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Self and Society
Summer 2022
Response Paper #2
This assignment allows students an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding
surrounding issues of social identities through a creative lens: that of music. Students choose
topics related to the course and then create an annotated playlist, which is essentially as musical
version of an annotated bibliography. Specifically, students are encouraged to choose an overall
theme (e.g., race, gender, class, sexual identities), and then find songs that fit that reflect themes
related to the identity or identities that they chose.
The playlists students produce must include the following: song, artist, genre, year. Below this
information students then must produce an annotation that details why they chose the specific
song, how they see it relating to sociological concepts of identity, and provide evidence (e.g.,
music lyrics, melodies, music video scenes, etc.) to support their reasoning.
Learning Goals and Assessment
Goal 1. Demonstrate understanding of sociological theories and concepts related to social
identity (including, but not limited to race, gender, class, sexuality, etc.).
Assessment 1. This goal will be assessed via the terms and concepts noted in the annotation.
Beyond naming the concepts, students should be able to define the concepts clearly.
Goal 2. Have students engage in “application” of concepts to their lives and social contexts.
Assessment 2. This goal will be assessed via students’ abilities to connect the term/concept
chosen to cultural meanings apparent in song lyrics.
Annotated Playlist Requirements and Expectations:
1. All content in the annotated playlist must focus on issues related to an identity or
identities. All course concepts should come from the lectures in Module 6 or connections
to assigned readings in Module 6. Concepts and ideas from earlier modules are welcome,
but you only will be graded on the content from Modules 6 and 7.
2. Each playlist must include 5 songs, and annotations for each. Each song annotation must
be accompanied with the following information:
a. Artist(s)
b. Genre
c. Year the song was released
3. Projects are expected to be approximately 5 pages double spaced, one page per
annotation.
4. While I encourage a creative approach to this assignment, each playlist must include the
following:
a. Original thought/writing: your own thoughts expressed critically and clearly
b. Quotes—from course readings and lectures
c. Lyrics/melodic expression/music video scenes explanations—evidence derived
from the song itself.
Example Annotation
“Just a Girl” by No Doubt
Pop, 1995
The song “Just a Girl” is all about how being a woman in our society can be a burden due
to common stereotypes and misconceptions. Both gender socialization and the social
construction of gender play a major role in determining what it means to be a woman. I will
reference the article “The Social Construction of Gender” to analyze this song.
The first line of the song is “Take this pink ribbon off my eyes”, the pink ribbon is a sign
symbolizing a girl. Doing gender is something everyone does, often without thinking about it.
The act of doing gender includes what we wear, how we talk, our mannerisms, etc., and it
reinforces the social construction of gender (Lorber, 1994). As children grow up, they watch the
people around them to learn about gender in a process known as gender socialization. Pink is one
of the many things we associate with girls, it is a color that has been deemed feminine and
assumptions are made about people, especially babies, that wear pink. This can be seen as a
gender process, our interactions with others is why many of us assume that those who wear pink
are either a girl or very feminine (Lorber, 1994). Taking the pink ribbon off her eyes symbolizes
the oppression of women, how girls are taught to be submissive and ultimately “blind” of their
disadvantages.
At the end of verse one the lyrics “This world is forcing me to hold your hand” further
emphasizes societal thought of women being submissive. Lead singer Gwen Stefani, is
“speaking” to a man, implying that women are taught that they need to be protected by
masculine figures. This idea is repeated throughout the song in additional lines such as, “’Cause
I’m just a girl, a little old me. Well, don’t let me out of your sight.” Here she uses the phrases
“little old me” and “don’t let me out of your sight” because our construction of gender considers
women as fragile and dependent beings.
Men dominate and women are devalued in society. The band also targets policy makers
and gender inequality in the line, “Oh, I’m just a girl, all pretty and petite. So don’t let me have
any rights.” Because the United States is a gender stratified society, women, the devalued
gender, have less privileges and economic benefits (Lorber, 1994). Aside from policies that
promote inequalities, interpersonal and internalized sexism contribute to gender inequality and
are a result of socialization. These lines also mock those who believe the stereotype that women
are fragile and soft.
Again, our mannerisms are a way that others categorize us into a gender. Along with the
assumption that women are passive, they are taught to apologize for simply being. In the chorus
she sings, “Oh, I’m just a girl, my apologies. What I’ve become is so burdensome.”, by saying
“I’m a girl, my apologies” and “I’ve become so burdensome” implies that women are too much
work, they are dependent, and they must apologies for taking up space.
One of the ways individuals can combat gender inequality at the internal and
interpersonal level is by recognizing gender as a social construction. By attempting to overcome
the stereotypes that have been embedded in our head we can start to see the world in a clearer
vision, realizing that there is no right or wrong way to be a man or a woman. To see one gender as ultimately inferior and defenseless contributes to the oppressions faced by women.
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