Gendered Power Dynamics

This was an essay I wrote for my World Music class's midterm.

Resisting Patriarchal Power Dynamics: “Ain’t Your Mama!”

The power dynamic between men and women has followed a consistent schema throughout the course of history. Scholar Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood defines the structure of gendered power dynamics as “dominant public masculinity and subordinate private domestic femininity” (2017:942). Women have historically been placed at the bottom, whereas men have dominated from the top of the gender order. Patriarchal oppression has inhabited both public and private spheres and these misogynistic values are embedded in today’s social structure. We see this sexist structure reflected onto cultural mediums such as the media, entertainment, and the music industry, continuously investing in the reproduction of gender roles and stereotypes. The stagnant nature of this unequal schema has been disrupted only in the recent past. As women have started growing weary of being lumbered with responsibilities, objectified, and underestimated, universal resistance movements have kindled against male injustice. Globally influential female figures have recently started urging the women population to initiate rebellion in order to reconstruct the power dynamic. Female artists within the music industry have become the agency for resistance through female empowering lyrics, videos, and slogans. I argue that Jennifer Lopez’s video “Ain’t Your Mama” calls women to take action against the inequality of gender roles within the domestic and work space, supporting Alexandra Kalev and Gal Deutsch’s claim that women must resist patriarchal power to rebalance male dominance in gender stratification. (2018: 267) The music video depicts the daily patriarchal oppression women face in different scenarios, demonstrates how the women in the video exemplify resistance, and creates ground for action to carry the movement into reality.

The private sphere in which Lopez identifies the cultural labor roles of women is the home arena. Domestic tasks are evidently unequally distributed between men and women, women being responsible for the significant majority. The scene starts off with a husband figure seated at a dining table, waiting to be served by his wife (1:21). She is wearing an apron, symbolizing her as a maid. However, household labor isn’t compensated with pay, as this unpaid duty is expected from married females. When the wife brings the dinner out, the male starts diving into the roast without even giving her the chance to sit down. Research on male gender-ideology states “husbands believe traditional gender roles are innate more than do wives, allowing them to justify their advantaged social position and reinforcing the greater power men hold in the relationships” (Ross quoted in Calasanti and Bailey, 1991:37). This falsely engraved presumption leads way to the underappreciation of homemaker women. By clearly visualizing these misogynistic attitudes, Jennifer Lopez opens the eyes of women who may have become numbed to their lowered status. At times, women fail to question their mistreatment as ritualized labor becomes normalized as a part of their routines. If females are not aware of their oppression, they ultimately lack incentive to show resistance.

Females have the power to break their husbands’ traditional ideologies if they strike out in the private sphere. Researcher Janeen Baxter claims men who have more egalitarian attitudes engage more in household tasks. Her research further argues that men are more likely to be involved in cooking and laundry if their wives contribute more to total income (Baxter, 1997:220-223). If women aren’t expected to perform all household labor, there will be an increase in their available time. (Huang et al., 2004: 96). Consequently, female participation in paid jobs will rise in positive correlation with household income, urging male participation in housework. “Ain’t Your Mama” continues to portray women’s arduous tasks as the representative wife figure scrubs the floors, irons, cooks breakfast, and spends most of her time in the kitchen. (1:26) The lyrics reinforce the imagery stating: “I ain't gon' be cooking all day, I ain't your mama. I ain't gon' do your laundry, I ain't your mama.” The resistance against domestic expectations to take care and serve men are embedded in Jennifer Lopez’s lyrics. She makes the point: I am your equal. I am not your caretaker.

The patriarchal power dynamic in the private sphere is carried over to the gender structure in institutional work spaces. Women’s entry into the paid workforce, which is heavily dominated by males, has taken more time and effort in comparison to men. Success in the workplace is equated to masculinity therefore the power dynamics are constructed based on those who present these “powerful” traits. Research argues “The ideal, successful worker and leader are described in stereotypically masculine traits as individualists, aggressive, authoritative, competitive, powerful, and rational.Women are less likely to be hired to jobs described as requiring “assertiveness” and “independence,” and more likely to be hired to jobs described as requiring “cooperation” and “friendliness”. Once hired to male-dominated jobs, gender stands out and women experience lower evaluations” (Kalev and Deutsch, 2018:262). This explains why women’s roles have been lower in the organizational hierarchy, as historical stereotypes have labeled them as incompetent and of less intelligence although there are no empirical studies that support this. The media has continuously invested in this cultural understanding as women have generally been portrayed as secretaries or assistants in the work space. Lopez depicts this misrepresentation in her music video through the businesswoman character in the office. (3:03) She’s walking alongside a male colleague explaining to him work-related matters using her prepared files. He nods his head to her in a silencing manner, grabs her files, and shuts the office door in her face to join a meeting. Grabbing her files without asking symbolizes how people of higher status abuse their power and take unearned credit from those in lower positions in order to gain praise. This is the nature of power dynamics: men with power undervalue and overlook their female counterparts. Research analyzes this corrupt practice declaring “The formal performance evaluations that allow managers to be credited for tasks done by secretaries legitimize gender differences in promotions” (Kalev and Deutsch, 2018:263). The male colleague of the businesswoman in the video enters the roundtable meeting in which not a single woman is in sight. The female character is once again left outside the boundaries of the recognized work in the office.

The maltreatment of women in the workplace is more than just the disrespect shown to them regarding professional matters. Abusive powerful men can bring their dynamic down to a distasteful level. Women not only have to fight an upward hill battle to rise in the organizational position order, they also face menace unrelated to their labor efforts. Jennifer Lopez draws this scene through the female secretary figure in the office (2:25). She is typing a document as her boss enters the room and pours himself a glass of whiskey during work hours. He furthers his unprofessionalism as he snaps his finger in front of her face - a degrading call for attention - and traces his gaze down to her chest. The sexual objectification of the female in the scene exemplifies the obstacles women face in the public sphere. Studies have demonstrated that objectification reduces the perception of women's mind and competence. (Rollero and Tartaglia, 2013:141 ). Degrading a woman down to the status of a mere object contributes to stereotypes, which in return contributes to inequality in the workspace, which contributes to social gender roles and patriarchal power dynamics. The cycle is inevitable if the components fail to change.

In performing “Ain’t Your Mama”, Jennifer Lopez is advocating for the reconstruction of imbalanced gender power dynamics. Lopez argues male dominance should no longer be tolerated amongst women and defines ways in which women can resist oppression. The slogan that stands out in the music video is in her speech which initiates the purpose of the song: “You’ve got to get mad!” (1:16). Complaining about unfair gender roles and under-recognition without voicing it out loud will not be rewarded with change. Jennifer Lopez encourages women to “stick their head out the window and yell”. By doing so, the female population reverses its silence to disrupt the dynamic and carve the way for social advancement. “Ain’t Your Mama” illustrates the various ways the women in the music video show resistance to their oppressors to set an example to the video’s audience. The homemaker woman who is serving food dumps the dish on her husband’s head (2:20). The secretary who was sexually objectified jams the suited man’s tie into her typewriter and throws a glass of water in his face (2:37). The businesswoman who was excluded in the office demonstrates her resistance by getting up on the tables and throwing paper around (3:18-3:36). These exaggerated acts of resistance symbolize the severeness of the issue. Women cannot shy away from speaking against injustice because the degree of change they’ll accomplish mirrors the degree of resistance they put forth. The capability of resistance in shifting power dynamics was exemplified during the Bahraini women’s revolts of 2011. The female community in Bahrain was “severely restricted by old sociocultural traditions” and their access to public space was limited by the oppressive regime of the monarchy. (Alwadi and Khamis, 2017:53). Determined to break the barriers set for them, Bahraini women used cyberactivism methods to trigger political reform and create waves of awareness on the issue through their projections on social media. Women’s activism also ignited “a ‘social awakening’ that has shaken Arab societies’ commonly held assumptions about gender roles and women’s ability to challenge them” (Alwadi and Khamis, 2017: 65). The women in the community are now regarded through a shifted perspective as leaders and powerful figures and serving as inspiration for females around the globe.

Bahraini women and “Ain’t Your Mama” put forth their agency differently, but their message remains aligned: challenging the dominant power results in rewardance for the subordinate. Jennifer Lopez encourages women to combat gender roles in their own way. They can partially withdraw from domestic work creating incentive to get their partners involved and rebalance the split of tasks. Striking against injustices in the workplace by joining forces with like-minded people can lead to institutional transformations. In conclusion, in order to diminish male dominance in gendered power dynamics and erode gender roles, women must persistently resist their oppression and react to socio-cultural inequalities.

Works Cited

Abu-Lughod, Lila. “The Romance of Resistance: Tracing Transformations of Power through Bedouin Women.” Beyond the Second Sex: New Directions in the Anthropology of Gender, 313–37, no. 1 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1990.17.1.02a00030.

Alwadi, Nada, and Sahar Khamis. “Voices Shouting for Reform: The Remaining Battles for Bahraini Women.” Arab Womens Activism and Socio-Political Transformation, November 21, 2017, 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60735-1_3.

Baxter, Janeen. “Gender Equality and Participation in Housework: A Cross - National Perspective.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 28, no. 3 (1997): 220–47. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=111367&site=ehost-live.

Calasanti, Toni M., and Carol A. Bailey. “Gender Inequality and the Division of Household Labor in the United States and Sweden: A Socialist-Feminist Approach.” Social Problems 38, no. 1 (1991): 34–53. https://doi.org/10.2307/800637.

Huang, Yueng-Hsiang, Leslie B. Hammer, Margaret B. Neal, and Nancy A. Perrin. “The Relationship Between Work-to-Family Conflict and Family-to-Work Conflict: A Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Family and Economic Issues 25, no. 1 (2004): 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jeei.0000016724.76936.a1.

Kalev, Alexandra, and Gal Deutsch. “Gender Inequality and Workplace Organizations: Understanding Reproduction and Change.” Handbook of the Sociology of Gender Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research, 2018, 257–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76333-0_19.

Lopez, Jennifer. “Ain’t Your Mama.” YouTube video, 5:09. May 6, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgmx7z49OEk.

Rollero, Chiara, and Stefano Tartaglia. “Men And Women At Work: The Effects Of Objectification On Competence, Pay, And Fit For The Job.” Studia Psychologica 55, no. 2 (2013): 139–52. https://doi.org/10.21909/sp.2013.02.631.

Spencer-Wood, Suzanne M., and Renée M. Blackburn. “The Creation of the American Playground Movement by Reform Women, 1885–1930: A Feminist Analysis of Materialized Ideological Transformations in Gender Identities and Power Dynamics.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 21, no. 4 (June 8, 2017): 937–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0409-2.