I disagree with the conclusions you draw at the end about how to make the song feminist friendly and marketable.
1) I don't thing "What doesn't kill me..." is the "originial message of the song." If it were, the song would just be another dull cliche. The song is about sex, or hooking up. This is a cliche too, but at least it's not as preachy.
2) I would agree that making Cassie the video-eye-candy is about the most sexist thing about this song, but I don't think a good solution would be to tack on another vocal line. Would it have been better if they'd used a woman who couldn't sing?
3) Secretary/Boss points to a sexist dynamic in society, but to play off of it in a song or a sexual act isn't inherently sexist. We can't (shouldn't) stop art from immitating life. If Kanye enjoys kinky sub/dom role playing games then I say he should be able to sing about em.
The line that perks my ears up the most in this song is "black Kate Moss." Why does a black woman need to be compared to a white woman to be sexy? But maybe by specifying "black," he's trying to say that black is beautiful, that he wouldn't settle for the regular Kate Moss.
The word 'dyke' is confusing too, but he has explicitly come out against homophobia. So I don't know what to think. I don't think dyke has to be a bad word, but it seems to come out of no where. Does anything else rhyme with Klondike?
I disagree with the conclusions you draw at the end about how to make the song feminist friendly and marketable.
1) I don't thing "What doesn't kill me..." is the "originial message of the song." If it were, the song would just be another dull cliche. The song is about sex, or hooking up. This is a cliche too, but at least it's not as preachy.
2) I would agree that making Cassie the video-eye-candy is about the most sexist thing about this song, but I don't think a good solution would be to tack on another vocal line. Would it have been better if they'd used a woman who couldn't sing?
3) Secretary/Boss points to a sexist dynamic in society, but to play off of it in a song or a sexual act isn't inherently sexist. We can't (shouldn't) stop art from immitating life. If Kanye enjoys kinky sub/dom role playing games then I say he should be able to sing about em.
The line that perks my ears up the most in this song is "black Kate Moss." Why does a black woman need to be compared to a white woman to be sexy? But maybe by specifying "black," he's trying to say that black is beautiful, that he wouldn't settle for the regular Kate Moss.
The word 'dyke' is confusing too, but he has explicitly come out against homophobia. So I don't know what to think. I don't think dyke has to be a bad word, but it seems to come out of no where. Does anything else rhyme with Klondike?