SOCIAL JUSTICE
Emmeline Vickers Batzdorf
802
Mean by Taylor Swift
You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again got me feeling like I'm nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard, calling me out when I'm wounded
You, pickin' on the weaker man
Well you can take me down
With just one single blow
But you don't know what you don't know
Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
You, with your switching sides and your wildfire lies and your humiliation
You have pointed out my flaws again as if I don't already see them
I'll walk with my head down trying to block you out 'cause I'll never impress you
I just wanna feel okay again
I'll bet you got pushed around, somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now 'cause you can't lead me down that road
And you don't know what you don't know
Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
And I can see you years from now in a bar, talking over a football game
With that same big loud opinion but nobody's listening
Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
Drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing
But all you are is mean
All you are is mean and a liar and pathetic and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean
But someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean, yeah
Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
Someday, I'll be, living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
In this song, Taylor is talking about the people in her life who have hurt her. The critics who “hate” on her music for the sake of “hating” on her music. The girls at school who exclude her. But in the song, she also shows how she can rise up above those people and be the bigger person. She shows that she doesn’t need those people tear her apart and make her feel less than she is.
You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again got me feeling like I'm nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard, calling me out when I'm wounded
You, pickin' on the weaker man
This shows how each thing just picks at her and these lines are something that everyone can relate to. In the music video, she has all of these scenarios where someone is not the stereotypical person. For example, there is a boy who dresses nicely and is reading a fashion magazine in the locker room while all the football players pick on him.
But you don't know what you don't know
Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
At the end of the video, Taylor shows how all of the people who were picked on rose up and became more than the people who hurt them. All of them achieved their goals and showed that people picking on them wasn’t going to stop them from reaching that goal and being who they are.
Things I’ve Noticed in My Community
- Smoking
- Exclusion
- Littering
- People looking at homeless people in rude ways.
- Drama for the sake of drama
- Racism
- Catcalling
Smoking doesn’t only affect those who are actually smoking, but those around that person. In New York City, you walk down the street and have to hold your breath numerous times in order to breathe in fresh air and not get more than one waft of smoke. It not only affects smokers’ health but those around him/her. Inhaling smoke is not good for anyone’s health which is why many people do not smoke. So, when people stand on the street smoking, those peoples’ health is damaged anyway. I think this is very unfair because people avoid things for a reason and by smoking in very public places, you are shoving that thing in their face.
Gossip Girl
The TV show Gossip Girl is a drama about teenagers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and what they go through as they grow up and become adults. Their portrayal as wealthy teens is exaggerated and changed to catch the attention of viewers. Small issues are heightened and stakes are raised. Normal teenagers go through fights with friends, issues with their parents or something someone has done, relationships, telling people a secret, dealing with enemies, etc. All of these things occur in the six seasons of the show, but most teenagers can’t just jet off to Paris in a private plane because they are embarrassed. The portrayal of the wealth and things that go along with that is accurate however. Although most places nowadays are very diverse, the Upper East Side is a place that, at the time of much of the filming, was not. The vast closets and limos and prep school is all realistic to that place. My peers and I do not experience that but that isn’t to say that it is not something that others experience. I think that there are stereotypes, but there is also a deeper meaning to those people’s actions. For example, there is the girl everyone loves who is in all of the papers and all over the internet. We learn that much of this is because she is trying to get her father's’ attention.
Think. This makes me think about the different communities around the world and how different issues apply to those communities. In my life, if I’m embarrassed, I have to deal with it and try to get through it. I can’t jet off somewhere or not go to school. Although I am not as old as the teens in the show, when I am that age, I still won’t be able to do that. Even in the same city, there are such different cultures with so many different issues.
Know. This showed me how a different culture deals with similar and different issues. Specifically, the Upper East Side. Characters in the show use money to their advantage and help them get through situations they are not happy to be in. Although much of this is stereotyping, it opened my eyes to learning about the cultural differences in society.
Feel. This makes me kind of upset because many people use their money to get out of situations that others can’t avoid. For example, money can give people power and in the show, a mother sends her daughter’s teacher to jail, so that her daughter can get back into school. Although this upsets the people in the show too, what’s done is done and they can’t take it back no matter how hard they try.
Interview with Juliette Daignualt
Q: What is good in the world?
A: I think what’s good in the world is that in many towns there is a really good sense of community and people helping each other which is very important for those who are less fortunate.
Q:What do you think is bad in the world?
A: I think something that is bad in the world is the federal court system. For example, in Ferguson, the judge didn’t send the police officer to jail when some could argue that he was a murderer.
When interviewing Juliette, I was very surprised by her responses. She had an interesting yet very important angle about good and bad. I agree that good and bad is not only a matter what people do or don’t have, but how that may affect them. When I thought about the answers to these questions, I was thinking more about people who don’t have enough food or who don’t have a warm place to sleep at night. These ideas of what is good and bad affect everyone, not just the people in the situations.
Gay Rights
Kelly Mukwano, a gay rights activist in Uganda, was brutally beaten by a mob, causing him to be put into intensive care. Earlier this year, Mukwano talked to The Telegraph about threats and dangers he faced, and how he wasn’t going to be safe for very long. Reading this article made me very uncomfortable because in my view and the view of many people around the world, he was not doing anything wrong. He was standing up for what he believed in and like in America, that should be allowed. To be attacked just because you like men and not women or women and not men, is not a viable reason. Not everyone has to have the same views and to injure someone because they don’t have the same view on one thing, is an injustice. Growing up with gay neighbors, it never occurred to me that people could be against two people who love each other getting married. As I got older, I saw how those neighbors weren’t actually married because the law didn’t allow them to be. This angered me because I didn’t understand why it was so wrong, and I still don’t understand. When gay marriage was legalized in New York, I knew it was a step towards legalization in all places around the world.
MICHAEL BROWN
Dorian Johnson, the friend who was with Michael Brown when he was shot, told news reporters from CNN what he saw on August 9th. He was the only witness besides Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and kill Michael Brown, who I saw speak on TV. Even when he was not speaking, Johnson had such a pained look on his face and when he spoke, he hardly had anything to say other than how upset and angry he was. If I was in his position, I don’t think I could be that strong. To see a friend of mine get shot would kill me but to have such strong reactions from the country, I would know that everyone was on my side. In Ferguson, there have been burning buildings, huge protests, people being arrested for their protest, so many things telling the police and the prosecutors that something is not right. If I were in this situation, although it would be hard, I know I would have to stay strong and show the world that seeing what happened shows that the death of Michael Brown was not the only option.
Changing the world
My mum volunteers with an organization called JFREJ, Jews For Racial and Economic Justice. She has travelled to Albany and gone to City Hall in order to fight for the rights of domestic workers. Although this is only one of the campaigns JFREJ works on, it is a very important one.
Q: Why is fighting for domestic workers’ right’s important to you?
A: It is important to me for several reasons. First, because domestic workers are excluded from all other labor protection laws. Second, domestic workers tend to be immigrants and people of color, therefore they are more vulnerable. Third, domestic workers are primarily women and I want to keep up the struggle for all women’s rights, because I have benefited from the struggles of women who came before me. Last, because domestic workers mainly work in private settings, where they are often the only employee, it is harder for them to organize and speak out for fair working conditions, such as paid sick leave, holiday, etc.
Q: How do you hope this will change the world?
A: I hope it will help regulate wages and expectations for both workers and employers. I hope it will raise awareness in corporate America of how what the employers do affects the people who are at home taking care of their kids.
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