Someone Like Who?

Idolized for her soulful, prominent voice, Adele has already made a song that most Americans sing along to on the radio.  However, sexism is a controversial issue in social life today and Adele seems to be pro-male-dependent.  In the song "Someone Like You" Adele sings about the man that she loves moving on from her.  What is her resolution?  Finding someone like him.  This song advocates the idea of a weak woman.  Women are beautiful, clever, and mysterious and, in my opinion, if a man leaves a woman, she should be confident that she will find something better.

When Adele mentions the woman the man she loves is now happy with, she sings, "I guess she gave you things, I could'nt give to you."  By saying this, she is degrading herself and promoting a negative attitude among woman who may not have had their happy ending with the person they thought was the "one."  Women, especially in a society that is trying to break sexist barriers, need to have a positive outlook on the cards they are dealt.  Women need to have the mind-set that they will find another man that is worth being with them, a man who wants to make them happy, or, more extremely, women should be content on their own.  Why is it necessary to have a man in order to achieve happiness?  Being independent and successful on their own should be an aspiration for the contemporary woman.  Adele's music, thus far, brings women back to a time when a man was everything.

And no, I am not a lonely, skeptical person.  I endlessly and fearlessly loved the same boy for two years.  I put him at the top of my list of priorities and idolized him until the day our relationship ended.  Of course I was sad, it's never easy to lose someone that you care about, but when I found myself tearing up after our last goodbye, I realized that I didn't want to be like Adele.  I didn't want my life to end because someone did'nt want to be part of it, and I believe every woman should have that attitude.  Admittedly, I do hum to the melodies of Adele's songs but I simultaneously curse her lyrics for the dependent lifestyle she promotes in women as she belts out, "Don't forget me! I beg!"  I do not wish for women to be heartless, I solely hope that after a small period of grief, women learn what they do and don't want from what hasn't worked out; look forward to a new chapter in your life ladies!  Think of the endless possibilities ahead of you and never, ever wish for the past, or else your future might pass you by.  There is one thing Adele was right about, "sometimes it lasts in love and sometimes it hurts instead" and after the hurt, you must move on.

Viva Latinoamerica!

Puerto Rican rap duo Calle 13 began their professional music career in 2005 after the release of their protest song named "Querido FBI"(meaning "Dear FBI" in English) in response to the murder of the commander-in-cheif of Los Macheteros, Filiberto Ojeda Rios.  Rios had been involved in the Wells Fargo depot robbery of 1983 and the FBI and though many Puerto Ricans did not agree with his political views - that Puerto Rico is solely a colony of the United States - his assassination on the anniversary of the Lares revolt, an unsuccessful but influential rebellion of the Puerto Ricans against Spanish colonial rule, outraged everyone.  With this vulgar and honest song to the government, Calle 13 succeeded in further unifying the country in the mourning of a terrorist who has been turned into a martyr.  This song was the beginning of Calle 13's success and today they still write songs inspired by current social and political issues.
 

In their most recent album, Entren Los Que Quieran, the song "Latinoamerica" also attempts to unify, but this time, not only within the country, but throughout South America.  This song also seems to be written with an American audience in mind.  As the chorus transitions into the song a matronly voice, sung by Brasilian, Peruvian, and Colombian singers, advises Americans that they are unable to buy the real things that make life what it is such as, happiness, pain, and the sun.  During the first verse of the song Residente, the singer of the two, describes the hardships of Latins, highlighting their strengths.  In the second verse, the discussion transitions toward a prideful tone.  Residente may only have raw products, but he is happy to have what he has and that is what makes him who he is.  The main message of the song is to point out how Latin American countries are being taken advantage of by Americans that use their raw goods without second thought to produce cheaper goods within their own country.  "Soy America Latina, un pueblo sin piernas pero que camina," Residente preaches - "I am Latin American, peoples without legs but we walk.