Here is a video of me singing the whole spiel for one of the songs I will discuss later in this post, "Cotton Eye Joe."
The songs that we are permitted to choose from are all "folk songs" found in the various sources (i.e. literal seven required textbooks) for this class. For clarification, as I am sure some are wondering why I am referring to the "honky-tonk" music, "folk songs" in the general, or elementary, music sense are tunes and nursery rhymes for children. Searching through the many pages of these texts, I became very familiar with the types of songs included and their overall messages. To my surprise, some of these folk songs contained underlying, and sometimes outwardly blatant, misogynistic content. In this blog post, I would like to share some of the examples I found and discuss the presence of anti-feminism in the songs being taught to our young children.
The first folk song with sexist implications that I happened upon is called "Grandma Grunts." First of all, what a gross title. If my name was Grandma Grunts, I would seriously reconsider the amount of complaining I do. Anyway, the lyrics for the song are as follows: "Grandma Grunts said a curious thing, 'Boys may whistle but girls must sing!' That is what I heard her say, 'Twas no longer than yesterday” (Erdei and Komlos 7). Already, this piece is teaching young girls that there are things that boys can do, but they cannot. Additionally, there are certain actions or responses that are expected of them, shown with the wording of "girls must" (Erdei and Komlos 7). Meanwhile, boys are given an option with "may" (Erdei and Komlos 7). Even though the idea of this song is that Grandma Grunts is old-fashioned, her outdated, sexist viewpoint is still being promoted from its mere mentioning. The only, very slight, condemnation of her opinion present in the lyrics is that it is "curious," which does not carry a negative enough connotation to let young female children know that this way of thinking is wrong (Erdei and Komlos 7).
"Cotton Eye Joe" is not as obvious in its misogyny as "Grandma Grunts." The lyrics are simply, "Where did you come from, Where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton Eye Joe?" (Erdei and Komlos 23). However, when I was speaking with the professor of this course, he provided me with a bit of context for "Cotton Eye Joe.” Apparently, “Joe” is charming and handsome, with his "cotton eyes," and all of the girls are obsessed with him until he decides to leave them and break their hearts. My professor called it a "warning song" for young women—to not fall victim to Joe’s dreamy eyes (Erdei and Komlos 23). While that is a decent sentiment, could one consider that maybe the women are in the relationship for the same reason as Joe too? In other words, they also have their fun with him, and eventually the casual romance dissipates. Why must it always be a devastating event when the man leaves the woman? This idea suggests that women are fragile, smitten creatures that only have importance and significance in their lives when they are loved by a "cotton-eyed" man. In my opinion, that concept is about as ridiculous as someone having cotton eyes. I get that it means he has "soft eyes," but I thought men don’t want anyone to know when they are soft.
This next folk song is extremely shocking. In the book from which I am pulling all of these songs, there are two versions of a similar text. The first one is "Little Sally Water" and is innocent enough, and then there is "Little Sally Walker." Its mature text is as follows: "Little Sally Walker, sittin' in a saucer, cryin' for the old man to come for the dollar. Rise Sally, rise, put your hands on your hips, oh let your back bone slip, ah, Shake it to the east, ah, shake it to the west, ah, Shake it to the very one you love the best" (Erdei and Komlos 34). I honestly do not have to say much about this one, because the text speaks for itself. However, having children sing a song about prostitution involving COMs (creepy old men) is not okay. It is incredibly bizarre and not appropriate for young children. I still cannot believe that the authors thought including "Little Sally Walker" in this collection of "American Folk Songs" was even remotely a smart choice for a piece that would be beneficial for young children to learn and sing (Erdei and Komlos). I am truly at a loss for words (for once).
These three songs are just the "tip of the iceberg" for all of the sexist concepts strewn throughout this singular book on folk songs. It is very upsetting to think about how these songs and other misogynistic ideas are being taught to our children on a daily basis. Young children's brains develop at an incredible rate, and a lot of what they learn in these earlier stages affects their life later on. They base their opinions, beliefs, and even personality traits on what information is being fed to them when they are young. Although it is seemingly impossible, I wish we could eliminate the misogynistic messages in what our children are exposed to. Perhaps then we could finally say, "Where did you go?," to sexism, and certainly not in a longing way. (Sorry, Joe.)
Here are some more examples of anti-feminist images and messages in these folk songs...
Shoutout to Daisy!
Notice the possessive language throughout.
(*All images are from 150 American Folk Songs to Sing, Read and Play by Erdei and Komlos.)
Works Cited
Erdei, Peter, and Katalin Komlos, editors. 150 American Folk Songs to Sing, Read and Play. New York, NY: Boosey & Hawkes, 1974, pp. 7-82.
OOOOOOO SOPHIE!!! Oh man do I H A T E the sexist messages that not only these folk songs perpetuate, but the sexist messages Dr. Gonzol continues to perpetuate through the emphasis on teaching these songs. While I understand that these could be used as a lesson for how NOT to treat a woman, there is no way that that is what all students will derive from these songs, especially at such young ages. Children are at their most impressionable at this age and to plant seeds of misogyny, sexism and non-consensual interactions is a detriment to the future of these children. I wish you could here my claps for you and this post from here.
ReplyDeleteUgh, yes Hannah! What really gets me are the subtle hints of sexism he adds into his class, or even when you're talking to him in his office. It makes me think that he probably doesn't even realize it being so surrounded by all of these old songs with messed up messages. But as a teacher, I believe he should do better and educate himself on the social ideas of gender today. Otherwise he may, JUST MAY, offend someone.
DeleteAs I read this, I kept thinking, "Ohhh...this is a good topic for a Major Project!"
ReplyDeleteAlso, especially when it comes to music, there are lots of ways that--for better or worse--we can like songs that aren't particularly "woke." And it's also important to preserve a folk tradition and not expect it to have the same values as our generation. But teaching these songs to children without acknowledging all that? Problematic!
Dr. Hanrahan, I totally agree with you that it is important to preserve folk traditions. However, like you said, it is crucial that we acknowledge the outdated thinking of these pieces and teach our children how to NOT do the things mentioned in the songs, before we have them sing the lyrics and believe their problematic messages.
DeleteExactly! Well said, as usual.
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