This is Jewel’s new video for her song “Stronger Woman.” I can’t figure out if Jewel thinks that all women are essentially the same (in the sense that we need to throw off patriarchy) or that contemporary American women are superior (and all women, then and now, should aspire to be like us… oh yeah, and by “us” I mean young, gorgeous, thin, white, blonde women who “love” themselves). In either case, I don’t like it:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaXr2vGDQwk[/youtube]
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Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 4
cyberchic — March 12, 2008
That's a hard call. I love the lyrics, but you're right about the comparison to other women in the video. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that she's saying that all women should aspire to be young, gorgeous, thin, white, and blonde. Absent the video, I'd assume she's sending an empowering message.
Anonymous — March 13, 2008
It looks like the first interpretation is more fitting: we're presented with a collage of women from various cultures who need to throw off patriarchy, and then they make some moves that are intended to symbolise doing so. Where'd your second reading come from?
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