THBT satirical depictions of traditional gender roles in pop culture are an effective tool for feminist empowerment

THBT satirical depictions of traditional gender roles in pop culture are an effective tool for feminist empowerment

Source: OpenAI

Proposition:

• A common objective of feminist satire is to exaggerate stereotypes typically associated with women. They may intentionally flout traditional sexist tropes like submissive housewives and hypersexualized women. There have been instances, for example in the case of Madonna, when these satires proved to be an effective means to challenge patriarchal values.

• For example, Madonna's Like a Virgin subtly demolished right-leaning stereotypes - fetishizing purity and female innocence - deeply entrenched in the mid-1980s. A common feature, which this song and other media share, is that they address the root cause of sexism and present relevant phenomena in a digestible way. Based on historical precedent, their audience is likely to discern the absurdity and the limiting nature of these tropes and reflect on themselves. For a lot of people, media like this serve as a thought-provoking input that will encourage them to further engage with their environment's shortcomings later.

• The issue of feminism is still relevant in today's world, and we should care about it by keeping it in the mainstream. The media - such as satirical music videos, and films, is an effective tool in the hands of content creators to amplify their feminist narratives as they can reach massive audiences within a relatively short time.

• Whenever feminist satires emerge on the Internet, they attract a lot of media attention thanks to the algorithm of certain social media sites that boost their view counts. There have been many cases that they helped foster constructive discourse between people of different ages, genders, and political affiliations to better understand their views.

• Admittedly, objectification, ad hominem comments, and hate speech in the media are inevitable, but it is important to note that these artists actively choose to share their content with the world, and therefore, bear the responsibility that comes with that. In parallel, it is still up to each media consumer to decide whether they want to engage with their content. Even if there are social media platforms that gained notoriety for their extremist content - Elon Musk's X, every media user can freely decide if they wish to engage with them or not.

• Even if there are examples that sought to undermine patriarchal values of little to no avail, for example Sabrina Carpenter, other creators managed to reconstruct the discussion about feminism and get across their critical judgements of the SQ. Back to Madonna's case, she had a lasting social impact and moulded society for the better.

• Feminist content creators can instrumentalize satire and other self-deprecating genres to assume agency over their lives. With the help of the media, they can indicate towards the world that they are no longer passive agents subjugated to the interest of men. What is more, they can even subvert traditional gender roles in a delibarately exaggerated and ironic way. Obviously, they seek to gain control over their lives, and the media evidently offers them an opportunity to reframe their own public perception.

Opposition:

• Sabrina Carpenter's recent album cover is a blatant example that feminist messages might not always come across as intended and be misinterpreted by the audience. Indeed, it is particularly challenging for her audience to appreciate the deeper message of her album without context.

• She framed her new album cover with a picture of her in a black minidress kneeling and pawing for the attention of a man tightly gripping her bombshell hair. On top of this, the title of her recent album "Man's Best Friend" unsurprisingly engendered huge controversy over promoting regressive attitudes, deemed by some as misogynistic. In brief, her album cover depicts women as dogs submissive to their husbands. Needless to say, she totally misses the point of a feminist satire and triggered a major backlash online. Based on the media's reaction to the announcement of her new album, her plans backfired and perpetuated the very stereotypes - sexualized women, and submissive gender roles - it aimed to address.

• Furthermore, she took to Instagram and posted that album cover along with another photo featuring a dog with a collar "Man's Best Friend" engraved on it. In this case, she uses an old-fashioned sexist trope and leaves great room for ambiguity without clarifying a lot of logical gaps.

• As of now, it has become easier than ever before for creators to generate millions of views on social media by uploading sensationalist posts similar to that of Sabrina Carpenter. This poses a high risk for women on the Internet and might endorse patriarchal views and fantasies already existing in today's world.

• When content creators incorporate feminist satire in their material, it is a real concern that music production companies may commodify feminist narratives for their own financial incentives. Inevitably, this might lead to prioritizing aesthetics over substance, hence a decay in quality. This is simply not what content creation is all about. Their primary goal is to gain ground against other content makers and dominate the market through shock value. Nevertheless, it doesn't necessarily address the root cause of female oppression and doesn't encourage systemic action to resolve it.

• Similar media content posted online might offer its audience a superficial understanding of a social phenomenon as complex as sexism. Poor feminist satires - unlike the ones of Madonna's - do not foster fruitful discussions. Based on the long-standing tendencies of social media sites, similar content might draw a wedge between people with conflicting views and further shatter social cohesion. By and large, they might thwart feminist organizations from taking control of their situation.