Daddyand Marriage
Thereis a high prevalence of male dominance in the society to thedisadvantage of women. The dominance is so severe that there is now acommon perception whereby women are only there to be seen, and thisexplains the focus on women’s sexuality. From a young age, girlsare made to believe they should dress well to be noticed. Besides,women grow up with the perception that they have to please men. Suchprecedence has a pernicious influence on women’s life as it makesthem more vulnerable to exploitation by men. The dire situation alsoclouds the reasoning of girls, and they sometimes unknowingly walkinto bad relationships. It is in this backdrop that Katy Perry andother artists have come out to address the issue of exploitationtowards women.
KatyPerry highlights various aspects of marriage through the song “WideAwake” Her core message centers on the fact that women fail to seethe reality when they are under the influence of love. They vieweverything as perfect, even if it is not. Katy Perry suggests thatmarriage is not all fun, contrary to what people may perceive it tobe. She, therefore, cautions against falling in love blindly. A womancan blindly fall in love with a man who may end up exploiting her inmarriage. However, she details that it might be hard to know the realcharacter of a man when she is deeply in love with him. Failure tothink objectively can result in regrets when it is too late. It is onthis premise that Perry says she is now wide-awake. The child’sfigure in the video serves to imply Perry’s wish to have theknowledge she now has when she was young. It is too late, and she hasto accept and move on.
Thepresentation of foes as men reinforces the prevalence of maledominance. Women perceive men as more important than them. With thisthinking, women fall into a trap. The labyrinth implies thedifficulty women face in their efforts to rescue themselves from thetrap of male dominance and exploitation. Only the courageous womenmanage to get out of the trap. Katy reenacts the “forbidden fruit”scene in reference to Adam and Eve’s desire to gain new knowledgeupon eating the fruit. In this context, Katy uses the strawberry toimply to a woman’s fantasy of happiness in marriage only to bedisappointed.
Thereis a great similarity between Daddy and Perry in addressing the maledominance. Both of them point out the exploitation of women by men.For instance, Sylvia details her suffering in the hands of her fatherand husband in the poem “Daddy”. At her young age, Sylvia’s dadhad no emotional touch with her and suppressed both her mother andher. In the same way, Sylvia says that her husband did break herheart. Similarly, Perry highlights her suffering in her relationshipand her efforts to break away from the said relationship.
Inconclusion, the suppression of women by men is a matter of concern,and both Katy and Sylvia use their art to address the problem. Katyuses her song to caution women on the dangers of blindly falling inlove and entering into marriage. Besides, she finally gainsunderstanding and decides to rescue herself from male dominance. Inthe same manner, Sylvia uses the poem “Daddy” to express herdesperation and hatred towards men.