Image & Music

How self-image, beauty and weigh have impact on the life of a musician and individual.

-Michael ShermanMUS 1234

It's not over til the fat lady sings

This phrase, often attributed to competition, which origins are argued to come from basketball.

Compares the game not being over til the end, such as a fat lady singing the end to an opera.

An overused idiom, can be influential in lives of women. What are the effects?

Beauty Queens

Beauty Queen: (noun) a beautiful and glamorous woman or girl

So who decides what is beautiful? And who posesses these qualities?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypn9oKaO-3E

A video of Janis Ian singing At Seventeen which states that love is meant for beauty queens

< Janis Ian

Cartoon depiction of a Beauty Queen >

Sex Sells

complex.com suggests that the most successful women singers of our past century not only had great musical talent, but also great sex appeal.

Check out their site. I was interested to read the feedback. Does beauty affect popularity and public opinion? http://www.complex.com/music/2012/12/the-100-hottest-female-singers-of-all-time/

Degrading Weight

An easy target, artist have been known to make music which degrades women, weight and promote the ideal vision a man see's in a woman.

Note: these may be offensive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Om6bnl8aU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccxYcZH458M

I Said Goodbye To Love

Karen Carpenter, iconic singer, talented drummer

Passed at age 32 of anorexia

The following gives tells the story of her fight with anorexiahttp://library.thinkquest.org/21298/Mind&Body/Carpenter.html

Read paragraph 8 of the following. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20198418,00.html

Even without criticism, she suffered. How does music that mocks weight affect others? http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anorexia/DS00606

A True Loss

Listen to the following selections from Karen Carpenter. Image and self-perception stole a great from us.

The gifts she possessed with drums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9IagAg7u5M

The incredible vocal qualities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLsqApf_-GY

Big is Better?

Wait, huh?

We've seen how the depictions of weight and glamor has impacted careers, from success to tragedy.

Image is all how one see's themselves, though outside influences take their toll on how one thinks.

With all this, is there in fact music that promotes ideals that contradict previous notions that thinner is better?

Rock Dat' Booty

Fat Bottomed Girls reached #24 on Billboards Hot 100 listFat Bottomed Girls- Released by Queen in 1978 as a double single with Bicycle Race

Acknowledges our love of big ladies!

Read the following lyrics as you listen to the tract with the link below

http://www.elyrics.net/read/q/queen-lyrics/fat-bottomed-girls-lyrics.html

Back It Up

Sir Mix-a-Lot released Baby Got Back in 1992

#1 on Billboards Hot 100 for 5 weeks

1993 Grammy Award winner for Best Rap Solo Performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JphDdGV2TU

Just as Queen embraced women image in 1978, Sir Mix-a-Lot objectifies his ideal image of women

Stating the 36-24-36 figure is best

The Standard

With the mixed signals about ideal body type, how does one stand a chance complying with the current standards?

The Seattle Times posted the following article, which interviews Gretchen Wilson

It speaks of the struggles of women, regardless of talent, to be sexy enough to be noticed

Past and present, this article provides incite on how the industry views women

http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2003713091_websingers19.html

Breaking the Mold

The Honky Tonk Angel- Patsy Cline would by today fall short of the standards regardless of her talents. Even then, she was seen as overweight, even with outstanding beauty

Queen of Soul

If image had blocked Aretha from the industry, think of all we would have missed. What are we missing now? Is image keeping true talent out today?

Arethra Franklin is truly one of the most influential and talented musicians of all time. Her talents overshadow any body stereotypes that seem to play havoc among artists today.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

The following sites explore Arethra's career. From choir beginnings to R & B stardom and all the talents, ranges and values which accompany her

http://www.arethafranklin.net/us/biography

http://www.biography.com/people/aretha-franklin-9301157

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYcjDlSdnw

Despite any changes in weight throughout the years, Arethra remains an icon in the industry still today.

Mama

Cass Elliot (The Mama's and The Papa's) found success after many attempts with other groups, and even as a solo artist

Read the following biography from Cass Elliot's site. Her life as a musican certainly had its ups and downs

http://www.casselliot.com/biography.htm

A Sandwich Fable

Cass Elliot passed to early in life. Rumors of her death focused on choking, though officially she passed of a heart attack. The rumor further shows how her weight spawned rumor of peril by eating.

The ham sandwich myth was fueled by the report of Dr. Anthony Greenburgh, the physician who first examined Cass after her death. Greenburgh reportedly told the Daily Express that she appeared to have been eating a ham sandwich and drinking Coca-Cola while lying downa very dangerous thing to do, and continued, she seemed to have choked on a ham sandwich. He came to these conclusions from his first impression upon entering the scene, and he believed she died of asphyxia. Dr. Greenburgh completely overlooked the fact that the ham sandwich sitting on the table had not been touched. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8lm4NOqzjs

Pound for Pound

First consider the causes

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.html

Notable, diet is not all that factors. Is it true that if one is genetically overweight, one is genetically talented as well?

This in mind, how can one judge based on genetic predispositions?

http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/factsheet4.html

Even where one is not put out to the public for view, one is discriminated against for weight.

http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html

Double Standard

As seen in the previous slide, men are 14% less likely to be discriminated against based on weight.

Given that combined with the objectification of women, how does a female artist stand a chance of overcoming the hand stacked against her?

Along with talents of voice and stage performance, sex appeal is a must.

So, do overweight men have an easier road to become an accomplished musician?

A Ruben Delight

So what happened to Ruben Studdard?

Since winning American Idol in 2003, the soul artists has released 5 albums, of which one has topped the charts.

He is to appear on this season of Biggest Loser

Maybe even in men, sex appeal is a great factor in commercial success.

V. Clay A.

By comparison, Clay Aiken, who placed second to Ruben Studdard, has released 7 albums since American Idol, won numerous awards, and made several TV appearances.

Could appearance standards be favorable?

Freakin' Sweet

Comically, animation has even influenced the perceptions of men and women in regard to weight.

Family Guy gives two good examples, of which may be seen offensive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8QW54kcRKQ

http://blogs.cofc.edu/hiddenagender/2012/04/26/only-fat-women-are-fat-male-dominance-and-double-standards-in-family-guy/

And the Ad Says...

And if it wasn't bad enough, the advertising industry uses overweight individuals to drive home products and services.

I was offended when I saw the ads on this site

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-portrayal-of-overweight-people-in-advertising

Perception

The lyrics to Ugliest Girl in the World by Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter, http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/ugliest-girl-world shows that even though the world may see one as ugly, it's all in the eye of the beholder.

As with everything, music too is judged by the audience

Though society has emphasized whats hot and whats not, truly it's how we depict the beauty within.

Beautifully BIG

MIKA recorded the song Big Girl (You are Beautiful)

This song emphisizes that size is on issue, that beauty lies in all

The following is a quote posted from the video, which I feel best summarizes this fact

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDSK91mUNLU

so effing what! Some of the girls are wearing corsets to emphasize the shape they have thin women do it to and don't get bashed for it all women are gorgeous no matter the size! We still are women we still are beautiful! So how about we just stop argument if over what's what and just move on shall we its time to get over the idea that thin= pretty because its a crock of s**t because its women=beautiful

Big, Blonde and Beautiful

Hairspray tells an inspiring story of an overweight teenage girls who yearns for a career in dancing.

If you have not seen this musical, I suggest you do so. It also the subject of intergration post Civil Rights Movement

The following is a link to the song Big, Blonde and Beautiful, sang by Queen Latifah. The song emphasizes that weight and the ideals of beauty are no obstacle, that one need not be held back by the stereotypes of society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0XuAQ6nFW8

Inspiration

The following YouTube link provides great quotes for which musicians can find inspiration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuXmlT40aa8

Remember that music is the art behind one's soul, not one's physical attributes.

Bibliography

http://www.arethafranklin.net/us/biographyhttp://www.biography.com/people/aretha-franklin-9301157http://www.biography.com/people/ruben-studdard-10084461http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/ugliest-girl-worldhttp://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-portrayal-of-overweight-people-in-advertisinghttp://www.casselliot.com/biography.htm http://clayaiken.com/biohttp://www.complex.com/music/2012/12/the-100-hottest-female-singers-of-all-time/http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.htmlhttp://www.elyrics.net/read/q/queen-lyrics/fat-bottomed-girls-lyrics.htmlhttp://www.infoplease.com/askeds/fat-lady-sings.html

Bibliography

http://library.thinkquest.org/21298/Mind&Body/Carpenter.htmlhttp://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/factsheet4.htmlhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anorexia/DS00606http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beauty%20queenhttp://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.htmlhttp://www.patsy.nu/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20198418,00.htmlhttp://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2003713091_websingers19.htmlhttp://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1381http://www.themedicalbag.com/story/mama-cass-elliothttp://www.xxlmag.com/news/hip-hop-today/2013/05/today-in-hip-hop-sir-mix-a-lot-releases-baby-got-back/

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