Juxtaposition Post

      In the song “Woman in the White House” by Sheryl Crow she is basically saying it is time for us to have a woman president. She talks about how it has been 230 something years without a woman president and that it is time for a “new attitude” in the white house. She makes several similes between a woman’s “traditional roles” and how it would benefit the white house. She says that women like to spend money, but not money that they do not have. This is just playing on the idea of women liking to shop or whatever and that a woman would be able to handle spending well in the White House. She talks about grabbing a shovel and a pair of high heels and showing the world what a woman could do as president. The song also goes on to talk about how women are more loving and caring so there would be less fighting going on. Overall, there are several gender roles being put into play in this song from a woman’s point of view. The ones talking about in this song are spending money, being more loving and caring, and it even mentions high heels and a shovel, implying a woman going to work to show what she can do.

      The song has a serious message that it is trying to convey, just not in a very serious matter. This upbeat feel to the song might be so it is less offensive as to what is being said in the song. The cover also has a picture of women’s legs wearing high heels. This was probably done to help sales because an album cover with that is going to capture a lot of attention. The catchy beat and vibe was also most likely implied to help sell the song and ensure that it is successful by making a song that people want to listen to. This song basically talks about an important issue with an umbrella of country music over it to sell it, and it is using a juxtaposition to relate the gender roles of a woman and how it would make for a good president. (362 words)

   The song," Woman in the White House" by Sheryl Crow strongly emphasizes that she thinks it is time for a woman to become the supreme leader of our country.  She says that the men have been screwing up for 200 some years and that with one change of having a woman in the office that she will make everything all better in the country.  To me the problem isn't really the President it is the system we have of checks and balances because without Congress being same party as you nothing will get done.  Crow also says in the song that women would know how to spend our nation's money but I honestly don't think that they would honestly spend it right and if you look in to stereotypes women have to buy stuff they don't really need.  So then we would still be in the same national debt we have now or maybe even worse. 

    The cover picture that Sheryl chose for this song really gives off a bad image of what a woman would do if elected in to office.  With the someone with their legs around the white house to someone who hadn't listened to the song would probably think that the White House was turning into some sort of cathouse but maybe the picture could try and decieve to win over a males vote.  In my opinion that gives women a bad reputation going in if they were ever going to be elected. Another thing she says in the song that a woman would clean up Capitol Hill so I think that Crow is using typical stereotypes for reasons that America should elect a female President.  Then with the Western theme of using banjos was back in a time when all was right with the world symbolizes that with a female in there we would be back in those times.

Word Count: 314

Juxtaposition Blog

Sheryl Crow’s uses many tactics to get people to listen her song about that it is time to put a woman in the white house. Sheryl Crow music video features a woman’s legs in front of the white house.  When she does this it shows exactly what her lyrics are talking about and it shows her message clearly. Also, her song has an old country sound to it that makes stand out against the music that is popular today.  I think this tactic of hers in not very effective. If I was listening to this on the radio I would turn the station right away because for one I do not like country music and for two I cannot stand the sound of a banjo. If she wanted to make this song for everyone to listen she should change the genre of her song to more what people listen to these days. What she did do that was effective to get her message across was putting a woman’s legs in front of the white house for her music video.

Another tactic that Sheryl Crow uses to get her message across is her lyrics. Her lyrics are somewhat catchy but they are annoying. When I was listening to the song I could not take it seriously because she generalized how women act and because of the banjo playing. She said that women should be in the white house because there would be less fighting and we would get along more. Most women would disagree with this because we know for a fact that we fight just as much as the guys do. Let’s say that we get a woman in the white house that is full of drama and causes disagreements all the time. Her lyrics do not take in account the way that most women act. Her lyrics are not very effective and should be changed so that they are actually true instead of generalizing something to make it look good to get the message across.  

-Megan Grimes (336)

"Woman in the White House"

In Sheryl Crow’s song, “Woman in the White House,” she states her opinion very freely on a woman being the president of the United States.  She uses many different tactics in doing this. The album cover for the song is pretty vulgar for a woman wanting to be president. The album cover is a woman with long legs standing over the White House.  By doing this, she is definitely using women’s sex appeal to get other people’s attention.  The song also has quite a catchy appeal to it with the use of the musical instruments in the background. The banjo being played is basically what stuck through my head for a long period of time after only listening to the song only once and this is exactly what they were trying to do in this particular song.

In this song, she is also very particular with her word choice throughout the whole song. From listening to this song, I did not really get the message to why woman need or even should be president. The message seemed to bash the past presidents that we have had because all they want to do is fight and cause drama, spending money that we did not seem to have and still do not have, and etc. She states that women can balance a checkbook, not have drama and attitude, and can even get along well with others. This to me is the complete opposite of what women actually do. Most women love to spend all the money that they can, especially when it is not their money, they usually always tend to have some type of drama, and definitely do not tend to get well with others, especially other women. I think that this song is completely opposite of what we need, not because she is a woman, but because her opinion she has on it. It would be great to have a woman president just to say we have and because I am a woman, but if this song had a different message to it, then maybe people would actually consider having a woman as our president.

Brooke Kinney (358)

Woman in the White House

In "Woman in the White House," Sheryl Crow states that if woman were in the White House, that there would be a lot less fussing and fighting and more loving,listening, and getting along.  Woman have different common sense and tthey know how to spend money and balance a check book.  This is all ironic because we dont need somebody to spend money we know that woman like to take things into their own hands, we also know that there would be more fussing and fighting.  Another thing is taht woman have the same chance as  men do to run for presedent.  For example, Hillary Clinton is President Obamas Secretary of State, and she once ran for presidency.  Its not like woman are not able to run, they have just as much of a chance to get voted in as men.

The image of the woman in high heels standing over the White House is very graphic.  If someone saw this how could they actually think that Sheryl is being serious.  In order to be taken serious, you would have to act serious.  To aid the picture on the album, the lyrics are contradictory.  What does the image say about how serious they  would take the job if elected.  It sounds to me that the lyrics make it seem as if being president is easy.  I dont think that woman realize how much more there really is to the job than having common sense, a new attitude, know how to spend money, and balance a checkbook.  Yes, you will have to know how to do a little of these things, but this will not get you into office. As for when Sheryl says "it has been 230 something years, its way past overdue," in this day and age every body has an equal chance and if a woman did really want to be president she would have to prove it by running.  I think that the juxtaposition is ineffective and it doesnt get the point across the point that a woman should be president.

"Woman in the White House"

In the song "Woman in the White House" by Sheryl Crow there are a few things that are a bit confusing for people to understand. For instance, in the lyrics she talks about how having a woman in the White House, they wouldn't fight or spend money. Everyone can assume that would be about our country being in debt, and being at war for so long. But in reality, not all women are this way. But, most of us pick fights about the littlest, dumbest things ever. And MOST woman sure do like to spend money. So by the lyrics of her song it's kind of the opposite of what the stereotypical personality of a woman is. Not that it is wrong, having a woman president might help things, but I wouldn't judge her any different than I would a male president.

It was more of a upbeat catchy kind of tune for the song rather than a serious one. The song is about a very serious topic, but in my opinion she used the catchy tune so that her song would sell. If it was some boring song about the president then nobody would really be interested in buying it, or even just listening to it. For her CD cover the white house is in between a woman's legs that have panty-hose and high heels on. In my opinion that contradicts the whole statement and purpose to the song. Being president is a serious topic, and saying we should have a female president can really grind some people's gears. Which is why I think they made a bad move deciding to have the cover that way. To me, it implies that women aren't taken seriously in politics, or even any big job that mainly only men hold. Not only does it say that a woman wouldn't be taken serious as president, but by having her legs that way they are saying that, that is what woman should be doing and what they are good for.

Makayla Stark

Word Count: 336

"Woman in the White House"

The song by Sheryl Crow “Woman in the White House" comes off disturbing to me. I don't agree with her lyrics. She says "girls how about you" for one we aren't girls we are woman. If she wants to put "girls" in the white house she needs to make it a little more professional. Her image she gave herself isn't a positive image. By the look of the picture that goes with the song, it’s not very professional. To me it makes her look bad especially with the image showing her long legs. It’s like she’s making it sexual. In my opinion I feel like she is trying to get everyone to choose a girl in the office because of their features, that is not how it works. She is making all women look bad. The target audience for this particular song is to all women. I think the audience is to woman because she is trying to catch woman’s attention to run for president.  

The tune of the song sounds like it is from the early 50’s.  I think she wanted to change the tune up to catch more people’s attention. I for one do not like the song. I found the song to be annoying to the point where I didn’t even want to listen to it. I honestly hated the way she even sung the song. I hated the lyrics. Honestly I can say I hated everything about it. I don’t know about any of you but this song for real made her look bad, by the way she presented herself it says a lot about her as a person. She says “it’s time to put a girl in the white house girls how about you” To me it sounds sexist. I get the vibe she is trying to put girls against the guys in votes just to put a girl in the running of a president. I am a woman, and the job to be a president seems very overwhelming. I just feel like girls couldn’t handle the pressure mentally, physically, and etcetera. Girls are too emotional and moody to sit down and come to an agreement about something. There are going to be people out there who like the song no doubt about it. I find the song to be disrespectful. Who knows maybe she didn’t mean to offend anyone with the song. I personally think the song is going to cause her to lose a lot of fans.

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Megan H