"Girls Are Such a Drag": A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Misogynistic Lyrics in Pop Punk Music
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Jeanne Bohannon
Department
RCHSS - English
Abstract
Due to the increasing influence of song lyrics on American youth culture’s values and norms, it is imperative for discourse analyses to pay particular attention to this linguistic phenomenon. Current rhetoric involving misogynistic lyrics in popular music focuses much of its attention on rap and hip-hop genres of music and minimal focus has been put on the substantial amount of misogynistic lyrics in pop punk music. Both genres frequently reproduce harmful ideas about women and relationships, but one faces constant scrutiny for its misogynistic lyrics while the other is notoriously romanticized. I argue that the genre is free to express its frustration and hatred of women without criticism because of the majority white racial demographics of pop punk music. Through a textual analysis of lyrics from popular pop punk bands such as Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy, I will examine the methods pop punk bands deploy to produce misogynistic ideologies through lyrics. I will then discuss the ways gender, class, and race contribute to the largely ignored phenomenon of misogyny in pop punk music.
Keywords: pop punk, misogyny, lyrics, sociolinguistics, textual analysis
Disciplines
American Popular Culture | Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics | Discourse and Text Linguistics | Women's Studies
"Girls Are Such a Drag": A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Misogynistic Lyrics in Pop Punk Music
Due to the increasing influence of song lyrics on American youth culture’s values and norms, it is imperative for discourse analyses to pay particular attention to this linguistic phenomenon. Current rhetoric involving misogynistic lyrics in popular music focuses much of its attention on rap and hip-hop genres of music and minimal focus has been put on the substantial amount of misogynistic lyrics in pop punk music. Both genres frequently reproduce harmful ideas about women and relationships, but one faces constant scrutiny for its misogynistic lyrics while the other is notoriously romanticized. I argue that the genre is free to express its frustration and hatred of women without criticism because of the majority white racial demographics of pop punk music. Through a textual analysis of lyrics from popular pop punk bands such as Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy, I will examine the methods pop punk bands deploy to produce misogynistic ideologies through lyrics. I will then discuss the ways gender, class, and race contribute to the largely ignored phenomenon of misogyny in pop punk music.
Keywords: pop punk, misogyny, lyrics, sociolinguistics, textual analysis