Media acts as a great contributor in shaping and exposing social construction in society. In most cases, the media defines society's social construction and condition by either supporting, questioning, or negotiating the public's beliefs. Several media platforms may generate and support stereotypes that appear discriminative to a particular group of people in the community, either based on gender, race, or sexuality. In the current times, when the music industry has thrived remarkably, songs appear to be the most influential aspect of media. Some songs challenge the current social practices and beliefs and advocate for social norms changes to support equality for all people regardless of their social class. On the other hand, some songs reinforce society's beliefs. The song Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen depicts several societal stereotypes based on gender roles, sexuality, and masculinity norms. Analyzing this particular song is essential because it will help inform how society is structured and whether there is a need for change. This paper will analyze the Call Me Maybe song to critically exhibit how it supports social constructions based on gender roles in relationships, masculinity, and sexuality.
Call Me Maybe Summary
The song is about a girl (Carly) who develops romantic feelings for a young masculine man in the neighborhood. However, she is unable to express her emotions to the man directly. In most parts of the video, Carly stares at the man full of desires and passion, but she tries to hide it. She appears to make secret glances at the man, and throughout the songs, she hopes the man would call her. Carly develops strategies to lure the man into pursuing her, as noted in the song’s video. Unfortunately, when Carly thought that she finally had the opportunity to give the man her mobile number with the hope he will call, a twist happened at the end of the song. The man gives his phone number to one of the men in Carly’s band (Guitar man). The guitar man and Carly are both shocked, and the song's official video ends.
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Analysis of the Song- Aspect of Gender Role
The song outlines some of the inherent norms and stereotypes in society, including gender roles. There are some expectations of how each gender should behave in different contexts. This song focuses primarily on romance and relationships, and we can depict some valuable lessons about how social beliefs in matters involving love. From the beginning of the song, the girl appears to be in love with the guy. However, she somehow considers it inappropriate to approach and confess her emotions and feelings. As illustrated in the video, she secretly takes and glances at the guy, being cautious enough to ensure that he does not catch her glancing. From ancient times, society has never supported girls to express their feelings before a man does it. Therefore, in this concept, the song appears to support societal beliefs. The girl in the song's only hope is for the man to call him and initiate the relationship. She can only try to lure him into pursuing her but not initiate an intimate relationship.
This narrative and social construction are wrong and unfair to women. Women should have equal rights as men to chose what they want in life and pursue it without the fear of being judged negatively. Furthermore, as much as the narrative seems to favor men and give them all the power to initiate and build a relationship, it also affects them. If only society would give freedom for any gender to choose their partners and initiate romantic relationships, it would save time for both parties. As illustrated in the video, the girl waited and hoped that the man would pursue her for a long time, but she learns in the end that his sexual orientation was different. In this case, if Carly had expressed her feelings early enough, she would not have wasted too much time fantasizing about an impossible relationship. Women are affected by this social notion as, most of the time, they are at the receiving end and are discouraged from choosing and pursuing whom they want. Men are also disadvantaged because the public expects them to initiate romantic conversations all the time. Consistent rejection from women may discourage them from pursuing women anymore, leading to lifetime loneliness since the other gender will never initiate romantic relationships.
Aspect of Masculinity
Society tends to associate beauty with a person’s body shape and size. In recent days, the media also supports society's beliefs about preferable body shape and size based on a person’s gender. Media shows that attractive men should be built-up and masculine, while beautiful women are considered thin ( Pritchard & Cramblitt, 2014 ). Consequently, both women and men feel the pressure to maintain attractive body sizes and shapes based on the public’s standards. In Carly’s song video, the young man portrayed as attractive meets society’s standards. He has a well-aligned and masculine body. At one point in the video, he undresses his upper part of the body to show his flawless body. This notion affects quite many people in the world. Consequently, it leads to increased cases of body dissatisfaction (Pritchard & Cramblit, 2014). Many men feel the pressure to maintain society’s preferred body size, leading to mental problems if they do not get the desired results.
This song’s video appears to reinforce society’s perception of attractiveness based on an individual's body size. Indeed, the notion harms society. Most people face pressure daily to stay beautiful and attractive. Based on this narration, men are the most victims. People who do not possess the type of body of the young man in the video may feel unattractive, thus lowering their self-esteem. Some may suffer mental illnesses like depression if they do not get the desired results after struggling to obtain an attractive body based on the public’s opinion. Additionally, women are not exceptions, as the public also sets particular standards for perfect bodies for them too. They are encouraged to maintain a slender structure to remain attractive. In the modern world, specific jobs tend to be bias based on individuals' body sizes. For instance, technological devices modify the model’s photos to fit society’s standard of attractiveness in advertisement industries(Sohn & Youn, 2013). As depicted by the societal norms, some people with unpreferred body sizes may lose job opportunities, although they are professionally qualified.
Aspect of Sexuality
Society believes that sexual attraction should be between different genders. Nevertheless, there are increased cases of sexual relationships between people of the same gender in current times. Unfortunately, most people do not approve of these kinds of relationships. Similarly, Carly’s song video portrays the aspect of sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the man Carly was infatuated with appears to have a different sexual preference. At the end of the video, the man hands out his phone number to one of the men in Carly’s band and pleads him to call. Both the guitar man and Carly are astonished, and they cannot seem to believe the man’s sexual preferences. This scenario exhibited what happens in society. People do not yet believe that homosexuality is normal. In most instances, they are shocked when they find out that an individual prefers same-sex relationships. Only a small percentage of the population acknowledges these kinds of relationships.
The sexuality narrative, as illustrated in the song, supports society construction. It shows how people behave when they realize someone's sexuality is different from what is considered normal. The primary victim in this concept is the homosexual people. They may feel discriminated against and consider suppressing their sexualities because they fear society’s reaction toward them. Some may be subjected to pressures by close friends and family members to have “normal” sexual desires. Consequently, they may develop mental illnesses leading some to commit suicide. As observed in the current times, gays, lesbians, and transgenders encounter many hardships, including assaults. Some countries consider them as outcasts. It would be appropriate to accommodate everyone in society and respect each other’s preferences for a healthy and peaceful environment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Call Me Maybe song seems to support specific social constructions, notably, gender roles in relationships, masculinity, and sexuality. Society expects a man to pursue a woman and not the vice-versa; the woman is supposed to be on the receiving edge. The song supports these beliefs by showing how Carly had strong emotions toward a young man around the neighborhood, but she could not express her feeling. She only hoped that the man would call her and initiate the relationship. Furthermore, it reinforces social perspectives toward sexuality. When the man with whom Carly hoped to have a relationship showed a contradictory sexual preference compared to society’s belief Carly and the guitar man showed their disappointment and disapproval based on their non-verbal communication. Lastly, the song’s video showed that a perfect man’s attractive body should be well aligned and masculine; thus, reinforcing the social construction on body size and shape. The above arguments are relevant because they portray society's reality and explain certain social norms on individuals. It is essential to conduct further research on people’s perspectives on gender roles in a relationship. This research will be critical in determining people's preferences on how society should condition such issues.
References
Pritchard, M., & Cramblitt, B. (2014). Media influence on the drive for thinness and drive for muscularity. Sex Roles , 71 (5-8), 208-218.
Sohn, S. H., & Youn, S. (2013). Does she have to be thin? Testing the effects of models' body sizes on advertising effectiveness. Atlantic Journal of Communication , 21 (3), 164-183.
