It's been a while since i've written a light music news story, but
i'll give it a shot. Don't expect one paragraph sentences, or formal writing, it's all about comment here... Well, Wendy Testaburger's
image may be confusing to you, but it's the idea of Wendy and her
charachter which creates this somewhat strange comment on Lily Allen and
her feminism. You all know who Lily Allen is, and i'm pretty sure most
of you respect her as an artist. I've listened to both Lily Allen albums
several times, and yeah, they're pretty good. It's
pop for girls who don't really care for pop music, and rebellious tween
music for males who dislike pop, but want a female pop artist as a
marker.
Her new music has split fans and critics. "Air Balloon" is catchy, catchy, and catchy - offering little else other than a simple pop hook and a Shellback co-credit. Then there's "Hard Out Here", a 'feminist anthem' for the women who are seriously pissed off with the way girls are viewed and treated in the industry, and life in general. "Hard Out Here" is actually a well produced track, written with opinion which is backed up by Allen's lyrics: "If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut. When boys be talking about their bitches, no one's making a fuss," and she spits reality. Allen hasn't been silenced, and in 2014, it seems she can be a female icon for the music industry. Someone who is both strong willed, and smart.
Why then, is Allen so
against feminism as a word and a movement? Allen, who's been considered a feminist by critics for quite some time,
denounced the word today: "I know that when I’m sitting in a restaurant and a really beautiful
woman walks in, who’s skinny, I instinctively think, ‘Oh, she’s really
skinny and beautiful and I’m really fat and ugly’"
Wendy wasn't jelly, and not is Lily Allen either - she's just sick of social
chauvinism (maybe) and the way women react to it. It's no more banter than football
rivalry in the music industry. Allen's words of equality seem to be upheld by
evidence, but gender equality isn't worldwide yet. Perhaps in our strange
western world, the women can be SEO, write the theme tune, sing the theme tune,
and bring home the bread, but that's not true in other cultures and societies
across our civilisation. Music seems to be moving more towards image, as some
women would like, but it's still as degrading as softcore pornography, and
Allen wants to eliminate this social stigma of feminism. I can't wait for
Sheezus to see what Allen has come up with, but one thing's for sure - there
won't be a cover of Bowie's "Suffragette City" - and don't expect
Allen to be getting on with pro-feminists who consider men to be the precursor
to all their problems.
~Page 3 of the Sun
