2016 Student Research Conference:
29th Annual Student Research Conference

I Analyze You Like a Love Song, Baby: How the Feminist Movement Has Affected Expressions of Love in Popular Music
Olivia R. Newbury
Dr. Amber Johnson, Dr. Paul Shapiro, and Dr. Anton Daughters, Faculty Mentors

This research looks to identify the relationship between the feminist movement and expressions of love in popular music. The first phase of this project involves analyzing singles on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 Songs of the Year, every fifth year from 1956 to 2010, to determine which songs contain lyrics describing romantic love. I also review the gender of each performer. The final phase involves recording the percentage of women employed full time according to the General Social Survey (GSS). Upon examination of these figures, it becomes clear that, not only does the amount of songs by women increase as female full time employment rises, but so does the amount of negative love songs (break-up songs). By quantifying how increasing female economic independence effects emotional articulation in pop-culture, I am more thoroughly explaining the latent functions the feminist movement.

Keywords: Feminism , Feminist Movement, Pop-Culture

Topic(s):Sociology

Presentation Type: Poster

Session: 12-
Location: GEO-SUB
Time: 

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