Lady Gaga's Influence On Gender Roles

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During the 1950s and 60s, many young teens started to rebel in various ways to break free from the ‘Ozzie and Harriet fantasy’ their parents and generations before them have experienced. This was displayed through the themes of various rock and roll songs. A specific theme described in many songs at that time was the defiance of stereotypical gender roles. Despite being common back then, this theme and many others at that time are still evident in modern music today. A prime example of the defiance of stereotypical gender roles in modern day music is Lady Gaga. Throughout multiple albums, since her debut in 2008, she has “rebelled” against the standard expectations of women. Specifically, her songs ‘Donatella’, ‘X Dreams’ and ‘Born This Way’, discuss seemingly taboo subjects for women to be addressing, mimicking the way many female musicians in the 50s and 60s began to explore such unmentionable subjects. It was expected …show more content…

Lady Gaga alludes to this control men (and the media) have over women in her song “Do What U Want”. In the pre-chorus of her song, she repeats the words “Do what you want/ What you want with my body” as if she was telling men and the media that they can have control over her body but not her mind; a statement that would’ve been very influential and relevant back in the 50s and 60s. Many women felt the same way after being given the opportunity to work and make a living for themselves only to have their jobs taken away and to be subjected to the power of their returning husbands and back in charge of household maintenance. The men can force them back into the kitchen but they can’t change their craving for self-reliance and

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