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Thinky Thoughts About Pop
Sep. 24th, 2013 10:43 pmI was just listening to The Best of Nik Kershaw(*) while doing a bit of sorting in the lounge, and "Shame On You" came up in the shuffle. Not a song I'd been aware of when it came out, but as it's on the album, well, I've listened to it a few times now.
The verses are a catalogue of all the heroic deeds that the singer would do for his girl to show his love for her. Awwww, isn't that nice? When you get to the chorus, you realize that the answer is "no".
Shame on you, shame on you
Oh what does a boy have to do for you?
Shame on you, shame on you
Oh what does a boy have to do?
I know we're all supposed to be feeling sympathetic for the guy in this case, but if my boyfriend ever said that to me, he'd pretty soon be my ex-boyfriend.
Male privilege in action. Or maybe just assholeness in action. He thinks he loves her, but he doesn't; he just wants her. Wanting her, he thinks he deserves her, because of his (potential) heroism. She is an object to be won, and it's her fault if she's not behaving like a good little trophy. He'll do anything for her... except listen to her.
What's even worse - and this is why I think "male privilege" - is that the author of the song has no clue of the subtext, of how offensive it is.
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reynardo is entirely to blame for this.
The verses are a catalogue of all the heroic deeds that the singer would do for his girl to show his love for her. Awwww, isn't that nice? When you get to the chorus, you realize that the answer is "no".
Shame on you, shame on you
Oh what does a boy have to do for you?
Shame on you, shame on you
Oh what does a boy have to do?
I know we're all supposed to be feeling sympathetic for the guy in this case, but if my boyfriend ever said that to me, he'd pretty soon be my ex-boyfriend.
Male privilege in action. Or maybe just assholeness in action. He thinks he loves her, but he doesn't; he just wants her. Wanting her, he thinks he deserves her, because of his (potential) heroism. She is an object to be won, and it's her fault if she's not behaving like a good little trophy. He'll do anything for her... except listen to her.
What's even worse - and this is why I think "male privilege" - is that the author of the song has no clue of the subtext, of how offensive it is.
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(*)
reynardo is entirely to blame for this.
