I am who I am because of the morals in the music I listen to and not because I read how I should be in a tabloid , does it matter how I understood the song? Did it matter how the artist, band, or musician said it to make me understand it? Many people believe that yes, it did matter how these things were taught but would gladly turn a blind eye to the fact that the media turns young people into self conscious, self hating adults.
Body Images in the media and music censorship is a big controversy in the United States, this is due to the fact that teens would do just about anything to look like someone in a magazine and that yes, there is some obscene lyrics out in the air waves. The media is more of an influence now that we live in a world that is so obsessed with being perfect. But, what happens when the common goal of being perfect can’t be met? Teens often to unhealthy alternatives such as, weight loss pills, starvation, and self mutilation. Music is one of the few healthy alternatives to the medias heavy influences, if music is censored how will teens find a healthy way to indicate their angst? Although, it is not a completely inaccurate assumption that there is music sending the same messages as the media, we have all seen the occasional rapper and there songs that have the consistency of sex, money, and drugs but there is pros and cons to every subject. For instance, the music industry may have those rappers that have obscene lyrics and visuals, but there is also the artists that encourage the opposite, such as finding true love, having fun with friends and even telling what drugs did to them and almost saying that, ‘hey , this really messed me up and I’m telling you to learn from my experiences.’
Music is a huge influence in my life, weather it’s the words being spoken or the music itself, and I’m glad to say that because of music and how its touched me, I am strong enough to go against the media with my own style, personality and sound. If music hadn’t been there for me, I’d probably be just like the media has aimed us , as teens to be, self loathing, and unhappy.