Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site randvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!randvax!edhall From: edhall@randvax.UUCP (Ed Hall) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Re: Re: Madonna, role model Message-ID: <2570@randvax.UUCP> Date: Tue, 25-Jun-85 14:28:24 EDT Article-I.D.: randvax.2570 Posted: Tue Jun 25 14:28:24 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 23:44:55 EDT References: <273@cmu-cs-g.ARPA> <841@ccice5.UUCP> <2222@topaz.ARPA> <492@rtech.UUCP> <209@fear.UUCP> Reply-To: edhall@rand-unix.UUCP (Ed Hall) Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica Lines: 34 Summary: > Today's music is shallow? Has everyone forgotten disco? > -- Robert Plamondon Indeed; although there is always a subclass of popular music with social conciousness, I can't think of a time--even in the late 1960's--where the bulk of popular music wasn't shallow in this respect. But to paraphrase a line from the person under discussion: folks just wanna have fun. And why not? Music, no matter how ``deep'', has never had more than a small part of it focused on social awareness. In fact, on that scale I'd dare to say ``Material Girl'' has more social awareness than Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The latter clearly has other kinds of depth--and I prefer it much for those reasons. But if you make social conciousness the measure of merit for music or for musicians--and this discussion seems to be doing so--you're missing the entire point. (Robert certainly pointed this out very well; I'm merely reiterating it here.) As for Madonna's ``boy toy'' *image* and the social comments she *does* make--well, that's an entirely different thing. Personally, I think she is more a reflection than the cause of certain social phenomena. She's a ``role model'', certainly, and the end result is that she reinforces a particular role for women that I abhor. But she didn't create that role--in a very real sense, it created her, and made her a star among stars. Blame it on adolescent boys (of all ages), or on our society's conditioning of women to be the ``toys'' of men. But if you're looking for root causes, you'll never find them by blaming Madonna. [Notes: 1) I don't like Madonna much, and 2) I don't like Madonna's music much.] -Ed Hall decvax!randvax!edhall