<
https://theconversation.com/censorship-or-sensible-is-it-bad-to-listen-to-fat-bottomed-girls-with-your-kids-212093>
"International music press has reported this week that Queen’s song
Fat
Bottomed Girls has not been included in a greatest hits compilation aimed at
children.
While there was no formal justification given, presumably lyrics “fat bottomed”
and “big fat fatty” were the problem, and even the very singable hook, “Oh,
won’t you take me home tonight”.
Predictably,
The Daily Mail and similar outlets used it as an excuse to
bemoan cancel culture, political correctness and the like, with the headline
“We Will Woke You” quickly out of the gate.
Joke headlines aside, should children be exposed to music with questionable
themes or lyrics?
The answer is not a hard yes or no. My colleague Shelley Brunt and I studied a
range of factors and practices relating to
Popular Music and Parenting, and
we found that more important than individual songs or concerts is the support
children are given when they’re listening or participating.
A parent or caregiver should always be part of a conversation and some sort of
relationship when engaging with music. This can involve practical things like
making sure developing ears aren’t exposed to too harsh a volume or that they
know how to find a trusted adult at a concert. But this also extends to the
basics of media and cultural literacy, like what images and stories are being
presented in popular music, and how we want to consider those in our own lives.
In the same way you’d hope someone would talk to a child to remind them that
superheroes can’t actually fly (and subsequently if you’re dressed as a
superhero for book week don’t go leaping off tall buildings!), popular music of
all types needs to be contextualised."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
