Conversations with my friends frequently come up about how music is pointing out important things in our lives. This goes beyond the mournful croon of Morrissey and his misanthropic view of the world, or even Bono’s call to arms to achieve something greater. Rather, a lot of the times conversation hovers around what artists have to say about society at large rather than an introspective analysis of the self that’s set to loud guitars.
Enter my friend Chris.
Last semester, Chris decided to write an extremely thought provoking final paper for his Women & Gender Studies class. Aside from some of the material he’d been exposed to in the class, Chris decided to use a piece of music that he felt really illustrated something poignant about the roles in masculinity and sexual identity.
Using Beck’s album, Midnite Vultures, in conjugation with Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, Chris crafted an articulate response on the nature of masculinity. The result is one of the most enjoyable academic papers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I decided to post this paper on my blog because I fell in love with Chris’ analysis of possibly my favorite Beck album, and how he displays Beck’s satire as more than just a good listen.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Beck Hansen, in the song “Get Real Paid,” makes a very quick but meaningful reference to gender identity, only two lines that are unmistakably loaded: “We like the boys with the bulletproof vests,” he sings in a monotone drone, “We like the girls with the cellophane chests.” Here, boys and girls have been marked with the appropriately gendered chest gear. Girls have their “cellophane,” an obvious reference to breast implants and the ornamental nature of American femininity. Boys, on the other hand, are given “bullet-proof vests,” which easily connotes the notion of gun-violence. It is masculine to be violent...”
If this excerpt has peaked your interest, I highly recommend you download the paper for yourself at this location: http://www.sendspace.com/file/i9j915
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