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Whilst browsing, i came across this article that retaliates Paglia's point that Taylor swift and the young starlets of today are not promoting 'strong female personas'. Arguing that Swift is in fact a independent, powerful women that has proved herself to be more than capable of earning what is an extensive fortune and still be grounded and support herself. For the truth is this girl or women however you want to see her; is just 22 years old and yet she is one of the highest earning and paid women in entertainment. So from my point of view if Taylor Swift doesn't embody a 'strong, female persona' then Paglia has some serious explaining to do!

A rather ironic article in which Katy Perry blasts female pop-stars such as Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus who take all their clothes off

This video is rather outlandish, the video is shows the abuse and overt sexualisation of females, but it isn't until the very end that the point of view is changed.  For Gayle Rubin class

Hannah, I think this video is great for analysis -- I'm thinking of R&W's point about how videos create authenticity, and that this video, through that shift at the end, tries to portray Prodigy as somehow clever, not misogynist. It's a "clever" move to say: "Look, we're not violent! All people, even women, are violent. We and our fans don't have to think about being implicated in a culture that's violent toward women, because everyone is violent toward everyone!" That changed point of view, in my reading, is way to build "ethos" with their fans and allow them to continue to be violent and cool.

This is a short article I found about how Elton John has expressed concerned about the two aforementioned stars. I thought it was very interesting because he compares Miley's recent stunts to Lindsey Lohan, claiming that she is a "meltdown waiting to happen." (There's also an expanded version of the article available.) Thoughts?

I think this article shows Elton John as a supreme authority on female pop artists and enforces the idea of them as "meltdowns" and people in a mess. He uses his masculine power to downgrade female artistis. At the end of this article, I thought it was interesting that he discussed privacy of celebrities in the media. He considers this a detriment to celebrities and neglects to acknowledge how fan connection and participatory culture can be meaningful.

This tumblr blog post contains images of various female artists who have appeared nude in their videos, noting the reaction to Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" has been different than to other artists' nudity, who have been called "artistic," "beautiful," "cute," and "sexy," while Cyrus gets shamed as "slutty."

We have heard the song, and heard parodies with opposite gender roles. What does everybody think about this cover with a female singing about a male. She does it in a much different way than we have seen with the actual song and the parodies we have looked at.

I found this short article about the authenticity of Gorillaz and I found it particularly interesting that the lead guitarist is female. Also, the article discusses more virtual bands in the United States as well as Japan's new phenomenon of "vocaloids."

HIP-HOP is primarily a celebration of black masculinity. Sure, there have long been significant black female and white male figures, but the majority of the conversation in hip-hop is and has always been about the actions, thoughts, feelings and ethos of black men. But this hegemony cannot last forever.

Here is something to consider, are artists today becoming products of cultural thievery? From Madonna to Lady Gaga their use of clothing such as scarfs covering their faces, essentially mimicking certain cultural religions. For instance Lady Gaga's recent fashion statement is reminiscent of the Burka which is religiously worn by Muslim and Islamic females. She even has a song called 'Burqa', whether this is offensive or artistic is yet to be determined. On the other hand younger generations like Miley Cyrus appropriates the black culture and Selena Gomez is inspired by the bindi wearing, arabian dress look. <br /> Are these artists using other cultures for attention and promoting their fame or is it just a gimmick?

I wholesomely agree with this article and i love the angle that she took with it. I agree that women in the industry are pitted against men and it is a women jobs to look as they state; "Girls are allowed to be sexy, but not too sexy. Pure, but not a prude." In addition women or girls are only portrayed as long as they look 'pretty' or from the industries point of view perfect! That is why this article compares the treatment of men against the mistreatment of women in the industry and why there is a unbalance of expectations.

One look at the chosen paths of young artists, and why we shouldn't harp on them.