Kanye West "Famous"

Kanye West dropped his new album Life of Pablo at his fashion show last night. One of the songs, Famous, is causing quite a controversy.

In the song Famous a line reads: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex...I made that bitch famous." This line is obviously referring to Taylor Swift, the singer/songwriter that he has been in on and off again feuds with since 2009.

Music is not a new type of media that promotes a patriarchal society and pushes misogynistic messages. Music and lyrics have been pushing the gender divide apart for decades. This lyric does just that. I appreciate both Kanye and Taylor as artists, but it is hard to defend this lyric as it completely degrades women on many levels. Firstly, he is saying that gave her all of her success, pushing the idea that in order for women to be successful they need a man to help them. Also, he says that because he gave her success, that she owes him sex. That's what women do right? Offer sex to men who help them. (Not to mention that Taylor was already very successful before Kanye intervened and that she probably helped his career more than he helped hers).

As discussed in class, gender in the media reinforce dominant ideals. In the reading, Laying a Foundation for studying Race, Gender, and the Media, Rebecca Ann Lind describes, "We've been socialized into a gender-conscious society that is also stratified... along the lines of gender. When our generalizations become overly simplistic, when we ignore evidence that they are incorrect, or when they become exaggerated, they have become more than mere "generalizations"; they've become stereotypes..."Stereotypes are at the heart of the cognitive aspect of prejudice."

Lyrics like Kanye's in Famous reinforce ideas of male over female dominance and female stereotypes.