I think at its heart, this a song about the nature of gender equality. It is a commentary on the 'woman as second class citizen' sentiment (You want to know it doesn't hurt me? Well, it does, and here's what I'm willing to do about it. Listen to this deal I'm working). Perhaps she's saying this notion stems from the belief that it has always been men who have changed the world. "God" has always been considered male. It was a man ( Jesus) who supposedly gave his life for humanity.
I think she is offering to take that challenge - to sacrifice herself - in historical and modern contexts. If she only could, she'd make a deal with god to swap places with Jesus. She'd run up that road with a cross strapped to her back. She'd run up that hill (Golgatha, the place of the skulls, where Jesus was supposedly crucified). She'd run up that (office) building and forsake her family the way men have for generations. And she'd do it with no problem if that's what it takes for the world to value her (women) as we do men.
I always wished she would have changed the God pronoun to "she" for some reason, even if it constituted some small or perhaps naive instance of sociopolitical and/or religious rebellion. I really dig your interpretation.
I always wished she would have changed the God pronoun to "she" for some reason, even if it constituted some small or perhaps naive instance of sociopolitical and/or religious rebellion. I really dig your interpretation.
@Rod962 @paedophageeplayground
2nd class citizens? Regarding the Church of Scie... whoops, Church of Feminism, It will never cease to fill me with a sense of wry amusement similar to how I feel about other known types of mind-viruses, better known as religion aka bronze-age sheepherder fairytales. A void where knowledge of history is meant to be but instead tightly stuffed with victimization fibers.
@Rod962 @paedophageeplayground
2nd class citizens? Regarding the Church of Scie... whoops, Church of Feminism, It will never cease to fill me with a sense of wry amusement similar to how I feel about other known types of mind-viruses, better known as religion aka bronze-age sheepherder fairytales. A void where knowledge of history is meant to be but instead tightly stuffed with victimization fibers.
"But when feminists suggest that God might be a She without suggesting that the Devil might also be female, they must be opposed." ~ Warren Farrell
"But when feminists suggest that God might be a She without suggesting that the Devil might also be female, they must be opposed." ~ Warren Farrell
FREE QUICK HISTORY & SOCIOLOGY LESSON [excerpt]
"Perhaps the art that best reflects life is film. In the chapter on man-bashing, I review the way films bashing men reflect our culture. But 1998 did at least see two films that were masterpieces in their empathetic representation of the male experience: Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful. I review them on my website but suffice it to say here that part of their significance is that they were both commercial and critical successes, representing, therefore, holes in the Lace Curtain.
Unfortunately, these films were more the exception than the rule among recent films. Titanic is the rule. No reality-based film had a greater opportunity to allow the world a clearer look at men’s willingness to sacrifice their lives for women and children than Titanic, on which men died more than women at a rate of more than 9 to 1. While we know Titanic had a fictionalized storyline, it developed a reputation for being meticulously researched with many characters based on reality. In some ways that was true. But one of the most fascinating stories behind the movie is the story revealed by what is and is not fiction. When we uncover how we fictionalize reality, we discover ourselves. And we also discover the methods used by the Lace Curtain to fictionalize reality. (Which is what distinguishes this analysis from the previous chapter’s look at man bashing in films.) So welcome aboard.
Titanic Fiction: A woman saves a man at the repeated risk of her life.
Titanic Fact: There is no record of a woman risking her life to save an adult man, no less repeatedly.
Titanic Fiction: Men in charge decided to lock third-class (steerage) passengers below the decks.
Titanic Fact: Public Record Office documents in London show that this never happened—in fact, a higher percentage of men from second-class died than from third class (92 percent vs. 88 percent), and 55 percent of the third-class women lived, which would not have been possible had they been locked below.
Titanic Fiction: Being poor made one even more disposable than being a man.
Titanic Fact: Being a man and being poor both increased disposability, but being a man increased it significantly more than being poor. First-class men were 22 times more likely to die (66 percent vs. 3 percent) than first-class women. The richest men were significantly more likely to die than the poorest women.
Theoretically, there were three classes on the Titanic. Practically, though, men were more likely to die than the citizens of the first, second, or third class. In reality, the men were the invisible fourth-class citizens. Here is the breakdown by class and sex.
“Titanic and the Invisible Fourth Class” Class: % of men dying and % of women dying.
1st class: M: 66% W: 3%
2nd class: M: 92% W: 16%
3rd class: M: 88% W: 45%
Finally, the multiple scenes of men as cowards (“Men first! Leave the women and children behind") negates the reality, especially regarding First Officer William Murdoch, who was portrayed in the film as taking a bribe, shooting a third-class passenger, and then killing himself. In real life, “Murdoch behaved heroically, sacrificing his life after laboring frantically to save others." Twentieth Century Fox did apologize for their distortion, but all the scenes of his corruption and cowardice remain.
In brief, the mandate: of masculinity, to be more disposable than a third-class citizen, was diluted by three methods, all fiction: (1) Showing a woman also willing to die to save a man; (2) Turning a heroic man (William Murdoch) into a coward and killer, and (3) Sensationalizing class disposability (via the lockout scene and the portrayal of Murdoch killing a third-class passenger while accepting a bribe from a rich man). When disposability is falsely made a characteristic of both sexes and class disposability is played up, it leaves us downplaying the true disposability of masculinity - only 8 percent of the second-class men saving themselves while saving 84 percent of their wives and 100 percent of their children."
I think at its heart, this a song about the nature of gender equality. It is a commentary on the 'woman as second class citizen' sentiment (You want to know it doesn't hurt me? Well, it does, and here's what I'm willing to do about it. Listen to this deal I'm working). Perhaps she's saying this notion stems from the belief that it has always been men who have changed the world. "God" has always been considered male. It was a man ( Jesus) who supposedly gave his life for humanity.
I think she is offering to take that challenge - to sacrifice herself - in historical and modern contexts. If she only could, she'd make a deal with god to swap places with Jesus. She'd run up that road with a cross strapped to her back. She'd run up that hill (Golgatha, the place of the skulls, where Jesus was supposedly crucified). She'd run up that (office) building and forsake her family the way men have for generations. And she'd do it with no problem if that's what it takes for the world to value her (women) as we do men.
I always wished she would have changed the God pronoun to "she" for some reason, even if it constituted some small or perhaps naive instance of sociopolitical and/or religious rebellion. I really dig your interpretation.
I always wished she would have changed the God pronoun to "she" for some reason, even if it constituted some small or perhaps naive instance of sociopolitical and/or religious rebellion. I really dig your interpretation.
@Rod962 @paedophageeplayground 2nd class citizens? Regarding the Church of Scie... whoops, Church of Feminism, It will never cease to fill me with a sense of wry amusement similar to how I feel about other known types of mind-viruses, better known as religion aka bronze-age sheepherder fairytales. A void where knowledge of history is meant to be but instead tightly stuffed with victimization fibers.
@Rod962 @paedophageeplayground 2nd class citizens? Regarding the Church of Scie... whoops, Church of Feminism, It will never cease to fill me with a sense of wry amusement similar to how I feel about other known types of mind-viruses, better known as religion aka bronze-age sheepherder fairytales. A void where knowledge of history is meant to be but instead tightly stuffed with victimization fibers.
"But when feminists suggest that God might be a She without suggesting that the Devil might also be female, they must be opposed." ~ Warren Farrell
"But when feminists suggest that God might be a She without suggesting that the Devil might also be female, they must be opposed." ~ Warren Farrell
FREE QUICK HISTORY & SOCIOLOGY LESSON [excerpt] "Perhaps the art that best reflects life is film. In the chapter on man-bashing, I review the way films bashing men reflect our culture. But 1998 did at least see two films that were masterpieces in their empathetic representation of the male experience: Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful. I review them on my website but suffice it to say here that part of their significance is that they were both commercial and critical successes, representing, therefore, holes in the Lace Curtain. Unfortunately, these films were more the exception than the rule among recent films. Titanic is the rule. No reality-based film had a greater opportunity to allow the world a clearer look at men’s willingness to sacrifice their lives for women and children than Titanic, on which men died more than women at a rate of more than 9 to 1. While we know Titanic had a fictionalized storyline, it developed a reputation for being meticulously researched with many characters based on reality. In some ways that was true. But one of the most fascinating stories behind the movie is the story revealed by what is and is not fiction. When we uncover how we fictionalize reality, we discover ourselves. And we also discover the methods used by the Lace Curtain to fictionalize reality. (Which is what distinguishes this analysis from the previous chapter’s look at man bashing in films.) So welcome aboard. Titanic Fiction: A woman saves a man at the repeated risk of her life. Titanic Fact: There is no record of a woman risking her life to save an adult man, no less repeatedly. Titanic Fiction: Men in charge decided to lock third-class (steerage) passengers below the decks. Titanic Fact: Public Record Office documents in London show that this never happened—in fact, a higher percentage of men from second-class died than from third class (92 percent vs. 88 percent), and 55 percent of the third-class women lived, which would not have been possible had they been locked below. Titanic Fiction: Being poor made one even more disposable than being a man. Titanic Fact: Being a man and being poor both increased disposability, but being a man increased it significantly more than being poor. First-class men were 22 times more likely to die (66 percent vs. 3 percent) than first-class women. The richest men were significantly more likely to die than the poorest women. Theoretically, there were three classes on the Titanic. Practically, though, men were more likely to die than the citizens of the first, second, or third class. In reality, the men were the invisible fourth-class citizens. Here is the breakdown by class and sex. “Titanic and the Invisible Fourth Class” Class: % of men dying and % of women dying. 1st class: M: 66% W: 3% 2nd class: M: 92% W: 16% 3rd class: M: 88% W: 45% Finally, the multiple scenes of men as cowards (“Men first! Leave the women and children behind") negates the reality, especially regarding First Officer William Murdoch, who was portrayed in the film as taking a bribe, shooting a third-class passenger, and then killing himself. In real life, “Murdoch behaved heroically, sacrificing his life after laboring frantically to save others." Twentieth Century Fox did apologize for their distortion, but all the scenes of his corruption and cowardice remain. In brief, the mandate: of masculinity, to be more disposable than a third-class citizen, was diluted by three methods, all fiction: (1) Showing a woman also willing to die to save a man; (2) Turning a heroic man (William Murdoch) into a coward and killer, and (3) Sensationalizing class disposability (via the lockout scene and the portrayal of Murdoch killing a third-class passenger while accepting a bribe from a rich man). When disposability is falsely made a characteristic of both sexes and class disposability is played up, it leaves us downplaying the true disposability of masculinity - only 8 percent of the second-class men saving themselves while saving 84 percent of their wives and 100 percent of their children."