An opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding surrounding issues of social identities through a creative lens: that of music. Students choose topics related to the course and then create an annotated playlist, which is essentially as musical version of an annotated bibliography. Specifically, students are encouraged to choose an overall theme (e.g., race, gender, class, sexual identities), and then find songs that fit that reflect themes related to the identity or identities that they chose.
The playlists students produce must include the following: song, artist, genre, year. Below this information students then must produce an annotation that details why they chose the specific song, how they see it relating to sociological concepts of identity, and provide evidence (e.g., music lyrics, melodies, music video scenes, etc.) to support their reasoning.
Learning Goals and Assessment
Goal 1. Demonstrate understanding of sociological theories and concepts related to social identity (including, but not limited to race, gender, class, sexuality, etc.).
Assessment 1. This goal will be assessed via the terms and concepts noted in the annotation. Beyond naming the concepts, students should be able to define the concepts clearly.
Goal 2. Have students engage in “application” of concepts to their lives and social contexts.
Assessment 2. This goal will be assessed via students’ abilities to connect the term/concept chosen to cultural meanings apparent in song lyrics.
Annotated Playlist Requirements and Expectations:
1. All content in the annotated playlist must focus on issues related to an identity or identities. All course concepts should come from the lectures in Module 6 or connections to assigned readings in Module 6. Concepts and ideas from earlier modules are welcome, but you only will be graded on the content from Modules 6.
2. Each playlist must include 5 songs, and annotations for each. Each song annotation must be accompanied with the following information:
a. Artist(s)
b. Genre
c. Year the song was released
3. Projects are expected to be approximately 5 pages double spaced, one page per annotation.
4. While I encourage a creative approach to this assignment, each playlist must include the following:
a. Original thought/writing: your own thoughts expressed critically and clearly
b. Quotes—from course readings and lectures
c. Lyrics/melodic expression/music video scenes explanations—evidence derived from the song itself.
Example Annotation
“Just a Girl” by No Doubt
Pop, 1995
The song “Just a Girl” is all about how being a woman in our society can be a burden due to common stereotypes and misconceptions. Both gender socialization and the social construction of gender play a major role in determining what it means to be a woman. I will reference the article “The Social Construction of Gender” to analyze this song.
The first line of the song is “Take this pink ribbon off my eyes”, the pink ribbon is a sign symbolizing a girl. Doing gender is something everyone does, often without thinking about it. The act of doing gender includes what we wear, how we talk, our mannerisms, etc., and it reinforces the social construction of gender (Lorber, 1994). As children grow up, they watch the people around them to learn about gender in a process known as gender socialization. Pink is one of the many things we associate with girls, it is a color that has been deemed feminine and assumptions are made about people, especially babies, that wear pink. This can be seen as a gender process, our interactions with others is why many of us assume that those who wear pink are either a girl or very feminine (Lorber, 1994). Taking the pink ribbon off her eyes symbolizes the oppression of women, how girls are taught to be submissive and ultimately “blind” of their disadvantages.
At the end of verse one the lyrics “This world is forcing me to hold your hand” further emphasizes societal thought of women being submissive. Lead singer Gwen Stefani, is “speaking” to a man, implying that women are taught that they need to be protected by masculine figures. This idea is repeated throughout the song in additional lines such as, “’Cause I’m just a girl, a little old me. Well, don’t let me out of your sight.” Here she uses the phrases “little old me” and “don’t let me out of your sight” because our construction of gender considers women as fragile and dependent beings.
Men dominate and women are devalued in society. The band also targets policy makers and gender inequality in the line, “Oh, I’m just a girl, all pretty and petite. So don’t let me have any rights.” Because the United States is a gender stratified society, women, the devalued gender, have less privileges and economic benefits (Lorber, 1994). Aside from policies that promote inequalities, interpersonal and internalized sexism contribute to gender inequality and are a result of socialization.
