ts as one of the most relevant signs of the oppression of women. This form of oppression symbolizes the fight women have against the patriarchy and it’s hold on social freedoms. There are different spheres which women fight in, music and the music industry is one example of an arena of struggle. Wife Battery is a subject usually delved into by feminist bands or female song-writers, but it takes on a different light when written about and performed by an all male team.
With the different perspective comes a new way to prevent this social dilemma. “The Watchmen” and “Matchbox 20” are both male rock bands which have hit the top forty again and again, and who explore the issue of domestic violence. The Watchmen are a Canadian band that gets at least a gold record with every album they release. Matchbox 20, are from the US and sold over 5,000,000 copies of their debut album, with “Push” being one of their biggest songs. The media is a huge sphere of influence in our society, and music is a part of that sphere of influence. The songs Run and Hide and Push both hold reign as popular songs by popular bands so they send their messages even louder than most forms of protest.
The fact that the songs are by male artists can only strengthen that voice as wife battery is usually a “female” issue when brought to the public. In this paper I will analyze the effect of the music and it’s genres on the social issue of wife battery and examine the topic of domestic violence itself. The artists I have chosen represent the “male voice” of not just feminist protest, but also of the fight for equality and freedom. Domestic ViolenceThere are many definitions for domestic violence, the definition that will be used in this paper is “violence between heterosexual adults who are living together or who have previously lived together in a conjugal relationship. “(MacLeod, 1980). While the topic of abuse in lesbian and gay relationships is still an important issue, it broadens the main topic of this paper a little to much to me mentioned.
Most reported cases of abuse in the domestic household have to do with wife abuse and the definition of that is:. . . violence, physical and/or psychological, expressed by a husband or a male or lesbian live-in loveer toward his wife or his/her live-in lover, to which the “wife” does not consent, and which is directly or indirectly condoned by the traditions, laws, attitudes prevalent in the society which it occurs (MacLeod, 1980).
This kind of violence occurs within every facet of society and not just those of low-income of class. There are four types of violence: physical, sexual, emotional and social abuse and each type forms a continuum from minor to major lethality (Tolman, 1997). The most obvious form of violence is physical abuse. This begins with lack of consideration for the physical comfort or needs of others (forgetting a person is waiting for a ride or walking too quickly for a child to keep up), pushing; shoving; hair-pulling escalates to action like punching, bruising and broken bones or injuries which need medical care. Finally, permanent injury can result, using weapons and even murder. A part of physical abuse is sexual abuse.
On a continuum this begins with the objectification of women through jokes, humiliating or degrading comments and name calling, it escalates to uncomfortable touching, demands for sex or punishment by rejection of her as a sexual partner. As well, forcing sex after a beating, using weapons to force sex or for sexual manipulation, causing permanent injury and ultimately murder (Tolman, 1997). Another form of violence is emotional abuse. It includes those behaviors that are done directly to the person to render her helpless and totally dependent on the abuser.
This begins with jokes about her habits and faults as a women, ignoring her feelings, screaming and yelling menacingly during arguments and repeated uses of insults and humiliation tactics. Threatening to use physical/sexual abuse, blaming and unfounded accusations, geographic isolation or making her stay in the home and destroying her possessions also make up emotional abuse. The last form of violence is social abuse. This includes the family that approves of spanking and control of others and not self as a form of discipline; the family, church, and school system that teaches rigid life roles to men and rewards actions rather than how to solve problems and the showing of anger and depression to express feelings rather than the whole “normal” range of emotions (Tolman, 1997). Each year, 20,000 Saskatchewan women are abused by their husbands or male partners(P.
A. T. H. S.
, 1996). Violence against women is costly, a million women in Canada pay the personal cost of abuse by their partners each year. The physical costs of abuse include broken bones, burns, internal injuries, knife and gunshot wounds. These physical effects can lead to permanent physical or mental disabilities. Between 60% and 80% of assaulted women seed professional medical care.
The Psycological costs of abuse lead to low self-esteem, fear and isolation. Compared to women who have not been abused as adults, 40% more battered women report using drugs to sleep, and 74% more battered women report using drugs to relieve anxiety. (P. A.
T. H. S. , 1997)It has been shown that domestic violence happens equally among women and men, it is just then women are much more likely to show the results of such behavior due to the extra muscle mass males possess and their likelihood of using weapons. More than 17% of all reported cases of domestic violence use tools (MacLeod, 1980), perhaps for more intimidation and fear. This kind of violence is much more apt to end in death at well.
In 1975 out of 107 reported murders in immediate families, 49 ended with the husband killing the wife compared with only eight where the wife killed the husband. (MacLeod 1980). Violence against women in Canada takes a variety of forms including physical assault, sexual assault, sexual harassment, psychological abuse and emotional abuse. Not all violence leaves scars.
The many forms of violence against women lie on a continuum which runs from the sexist jokes to domineering forms of behavior, sexual harassment, battering and murder. While it is obvious that some forms of violence have a greater physical or emotional impact than others, all forms of violence contribute to the very real fear and suffering that women in our society endure. Theory of Domestic ViolenceThe theory of learned helplessness sought to account for the passive behavior subjects exhibited when placed in an uncontrollable environment. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, Martin Seligman, a famous researcher in the field of psychology, conducted a series of experiments in which dogs were placed in one of two types of cages.
In the former cage, henceforth referred to as the shock cage, a bell would sound and the experimenters would electrify the entire floor seconds later, shocking the dog regardless of location. The latter cage, however, although similar in every other respect to the shock cage, contained a small area where the experimenters could administer no shock. Seligman observed that while the dogs in the latter cage learned to run to the non-electrified area after a series of shocks, the dogs in the shock cage gave up trying to escape, even when placed in the latter cage and shown that escape was possible. Seligman theorized that the dogs’ initial experience in the uncontrollable shock cage led them to believe that they could not control future events and was responsible for the observed disruptions in behavior and learning. Thus, according to the theory of learned helplessness, a subject placed in an uncontrollable environment will become passive and accept painful stimuli, even though escape is possible and apparent. In the late 1970’s, Dr.
Walker drew upon Seligman’s research and incorporated it into her own theory, the battered women’s syndrome, in an attempt to explain why battered women remain with their abusers (Brown, 1995). According to Dr. Walker, battered women’s syndrome contains two distinct elements: a cycle of violence and symptoms of learned helplessness. The cycle of violence is composed of three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm loving respite phase. During the tension building phase, the victim is subjected to verbal abuse and minor battering incidents, such as slaps, pinches and psychological abuse.
In this phase, the woman tries to pacify her batterer by using techniques that have worked previously. Typically, the woman showers her abuser with kindness or attempts to avoid him. However, the victim’s attempts to pacify her batter are often fruitless and only work to delay the inevitable acute battering incident. The tension building phase ends and the active battering phase begins when the verbal abuse andminor battering evolve into an acute battering incident (Brown, 1995).
A release of the tensions built during phase one characterizes the active battering phase, which usually last for a period of two to twenty-four hours. The violence during this phase is unpredictable and inevitable, and statistics indicate that the risk of the batterer murdering his victim is at its greatest. The batterer places his victim in a constant state of fear, and she is unable to control her batterer’s violence by utilizing techniques that worked in the tension building phase. The victim, realizing her lack of control, attempts to mitigate the violence by becoming passive.
After the active battering phase comes to a close, the cycle of violence enters the calm loving respite phase or “honeymoon phase. ” During this phase, the batterer apologizes for his abusive behavior and promises that it will never happen again. The behavior exhibited by the batter in the calm loving respite phase closely resembles the behavior he exhibited when the couple first met and fell in love. The calm loving respite phase is the most psychologically victimizing phase because the batterer fools the victim, who is relieved that the abuse has ended, into believing that he has changed.
However, inevitably, the batterer begins to verbally abuse his victim and the cycle of abuse begins anew. According to Dr. Walker, Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness explains why women stay with their abusers and occurs in a victim after the cycle of violence repeats numerous times (Brown, 1995). As noted earlier, dogs who were placed in an environment where pain was unavoidable responded by becoming passive. Dr.
Walker asserts that, in the domestic abuse ambit, sporadic brutality, perceptions of powerlessness, lack of financial resources and the superior strength of the batterer all combine to instill a feeling of helplessness in the victim. In other words, batterers condition women into believing that they are powerless to escape by subjecting them to a continuing pattern of uncontrollable violence and abuse. Dr. Walker, in applying the learned helplessness theory to battered women, changed society’s perception of battered women by dispelling the myth that battered women like abuse and offering a logical and rationale explanation for why most stay with their abuser. As the classical theory of battered women’s syndrome is based upon the psychological principles of conditioning, experts believe that behavior modification strategies are best suited for treating women suffering from the syndrome.
A simple, yet effective, behavioral strategy consists of two stages. In the initial stage, the battered woman removes herself from the uncontrollable or “shock cage” environment and isolates herself from her abuser. Generally, professionals help the victim escape by using assertiveness training, modeling and recommending use of the court system. After the woman terminates the abusive relationship, professionals give the victim relapse prevention training to ensure that subsequent exposure to abusive behavior will not cause maladaptive behavior (Brown 1995). Although this strategy is effective, the model offered by Dr. Walker suggests that battered women usually do not actively seek out help.
Therefore, concerned agencies and individuals must be pro-active and extremely sensitive to the needs and fears of victims. The classical battered women’s syndrome is a theory that has its origins in the research ofMartin Seligman. Women in a domestic abuse situation experience a cycle of violence with theirabuser. The cycle is composed of three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phaseand calm loving respite phase.
A gradual increase in verbal abuse marks the tension building phase. When this abuse culminates into an acute battering episode, the relationship enters the active battering phase. Once the acute battering phase ends, usually within two to twenty-four hours, the parties enter the calm loving respite phase, in which the batterer expresses remorse and promises to change. After the cycle has played out several times, the victim begins to manifest symptoms of learned helplessness. Behavioral modification strategies offer an effective treatment for battered women’s syndrome.
However, Dr. Walker’s model indicates that battered women may not seek the help that they need because of feelings of helplessness. The Male Music SceneIn the song Push, emotional and social abuse is stressed. At first glance or audio, the song is stressing the physical acts of violence that make up domestic abuse. “Push” makes one think of the physical act, but what Rob Thomas does is write/sing about the emotion that is in a relationship and how one can be “brown-beaten” into doing something against their will.
The Lyrics for the song are:PUSH1 she said I don’t know if I’ve ever been good enoughI’m a little bit rusty, and I think my head is caving inand I don’t know if I’ve ever been really lovedby a hand that’s touched me, well I feel like something’s gonna giveand I’m a little bit angry, well6 this ain’t over, no not here, not while I still need you aroundyou don’t owe me, we might changeyeah we just might feel good(chorus)I wanna push you around, I will, I willI wanna push you down, I will, I will11 I wanna take you for granted,I wanna take you for granted I willshe said I don’t know why you ever would lie to melike I’m a little untrusting when I think that the truth is gonna hurt yaand I don’t know why you couldn’t just stay with me16 you couldn’t stand to be near mewhen my face don’t seem to want to shinecuz it’s a little bit dirty welldon’t just stand there, say nice things to meI’ve been cheated I’ve been wronged,21 and you you don’t know me, I can’t changeI won’t do anything at all(chorus)oh but don’t bowl me overjust wait a minute well it kinda fell apart, things get so crazy, crazydon’t rush this baby, don’t rush this baby(chorus)The chorus sets the scene for the song, line 9-12, but the pushing that is being mentioned is the emotional kind. Line 14, mentions “untrusting”, and waiting for the other to be able to trust, this is representative of the three phases of battering and would most resemble the “honeymoon phase”. This history of Matchbox 20 is quite interesting and it quite something for a debut song from a debut group to talk about domestic abuse, usually considered a “female topic”. The band Matchbox 20 is made up of Rob Thomas: lead vocals; Kyle Cook: lead guitar, background vocals; Adam Gaynor: rhythm guitar, background vocals; Brian Yale: bass and Paul Doucette:drums. The band is characterized by soulful vocals, energized guitars, and probing lyrics about people whose lives are coming apart and their struggle to hold on this is what defines matchbox 20 and their Lava/Atlantic debut, “YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU.
” These heartfelt and powerful songs have clearly touched a chord, for matchbox20 have quickly become one of the Nineties’ most remarkable and popular bands. On the strength of indelibleacross-the-board hits like “Push,” “3am,” and “Real World,” not to mention the band’sfiery live performances before sell-out crowds, “YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU”became a top five hit on the Billboard 200, garnering a quintuple platinum certification from the RIAA. By the end of last year, matchbox20 had unquestionably earned the 1997 Rolling Stone Reader’s Poll award for Best New Band. Produced by Matt Serletic, “YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU” builds momentumfrom the strong vocal delivery of the band’s principal songwriter Rob Thomas, who doesn’t so much sing these songs as bite into them. Thomas’ vocals are ably complimented by the backing harmonies of lead guitarist Kyle Cook and rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor, whose electric and acoustic guitar arrangements are propelled by the in-the-pocket rhythm section of drummer Paul Doucette and bassist Brian Yale.
The dynamic interplay between these five young musicians is evident on songs like the upbeat “Argue” and the driving “Girl Like That. ” The compelling characters that populate “YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU” wrestle with ghosts and demons, and while it’s not clear if they’ll win their battles, you can’t help but root for them. The folks who inhabit these songs are bruised and somewhat broken, but not so much so that they’ve lost their pride. The band’s breakout smash, “Push,” expertly nails the fear and emotional angst that is apart of abusive relationships. Thomas describes the romantic tug-of-war depicted in the Grammy-nominated “Push”as being “about how I was manipulated and how I handled it; how I grew to like it andgot comfortable with it. I felt that was the only way that you could have a relationship was if you were being controlled or if you were being manipulated.
” The songwriter adds that “Push” was actually written from three points of view, including, notably enough, the woman who inspired the song. “Some people get the wrong idea and think that it’s about physical violence, when it’s really about emotional violence. ” (Rolling Stone, 1997)A band Similar to Matchbox 20, is The Watchmen. This Canadian band identifies with them mainly because they released their first single, from their first album five years earlier almost to the day and it also speaks about domestic violence. However, The Watchmen take on the harder, and more physical aspects of domestic violence in their debut single Run & Hide:1 I hate to see you lying there, curled up in a ballI hate to smash your pretty face against the fucking wallBut I’m a desperate man girl, I’m down on my kneesI hate to see you crying, hate to see those tearsBut you’re the one who’s sitting there just tossing out the years6 Why you doing this? Why you wanna go?Won’t you ever understand? You’re my woman, and I’m your manAnd everytime I hear your nameThe floodgates open, blood it rainsAnd I can’t see where I went wrong11 You can’t leave while I’m not strongI can see you run and hide – oh baby won’t you ever let meSee you run and hide – oh baby won’t you everLet me live my life‘Cause I’m afraid I just don’t love you16 So pick yourself on up girl, straighten yourself outPick up all the wasted years, you’re so torn aboutPut them back girl, back in the shelfOn the shelf yeahYou and me will be forever, I’m your hero, and you’re my treasure(chorus)(chorus)Unlike Push, song is quite direct, it speaks from the perspective of the abuser and talking to the “supposed” wife. In Line 1-2, the song opens quite graphically with the abuser talking to either himself or his spouse.
He doesn’t know why he is a batterer, and he “hates” to see his wife on the ground, but this causes him to do further acts of violence. The song stresses the internal battle the abuser feels when confronted with his own violent acts, how he is torn between wanting his wife to stay and wanting her to leave, Line 16-18. The chorus works with the music and is hard-edged and gritty as the abuser struggles within himself, wanting his wife to “Run and Hide” as the songs title, but also wanting to see her and make “blood it rains”, Line 8-15. McLaren Furnace Room was recorded in the summer of 1992 at Winfield Sound in Toronto, Ontario It was released by MCA records both in Canada and the United States to a warm welcome. The album was followed by intense touring in Canada and a few concerts in the States and was accompanied by two videos “Cracked” and “Run and Hide”.
The singles off the album were: Cracked, Run and Hide, Must To Be Free, and Mister. ConclusionBoth songs are examples of how, in the male dominated field of alternative music, it is possible that music can be used for positive media roles. Unfortunately, these kinds of songs and bands are the exception and not the rule. In the music industry today, almost all bands that cater to the young adult male use degrading images and objectifying constructs in either their lyrics, albums or videos.
Some examples of the most base include, “Smack my bitch up” by the Prodigy and “Slash and Burn” by the Deftones. Both of these songs emphasize hurting your spouse because she/he does not do things according to the way the dominant spouse wants. The media can be a powerful force in the communication of ideologies and new ways of thought, but because it is an open market and all ideas are considered worthy, to often the best/positive messages get trampled by the negative and more powerful messages. Bibliography :Browne, A. 1995.
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