I heard the song today, Merry Go ‘Round by Kacey Musgraves. I had never heard it before, but it caught my attention from one of the first lines. To me, the song is about what society expects of everyone. It talks about how everyone is expected to go to church, no matter their beliefs. The theme of the song is that life is like a merry go ‘round and we are constantly doing the same thing every day, over and over.
The
line of the song that caught my attention is about expectations of women. The
exact line states “If you ain’t got two kids by 21 you’re probably gonna die
alone, at least that’s what tradition told you.” It struck me as interesting because
I feel like this is how too many people think today. As women, we are expected
to marry and have children at a young age. Society says that our focus should
be on finding a husband who can provide and then get to procreating. All too
often women whose main goal is to get through college and obtain a degree
before they consider marriage are frowned upon. And once we hit a certain age,
we’re destined to be alone with no husband nor kids for the rest of our lives.
As
well, this idea that women need to find a husband and make babies as soon as
possible is completely in support of heternormativity. What about the women who
don’t like men and can’t get married to their partner? Are they expected to die
alone too? The world that we live in is set up to only recognize heterosexual
couples and situations, everything else is pushed to the side and often
ignored. Try to look around and notice heteronormative things in your everyday
live. This can be within the television, your school, family, or even your own
mindset and language. Becoming aware of it is the first step to changing it!
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