Friday Night Norms

“Last Friday Night”: A Glimpse of American Social Norms
In Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night,” a stereotypical nerdy girl experiences a high school or college party being thrown in her house by her friend. The night starts and she goes downstairs to find a huge crowd and party going on. As the night progresses, her friend takes her upstairs, helps her alter her appearance, they both rejoin the crowd downstairs and then they party hard. They spend the night drinking, dancing, playing Just Dance on a Wii, and then the girl passes out in her bed. The next morning, she wakes up to find a strange boy in her bed, a mess everywhere, and pictures of the previous night online. When her parents come into her room they and ask what happened she explains

For instance, towards the beginning of the video, one guy comes in to congratulate the nerd girl on her party starting off the conversation by saying, “I don’t care what people say about you” (“Katy Perry”). This interaction between the nerd girl and average guy hints at a social boundary being crossed. Despite her achieved status, one which she obtained (Henslin), as a nerdy student, the average party guy approached her to talk to her. The fact that social boundaries exist hints at a high school or college setting because these sorts of archetypes are mostly seen in high school and college. With the archetypes come the attire and appearances resembling teenagers and college students. While the style of clothing was out of the 80’s, the fashion is the style that was worn by teenagers back then. In addition, the environment and background throughout the music video suggests a wild and carefree atmosphere which appeals strongly to teenagers and young adults in college. There was a let loose attitude as lights, silly string, clothing items, solo cups, loud noises and constant movement created a chaotic environment. These themes of wild, but freeing chaos coupled with the attire and interactions of people direct this music video toward young adults in high school or

The main character in this music video, a nerdy girl, adjusts her appearance. Replacing her loose denim overall shorts with a tight mini skirt and a shirt that clung to her body, the girl conforms to society’s standards of beauty. Her new look immediately draws the attention of the cute, popular guy, exemplifying how objectifying her outfit is. The beauty standards that society pressures girls to line up with are very objectifying of their bodies. The nerd girl had to put on a tight mini skirt and top in order to be looked at. However, her desire to put on those clothes just to be noticed is not her own personal trouble, but a societal issue because the issue “transcend[s] [her] local environments” (Mills). Those standards are set through society’s institutions, especially the media. With Photoshop and professional makeup artists preparing the women who pop up in advertisements and magazines, the average woman has a hard time competing and gaining attention with her own natural beauty. These advertisements pop up during sporting events, men see these women and then expect other girls to look just like that. Whether or not men actually expect women to look like that, women feel pressured into competing with the magazine models and women in advertisements. In addition, the music video highlights the inequality of objectification.