A Woman's Growth

Within just one decade, there was a huge change in equality amongst men and women. Being able to spend a class on the 1950's and a class on the 1960's was really helpful to see these amazing changes. Women were always labelled as the housewives and they did all the cooking and cleaning around the house as their daily job. That's just how it was and it wasn't anyones fault for it being like this, it was just the way society was in the 50's. Well, over the years, we really were able to see the difference in women's attitudes about their lifestyles and how they felt about being a women around men.

The music that was written in the 50's versus the 60's by women, has very clear differences. The 1950's typical woman was very quiet and stuck by the rules that the man is always ran the show. In Patsy Cline's, "Crazy", she is saying she's crazy to think her love could make a man stay. She repeats over and over, "I'm crazy for loving you." That's not fair to a women for feeling so powerless when it comes to an intimate relationship with a man that they automatically "know" in their head that the man is running the relationship. No women should put up with a man wearing the pants in a relationship. We also listened to Dorris Day's, "Should I Surrender", and this song was more about women expressing two sides to themselves. At this day in age, women thought they couldn't have two sides and they always had to be these sweet, kind and loving women that would never voice an opinion or go against something. At the end of the stanzas she asks, "Should I surrender?" wondering if she should surrender and be the first to say I've had enough! Women shouldn't feel like they have to hide a part of who they are because society says they have to. Go against society and show who you really are.

Within the next decade, women change tremendously and they begin to have a voice for themselves. Throughout women's music they begin to see their worth and express their independence. In Helen Reddy's, "I Am Women" performance, you can tell she's happy and proud to be singing this song. She has a smile on her face and you can see the strength in her body language. Women began to stand by one another and stick up for themselves in situations they didn't want to put up with anymore. Dolly Parton said it really well in her song, "Dumb Blonde" trying to kill the stereotypes of dumb blondes. She sings in the song that men think she's going to wait around because they think she's a dumb blonde, but she isn't anyones fool. Blonde or brunette, no woman should stand around waiting for a man and it's unfortunate that men think they have that power to keep them hanging by their finger. No woman should give a man that power either.

It's incredible to see the growth that women made within the decade and today as women, all we want is to have one another's back so we can continue to show our strength and importance!