L6hRviYEyL

— Kenneth Ware Jr. (@KennethWareJr) October 26, 2018

Because @megynkelly: minstrelsy is the basis for the coining of the term "Jim Crow" laws which served to humiliate & target Black Americans. Because caricaturing another race perpetuates the dehumanization of POC who are being killed & jailed at a disproportionate rate in the US https://t.co/xk2RAr2Kxq

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) October 23, 2018

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: People who pull the “what’s the big deal?” card on blackface are failing to take into account the history of the practice—white people’s performative, exaggerated and disrespectful depiction of black people in minstrel shows—and what it represents in American culture (not to mention the fact that a person’s race or ethnicity should never be considered “costume”). “This is a history going back to the 1830s—minstrel shows to demean and denigrate a race wasn’t right… magnifying the worst stereotypes about black people,” said Al Roker the next day on the Today show, also on NBC.

After an outcry on social media and scheduled guests like the House of Cards showrunners declining to appear on the show, NBC ultimately cancelled Kelly’s show.

Kelly may have issued an apology but this debacle certainly proves that she should not be given a major platform to air her views on social and cultural issues. She still walked away with $69 million though, so I’d say she’s not too much worse for the wear. Maybe Fox News will take her back?

Sarah Silverman defends Louis CK

THE STORY: Earlier this week, Sarah Silverman told Howard Stern that she voluntarily consented to have Louis C.K. masturbate in front of her. “I’ve known Louis forever, I’m not making excuses for him, so please don’t take this that way,” Silverman told Stern. “We are peers. We are equals. When we were kids, and he asked if he could masturbate in front of me, sometimes I’d go, ‘Fuck yeah I want to see that!’”

She added, “It’s not analogous to the other women that are talking about what he did to them. He could offer me nothing. We were only just friends.”

Rebecca Corry, one of the comedians who came forward last year with her story in the New York Times about how CK forced her to watch him masturbate, said on Twitter, “To be real clear, CK had “nothing to offer me” as I too was his equal on the set the day he decided to sexually harass me. He took away a day I worked years for and still has no remorse. He’s a predator who victimized women for decades and lied about it.”

THE REACTION:

I'm still thinking about Sarah Silverman bringing up her own consensual encounters with Louis CK and omg, the fact that she felt the need to muddy the discussion with that makes me so mad.

— Beverly Crusher's Ghost Boyfriend (@LuxAlptraum) October 22, 2018

Sarah Silverman's quotes on Louis CK are the epitome of W-T-ACTUAL-F https://t.co/6Jx81CJAJT pic.twitter.com/Z4EZAjy6Qb

— Francesca Bacardi (@OriginalFresca) October 22, 2018

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: What Silverman described is a consensual—albeit strange—sexual interaction between two friends. As long as it involves consenting adults, there’s no reason for us to comment on sexual activity between two people. But, considering she knew of CK’s, shall we say, proclivity to masturbate in front of women, Silverman should have come forward with this last year when the women who spoke out against him were being vilified, blamed or not believed. As a woman who had been in that situation with CK before, she should have had the understanding and empathy to see that the same events could just as easily have taken place in a non-consensual and traumatic scenario, and spoken up in solidarity with the women who were bravely raising their own voices. Muddying the waters several months later by casually discussing her own consensual experience with CK is really not helping matters.

Modern Family death is deemed “not significant enough”

THE STORY: Several weeks ago, Modern Family’s showrunners teased the death of a “significant character” in the show’s latest season. The way this story usually goes is: fans react in dismay, disbelief and shock, commiserating with each other on social media over losing a beloved character. But that’s… not quite how it went when the anticipated episode aired on Wednesday. There was a massive negative reaction on Twitter, certainly, but it was because the character who died wasn’t major enough.

THE REACTION:

WAIT!!! DEE DEE?! THEY KILLED DEE DEE!??!! WHY THEY HAVE ME THINKING IT WAS SOMEBODY IMPORTANT!!!!! #ModernFamily had my blood pressure up and shit! pic.twitter.com/igAHeR2W6v

— Chardonnay Andromedon🌛 (@FrizzyNixxy) October 25, 2018

#ModernFamily: We're gonna kill off a MAJOR character this season. Me: Goes to look up who died after all the hype. Modern Family: We killed off a character that's been on 7 episodes of a 10 season show. Me: Let me define major character for you. pic.twitter.com/Q8yHQeaS2p

— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) October 25, 2018

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Guys, there’s enough shit to get worked up over. How about you just savour the fact that whoever your favourite character on the show is, he or she will still be around next season? Rejoice in the fact that you didn’t have to mourn a TV death on par with those of McDreamy, Will Gardner and Michael Cordero. We’ve clearly become so inured to bad news that when something isn’t as bad as we thought it’d be, we just don’t know what to do with ourselves.