#treloar

     Moving Beyond Social Media for Dummies: Leaps and Bounds in One Trimester

     Going into this course, I had a general idea as to what I would be doing, though I never imagined it would open my eyes the way it did. It is easy to tune off a blur out what you look at on a daily basis and not truly understand the impact it has on one’s thought process, values, and the way it could impact someone. It is extremely eye opening to dig deeper into things and have a genuine interest in what is happening in the world around us. I have gained knowledge about the world around me and it will forever change the way I see the media moving forward.      I thoroughly enjoyed researching media conglomerates and seeing just how big some companies really are. It is astounding to see how everything is interconnected in some way within the media community. I had no idea TimeWarner were under one name that encompassed the studio that produced my favorite Harry Potter films and one of the largest news sources worldwide. I certainly don’t think I ever would have known that either had I not taken this course.I also would not have known that AT&T is looking to merge with TimeWarner which could be a huge game changer for television, film and much more.

     I found a lot of my research for many of the projects just by sitting down and clicking on random links rather than just selecting the first three Google searches that appear. Increasingly now, I find myself clicking on small articles and actually thoroughly reading the article rather than just the headline, which the body of an article has a lot more information in comparison to the title headline-who would have thought.      Moving forward from this course I can never look at ads the same. They are all around us and never before did I consciously think about the message the ad was sending. When I do watch television it is fun to pick apart an ad for its gender defining or even gender defying messages. Beyond that, even just how much work goes into creating an ad for television and the fact that an ad series could possibly make or break a new line for a company. I’m usually on the lagging side of the curve when it comes to new things, which is why Twitter and Tumblr were never a big part of my life until this class. I did however learn that I could pick up on new things pretty fast if I put some real brainpower into it. Slowly I am exploring the expanses of Tumblr outside of being the platform to which I must upload my work on, and so far I am impressed. The amount of time I can waste on Tumblr is nearly limitless as I’ve learned, even in writing this post, I find myself exploring all the site has to offer.      Overall from this course I will take a new found awareness. Our group presentations also opened me up to a new world. Every one of us had something new and different to talk about and my background knowledge about each subject was very limited to almost zero for some. The presentations, lectures, and assignments have unlocked a new curiosity for me. I really enjoyed the course and look forward to possibly taking another class in the future to help further my knowledge about media, for I feel like I just grazed the surface of what is out there with this one particular course.

     When asked what types of music people like, a common answer is usually something along the lines of, anything but country.  Which leaves a pretty broad range of music genres available after eliminating all of country music. Except one genre of country music in particular is growing in favoritism across the nation, and that would be the sub genre of “bro country”.  Known for the hip-hop beats, never ending beer, and of course the pretty girls wearing hardly anything but their boots.

     Bro country has recently come under quite a bit of criticism for how they portray women and the lack of substance that the songs have. Coming in hot with their take on bro country, are country artists Maddie and Tae, with their song “Girl In a Country Song”. Their song is blunt and very straightforward with lyrics such as, “ It ain’t easy bein that girl in a country song, how in the world did it go so wrong, like all we’re good for, is lookin good for you and your friends on the weekend, nothing more”.

     This song is an anthem to any one tired of hearing about, skinny tan legged girls sliding over in the seat of a pick up on warm summer night. While Maddie and Tae in their music video do display the classic pretty girl here and there throughout the video, they are hardly noticeable behind the men in cut off shorts and open flannel shirts. The men are seen seductively walking down a dirt road, cleaning a truck or a plethora of other seemingly common scenes you would often see women placed in for a bro country music video. Tae and Maddie’s hit song is only one of many songs that are part of country’s feminist songs that are emerging.  

     Tae and Maddie’s song and many other feminist country songs are unique from the portrayals in bro country in that in their songs, the women have the control. Whether it be about fighting like a girl, getting over a breakup or just life in general, the women have the control. These songs are marketed more towards a strong woman who doesn’t want or need a man telling her she has nice legs or looks like an angel. Anthems to the strong woman aren’t necessarily a new development though in terms of country music. Shania Twain has been a forefront from being a strong countrywoman. Twain portrayed in her music, her lyrics and her videos, “was so significant, and for some, threatening(Mandreall J, 2014)”. Before Tae and Maddie, Twain was making a statement about what it truly was like to be a woman, and just a hint, it isn’t wearing cut off shorts and bikini tops all the time. Twain’s music “divided what is and what isn’t traditional(Mandrell J, 2014), which simply means she may have had some stereotypes of women portrayed in her videos, but her music had depth and still challenged the impression of women that is so frequently brought up in bro country. Even in Twain’s videos though, she was the one in control. One review of Twain’s music videos brought criticism to her calling her, “the highest paid lap dancer in America(Mandrell J, 2014)”. Which may be in line considering the nature of Twain’s wardrobe is known to show off certain assets of hers, but still, if that is her choice then so be it. 

     While Tae and Maddie’s song does stir up some embers in women’s fight against objectification, it is also interesting to look into who is sending out their message. Under Big Machine Records, there are a number of labels including Dot Records to which Maddie and Tae are signed to, but it is also interesting to see that classic bro country acts such as Florida Georgia line are under the same umbrella. It confuses the message that the public receives in the end. On one hand there is the bro country version with beer, a summer night, and some girls who want to “shake it for me” as Luke Bryan, another bro country artist would say. On the other, you have Tae and Maddie singing about how rough it is to be a girl in a country song, while showing images of men portraying what women would usually be doing in a bro country song.

   With much talk being brought about by more feminist country songs emerging, male artists have stepped forward to apologize for the depth of their music. While that is a grand start in the right direction, it is also important to remember that the records don’t sell unless the public buys. Full albums get released based on the success of a single song on the radio. If the music being produced is being consumed, a trend is in the making and producers will use it until the audience no longer wants it. With that, I don’t see the end of bro country music coming any time soon, nor the end of the emerging feminist country music subgenre.