Michael Kimmel defines “Guy Code” in Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code from his book Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. Michael explains guy code in a list of expectations on how men should behave. He explains how from a young age boys grow up with figures as fathers, brothers, and coaches that teach them the idea of masculinity. Also, in guy code there’s always men telling one another what their doing wrong in manhood, “our peers kind of “gender police”, always waiting for us to screw up so they can give us a ticket for crossing the well-drawn boundaries of manhood” (Kimmel). The article finishes with if men don’t fall in the norms of guy code they are gay. Michael explains how men have homophobia. Men are afraid of being called gay because it can affect their masculinity.

In our blog group we questioned and discussed how music degrades not only people, but women, how music affects homosexuality, and how listening to certain music defines a man. Apart on men feeling masculine they have to degrade women to feel power. In 2014, I have to beg the differ. There are still some songs out there that degrade women, but in 2012 the music industry changed for the better. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis came out with a song that was nominated Song of the Year, Same Love, explaining how love shouldn’t be limited by sex gender.  During 2014 Grammys, Macklemore performed the hit song while 33 same sex couples were wedded. Just like Macklemore, In the summer of 2014 Meghan Trainor comes out with a top 100 hit, All About That Bass. Meghan’s song portrays women don’t need to be a size two to live life and to love ones curves. Although there are still songs out there discriminating against gays and women, doesn’t mean there can’t be any songs to empower and change that.

Works Cited

Boardman, Madeline. "Macklemore's Grammys Performance Includes Madonna, 33 Weddings During 'Same Love' (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Sept. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/26/macklemore-grammys-performance_n_4639466.html>.

Kimmel, Michael. Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. 2005. 469-75. Print.

Tiu, Michelle. "Feminism In Music: When Song Lyrics Are 'Not Feminist Enough' | Neon Tommy." Feminism In Music: When Song Lyrics Are 'Not Feminist Enough' | Neon Tommy. Entertainment Producer, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. <http://www.neontommy.com/news/2014/09/feminism-music-when-song-lyrics-are-analyzed-not-being-feminist-enough>.

All About That Bass -Meghan Trainor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk

Erin Liebl

Lora Strey

Composition 101-12

Blog Post 1

9/22/14

“Conspicuous Consumption” About Music

            “The Powerful Theory of Conspicuous Consumption” is a short article written by Thorstein Veblem about how a person’s social status is based on their material items. Paying a lot of money for something that doesn’t have much value was something he could never wrap his head around (Veblem). He feels that now people only purchase something because it is out there, not because they need it (Veblem). He goes into depth that our lawns are simply just cow pastures without a cow to keep it trimmed. Although he doesn’t flat out say it, its visible that Veblem wants us to try and get away from buying things that we don’t need. He himself does not know why we have increasingly been buying things compulsively.  

            Reading this article brought up a few questions about how this relates to todays music world. It has changed dramatically because of the advancements in technology. So I researched: How many people buy an album for an expensive price right away when it is released? How many people wait to hear a song on Spotify or YouTube? I feel that what I find will give me a sense of why we have been buying things compulsively.

            A group member found an article from The Austin Chronicle by Luke Winkie discussing the sales of a record store. He says in this article “More than 4.6 million records were sold in 2012. And vinyl sales increased from $15 million in 2005 to $162 million in 2012” (Winkie). Vinyls have seemed to make a comeback in the world, and as a result that is now causing people to pay more for something they don’t need. A digital download is around $10 and a vinyl goes from $12 to $40 (Winkie). To me that is paying a high price for something that is unneeded.

            Spotify and YouTube are making digital music sales drop dramatically. The number of songs that people streaming on Spotify, YouTube, and Rhapsody have risen to 118.1 billion (Luckerson). Now, even Pandora and Itunes Radio are having an effect on digital music sales. These electronic services though are our future (Luckerson).

            One article led to us to believe that in our future we will be spending our money on foolish things that are unneeded. And the other article led us to believe that we are getting rid of vinyl’s and digital music downloads by streaming songs online for free. Personally I think that streaming the songs for free is a better way to go. It is saving us from consuming things that we don’t need for a high price.

           

           

Works Cited

Luckerson, Victor. "Spotify and YouTube Are Just Killing Digital Music Sales |     TIME.com." Business Money Spotify and YouTube Are Just Killing Digital Music Sales Comments. N.p., 03 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.              

Veblen, Thorstein. Conspicuous Consumption. New York: Penguin, 2006. N. pag. Print.

Winkie, Luke. "The Price You Pay." : At What Cost Does the Vinyl Revolution Come?       N.p., 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.

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