Blog 2

Prompt 1

For a cultural artifact, I choose to use Taylor Swift’s music video I Knew You Were Trouble link: https://youtu.be/vNoKguSdy4Y . I choose to use this music video because it won Best Female Video at MTV video music awards (VMA’s) 2013. It accumulated worldwide sales of more than 6.6 million units and is 3x multi- platinum according to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song itself is written Taylor Swift, Shellback, and Max Martin and the music video itself is produced by Taylor Swift. I am a Taylor Swift fan; therefore, I have listened, seen, and analyzed all her music videos. In all her music videos, Swift is the main character/ singer/ performer. Although people like to believe that her all her music is written about men that’s not quite true. In her music videos, individuals who play the role of men are just supporting characters thus playing small roles and not often seen in scenes. Most of the men in her music videos don’t portray extreme masculine roles; these men play silent characters and some traces of masculinity are seen. However, one of Swift’s music videos does stand out and that is I Knew You Were Trouble (2012). In this music video, the male character portrays almost all of the behaviors within the Man Box which is rarely seen in her other music videos.

 

Prompt 2

I Knew You Were Trouble is produced and performed by Taylor Swift under Big Machine Records. This is song narrates Swift’s choices of “knowingly making the same mistake twice, unable to resist the temptation to push yourself into a risky situation with someone who is going to hurt you; in the end not trusting your instincts and ignoring all the red flags” (Swift, Cosmopolitan Magazine). Regarding men and masculinities, the male in the music video conveys the message of danger and how an alpha man’s behavior and lifestyle can change and hurt any person who falls for the love this type of man has to offer. The impact of this type of man is very profound on its significant other that a breakup with such an alpha male can cause one to lose their sense of self and identity. The intended audience of the song/ music video is anyone of any age, sex, or gender identity, and anyone who enjoys listening to Dub-step, Pop rock, or Electropop.

Regarding men and masculinities, the male persona in the music video depicts 12 out of the 15 gender-role set standards of appropriate male behavior found in the Classical Man coined by Clyde Franklin in 1984. Connecting back to Blog 1, Traditional Cultural Norms of Masculinity outline, the male character’s behavior illustrates to be the adventurer, playboy, self-reliant, stoic, tough guy, shows work ethic, being the best he can be, in control, having money, enjoying presidential status, being a superman and warrior. The cultural object sends the messages of the male character being a party boy, free spirited, and dangerous tattooed-bad boy. He is independent, fun, and fearless guy who is on top of the world enjoying fame and women. He is a reckless player who enjoys the company of other women in the presence of his significant other and is a sexual being that needs to be satisfied by whoever he is attracted to. He isn’t soft or weakened by the presence of women. He is strong and tough guy who gets in trouble with the law and others yet isn’t a coward or admits to mistakes when confronted by other men. He knows how to handle pain like a man and fights to prove his masculinity. This man is in a band surrounded by other masculine guys who support and reinforce such masculine traits and behaviors. This is the kind of man that will appear to be harmless yet will leave you in a mess. He isn’t to be controlled or confined by rules of society or bonded to a single person.

I knew You Were Trouble representation of men and masculinities taught me to avoid falling in love or dating such type of guy because most likely he will bad news. It might impact others by recognizing such toxic traits in men and help them from making the same mistake as Swift. This cultural artifact reinforces traditional ideas about gender; the male character is illustrated as straight male in a heterosexual relationship. The female character (Taylor Swift) is portrayed as emotional, disoriented, out of control, sad, tired, and foolish. The male character shows traits of excessive violence, power, he seems intimidating and is respected among others. This male character embodies most of all socially valued roles and expectations of masculinity according to The Man Box.

Prompt 3

The music video, I Knew You Were Trouble demonstrates a certain type of man that Taylor Swift ends up dating. This type of a man appears to be harmless and doesn’t do or say anything to make you think otherwise.  Not only does this male character but other smaller male characters in the video all follow characteristics of the Man Box. Extreme hyper masculinity is seen throughout the video thus leaving no room for alternate forms of masculinity. Mark Greene in Remaking Manhood gives examples of behaviors that conform into the man box followed by advice or suggestions on how to flip the script to bring out the best a man can be without overpowering or dominating others. In Emptiness of Male Friendships, Greene mentions that “American men are taught from an early age to access friendships obliquely by joining clearly defined groups, teams or organizations…teaching them to follow clear and simple rules on how to perform” (Greene, 108). This concept is clearly seen in the music video, the male character is part of a boy band in which influences him on how to act around other men and women. The video Tough Guise 2 mentions that establishing masculine credibility leads to power and domination. The male in the music video tries to establish his masculine credibility by starting a fight against other men in front of his girlfriend at 3:55. He shows no pain, emotion, weakness, or in need of help when in confrontation involving the other men; his behavior is part of the masculine script that is found in the man box. The representations in this artifact do validate the ideas that we have learned about men and masculinities. The men display acts of violence and aggression which seems to be normalized. Yet, because this music video is based on Swift’s song about being heartbroken for ignoring the red flags and choosing to see a good side of him society labels her pain and his behavior towards her and others as her problem and she should’ve known better. This translates as a women’s issue and men’s behavior is normalized. The male character does a great job in representing ideas we have learned about men and masculinities. This is because violence is used to prove that he is a real man, any aggression is normalized because boys will be boys and the male character shows the need of a sexual conquest of the opposite sex in order to prove he is a man. This artifact ties back to many of Greene’s articles and to bell hooks Understanding Patriarchy, in that violence is often a tool used to reinforce patriarchy and conform to the social order patriarchy has established.