Saturday, April 13, 2013

A portrayal of women Simone de Beauvoir might approve of?

I decided to see if I could find an example of contemporary culture that tried to fight agaisnt the myth of woman as the other. The Dixie Chicks are often considered for songs about woman empowerment, and I think that Simone de Beauvoir might agree with their songs to a large degree. For example, the songs "Cowboy, Take me Away" and "Wide Open Spaces" are primarily about a young woman wanting to be free. Even the song "Cowboy, Take Me Away" is not so much about being with a man as it is about being free. In fact, no males appear in the music video. Woman is seen first as a free being in and of herself, and is not defined based on her actions or relation towards man. What do you think de Beauvoir would see? Would she agree with what these songs are trying to do or still see too much evidence of the myth of women as other in our culture?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hntXAO_Rq7c

1 comment:

  1. Mary,
    I think that de Beauvoir and even Kristeva might approve of the Dixie Chicks, in that they have attempted (Have they succeeded?) to change assumptions in country music (men, guns, men over women, guns, bar fights, depression, etc.).

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