Fifth Harmony Is Devoted To Promoting Feminism '100 Percent'
At a glance, Fifth Harmony seem to be exactly what the article claims that they are: a smart group of girls who endorse gender equality. They are not what they appear to be. They are taking advantage of feminism to boost their image and sell their music. The article literally states "band member Lauren Jauregui explained that the group considers feminism to be 'definitely important just as a concept...'" (Emily Tess Katz). Feminism is most definitely not important 'just as a concept' or idea; it is important as an application in reality. Concepts are essentially useless if they do not have any implication in the real world. Lauren clearly does not know what she is talking about, because if she did she would word it much differently. Moreover, they assume that women empowerment, in the sense where men are inferior, and feminism are related. Feminism aims at equalizing males and females, not oppressing men. The article says "Fifth Harmony cites feminism as strongly influencing their work, with their music video for 'Bo$$' depicting several scenarios of female empowerment" (Emily Tess Katz). This creates the impression that feminism seeks to give women power over men, especially since their music video shows them as the dominant ones with the men as their drivers or any other position where men are degraded. Also, in the video posted on the article, the reporter starts off the interview with the following question: "who came up with the idea behind you being these powerful women?" (Emily Tess Katz). As a response, Fifth Harmony shouts out, with excitement may I add, "Sean Bankhead!" (Emily Tess Katz). Nobody should come up with that idea for them. Feminists are people who stand up for gender equality because they believe in the cause, not because their choreographer came up with the idea.
Despite the lack of accuracy about feminism, the article does indeed have some strong points. To begin with, they are indeed promoting feminism. Even though it is an inaccurate depiction, the fact that they are putting it out there and getting conversations started on gender equality is good for the cause. It is important to do so since raising awareness brings the world closer to finding a solution for this global issue. As mentioned in the video posted on the blog, the band members incorporated some of their fan's thoughts on feminism and positive self-empowering quotes from twitter into their music video. This is a smart way to get people, mainly their fans, engaged in the cause and will likely spark the curiosity to learn more about the subject, leading to an increase in the number of people who support gender equality. Even if they are using feminism incorrectly to boost their image, getting it out there and exposing a large portion of the globe, including the developing minds of kids who need to grow up with such mentalities, to feminism will put a positive spin on gender rights and equality worldwide. In other words, Fifth Harmony is feminist in its own way.
Work Cited:
Katz, Emily Tess. "Fifth Harmony Is Devoted To Promoting Feminism '100 Percent'" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
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