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Journal Writing Project: Music stereotypes


Fri, Oct 26th, 2012
Posted in Mabel Journal Student Writing Project

By Erin Woods

Teenagers often identify themselves with the type of music they listen to. I know I do. I am seventeen years old and it’s easier to hang out with someone who likes my music for more reasons than one. Remember those car rides with your parents when you had to listen to their music and all you wanted to do was shove socks in your ears to drown out the sound of their favorite artist? Not what most people would classify as a good time. It’s much easier to hang out with someone who has the same taste in music as I do, I can crank the stereo to your favorite song without someone complaining that they want to change the station.

Not only does the music I listen to often influence my social circle, but it also affects my fashion sense. For example, when you see somebody walking down the street with their pants around their knees and a hat to the side, you don’t automatically think to yourself, “I bet he absolutely loves to listen to Reba McEntire.” Have you ever seen a person with dark make-up, ripped jeans, an old shirt and some worn out Converse and say to them, “Have you heard the new Lil’ Wayne album?” Music is the perfect example of a stereotypical subject.

Rock and roll music has evolved from Elvis shaking his hips to the audacious Alice Cooper running around stage with snakes and singing in a straight jacket. Two completely different ideas, right? But they’re both successful rock and roll artists. Since Elvis Presley, rock music has been “labeled,” if you will, a violent and or inappropriate, not to mention anti-establishment form of lashing out by many people, but to the listener it is nothing but entertainment and a form of free expression. Today, it’s not likely that parents have a problem with their child listening to The Beatles, but at the height of their success, they were a controversial topic within families with children.

There have been acts of violence that have been blamed on rock music, such as an adolescent boy killing his mother after listening to a heavy metal song. Is it the genre of music that is provoking this? The answer is no, it is not. A study conducted by Donald F. Roberts, Peter G. Christenson, and Douglas A. Gentile titled The Effects of Violent Music on Children and Adolescents claimed that Heavy Metal music is not the root of these behaviors. Although they found that Rock and Roll music isn’t the root of anger within its fans, it d .....
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