Ever since I could remember, lyrics made me act and feel in certa.docx

Ever since I could remember, lyrics made me act and feel
in certain ways such as smirk and bop my head, move my entire
body, smile, sing, and go even deeper such as recalling the past,
or look forward towards the future, especially when it came to
love, and make my either cry tears of joy or sadness.
Interestingly, I never paid attention if lyrics had effects on me
such attempting to live a lifestyle similar to the artist’s lyrics,
or changing my mannerism towards people in life outside the
music. My only rationale was “if I like it I’ll listen to it.”
It wasn’t until college, that I’ve learned about rhetoric and how
it can affect people’s actions and beliefs. According to
Aristoteles’s rhetoric, good rhetoric has three components to it:
ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and it is a
means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of
the persuader. Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is a way of
convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional
response. Logos is an appeal to logic, and is a way of
persuading an audience by reason.
In the first part of this this text, I will conduct a rhetorical
analysis of the lyrics of T-Pain’s “I’m N Luv wit A Stripper,”
show how T-Pain effectively uses ethos pathos and logos in his
song, and compare and contrast the effectiveness, and
destructiveness of the lyrics through Cultivation theory.
Cultivation theory. examines the long-term effects of television.
"The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the
more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the
more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on
television."
First, some descriptions for terminology need to be explained.
The first definition to be described in order to support the
claims made in this text is the word lyrics. In a dictionary,
lyrics has about 8 entries that defines lyrics. Unfortunately,
rhetoric is not mentioned in any of the entries at it may be
assumed that lyrics are rhetoric. For our understanding lyrics

equal rhetoric. Out of the 8 entries, 2 will be used. First, lyrics
will be correlated with them being the poets own thoughts and
feelings. Second, a lyric is a poem.
What authority does T-Pain have to establish that his lyrics
should be taken seriously when singing “I’m ‘n Luv wit (A
Stripper)”? T-Pain has been in the music industry since 2004.
Yet, the release of his song was on December 13, 2005, almost a
year after he began his career. As of 2016, he is 31 years old,
meaning that in 2005, he was 20-21 years old. As far as age, his
authority can be questioned since no one really knows if he has
charisma to seduce women especially those in the exotic
industry. What gives him authority in his field, is that he is
known to be the pioneer behind “auto tuned” music, and this
song topped #5 out of 100 in 2005.
Next, there needs to be an understanding of the emotions
that T-Pain was targeting through lyrics to convince his
audience that his lifestyle creates. T-Pain’s lyrics create vivid
imagery. When the song opens, he is showing the audience how
he speaks to a woman in order to appreciate her beauty by
saying “Goddamn, lil' mama. You know you thick as hell. You
know what I'm sayin'? Matter fact, after the club. You know
what I'm talkin' 'bout. Me and my niggas gon' be together. You
know what I'm sayin'?. I ain't worryin' 'bout them really though.
I'm just lookin' at you. Ooh, shit, you know. You got them big
ass hips, god damn…” By analyzing the opening lyrics of the
song, one can infer that if a woman works at a stripclub, a man
can be fully blunt about what he appreciates in her, and be
direct, without being “dirty” (explicit), what his intentions are
if she goes home with him.
Implications of telling men that it’s okay to speak your
mind to women in the exotic industry goes far beyond that
setting. Through cultivation theory, there is an understanding
that people who constantly listen to T-Pain’s song can go out
that night and approach any woman, especially those in the
exotic industry, and begging speaking to them as if the woman
might receive the approach, compliments, and request

positively. Two possible scenarios can occur. First, the woman
is flattered by the boldness of the man who imitated T-Pain and
may entertain his approach. Because this approach worked, the
man now has a positive experience which reinforces that the
approach works and will continue doing it to recapture his first
success. Second scenario, is that the woman approached is
completely insulted and in turn insults the man for attempting
such a bold move. Two scenarios can happen from this
interaction. First, the man could justify that the problem is the
woman not the approach or he stops using it because he
sympathizes with the woman.
Regardless, T-Pain could have successfully created an
emotional response in getting men to act like him because
although lyrics are spoken word, the fact that nothing was said
to reject him in the song, is also a form of inferred lyrics.
Obviously the song would have not been a success if T-Pain
uses possible realities in his song of rejection, or a longer
courtship. By actively not putting any rejection in his song, men
can be persuaded to enact this fantasy in real life.
Another emotional response that T-Pain uses to influence an
emotional response from his audience is going into further
description of the woman being perused. T-Pain describes the
woman as following: “Got the body of a goddess. Got eyes,
butter pecan brown, I see you girl (Droppin' low). She comin'
down from the ceiling (To da tha floo).” In this description,
he’s implying to men listening that they must only peruse
women that are equivalent to Gods. How do we know that?
God’s are usually described as coming down from the sky, so
when he says that “She comin’ down from the ceiling..” he
plays into men’s emotions that only goddesses or other common
slang used 10/10 will only do. Anything below that is lowering
a man’s standards and it can be implied that if a man doesn’t go
after a goddess what T-Pain does wont work for that individual.
Sexuality sells, and T-Pain is not the first individual to use sex
to sell hopes and dreams to a male market. Telling men to go
for the best is something television has cultivated ever since

commercials have existed. Because of rhetoric, most men have
aspired to want a private jet, stay at expensive suites in Las
Vegas, have a home in the Hamptons, eat filet mignon, and most
important sleep and date the most beautiful women in the world.
T-Pain like commercials cultivate in men that any woman that is
not a goddess is worth of positive attention. Sadly, even if they
are worthy of attention it is because of their looks rather than
skills that can be beneficial to a partnership.
Another emotional response T-Pain commands is peer
validation. In his song he says: “Yeah, she know what she doin'
(Yeah, yeah, yeah) She doin' that right thang (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
I need to get her over to my crib. And do that night thang.” This
part of the lyrics, it is clear that as he paints the mental picture
in his listeners, he’s getting his listeners to subconsciously
encourage and validate his behavior. By his listeners internally
saying yes to him, he has persuaded them to agree with him. By
agreeing with him, they now feel that they are part of the inner
circle.
('Cause I'm n luv wit a stripper)
She poppin', she rollin', she rollin'
She climbin' that pole and
(I'm n luv wit a stripper)
She trippin', she playin', she playin'
I'm not goin' nowhere, girl, I'm stayin'
(Shit, Mike Jones)
She's every's man dream
She's God's gift to earth
Women they love 'em too
That's what you call a woman's worth

See, I love all the strippers
Because they show me love
They know I never pay, it's free
Whenever I hit da club
But I can't even lie
The girls here so fly
She slidin' up and down dat pole
Got me mesmerized
Mike Jones don't ever trick
But goddamn, she thick
I can't lie, I must admit
Out of all the girl's, she be the hottest
Likin' da way she break it down, I see you, girl
(Spinnin wide)
And she lookin' at me
(Right in my eye)
Yeah, she got my attention
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Did I forget to mention?
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
I need to get her over to my crib
And do dat night thang

She can pop it, she can lock it
Teddy Pendergrass down 'bout ta
See this sexy girl
(In my bed)
She don't know what she is doing
(To my head)
Yeah, she turnin' trick's on me
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
She don't even know me
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
I got her over to my crib to dat night thang

Comparing and Contrasting Gender Representations in T-Pain’s
Song “I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper)” 6
Comparing and Contrasting Gender Representations in T-Pain’s
Song “I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper)”
By
Alfonso Valleza Castro
Taylor Deeks
Daisy Llamas
Luojia “Bella” Wang
COMM 4300
Professor Smith
California State University, Los Angeles

Table of Contents
I. Research Paper Title/Subject…by Alfonso Valleza Castro
II. Research Plan/Directions… by Taylor Deeks

III. Literature Review/Justification … by Luojia “Bella” Wang
IV. Research Questions… by Taylor Deeks and Daisy Llamas
V. Theories to be used… by Daisy Llamas
VI. Methods… by Alfonso Valleza Castro

I. Research Paper Title/Subject
This text will be comparing and contrasting gender
representations in T-Pain’s Song “I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper).”
II. Research Plan/Directions
“The way gender is represented in the media does have an
influence on how we perceive gender roles. Certain gender
specific features can strengthen the image of what a man and a
woman are, and how they should behave in relation to each
other” (Popa, D. , & Gavriliu, D., 2015). The focus is to
compare and contrast gender representations in music videos
like T-Pains music video “I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper). To do
so, we will analyze the symbolic action in the music video and
show if it reproduces/re-enforces stereotypical gender roles by
identify if genders are shown as strong, aggressive, subservient,
or normal. Normal in this context is defined as non-affected by
the videos. Finally, we will be analyzing the language (verbal),
clothing (presentation), and haptics to see if there is a
correlation/impact by what is shown in the video.
III. Literature Review/Justification
“Gender is a social construction that constantly shaped and
impacted by current societies, high-technologies and various
media platforms lead music mainstream in 21th century closely
tied to social affairs such as gender role. In this case, we figure
out what gender is before digging into the field of social media.
From previous cases, researchers argued gender roles are often
manifested through communication and culture (Goffman,

1976); West and Zimmerman (1987) claim gendering is a
routine interaction of everyday life. “Both gender role and
gender display focus on behavioral aspects of being a man and a
woman” (P. 127). News makers and Media representations play
the function of educating public to awaken people’s
consciousness about gender equality and gender representations
in media (Popa, Gavriliu, 2015), through photographs and other
visual displays used in ads, films and videos. Goffman studied
the power of photographs asserted that the more dominant a
person’s face was, the more power was held and/or portrayed by
the person pictured. So that researchers asserted “Gender roles,
present in everyday interaction, are also enacted on television”
(Rose, Kallies, shyles, 2012).
Significance of your research topic:
As stated above by Rose (2012), media’s influence, like
music videos, is shown to have power that reinforces negative
public opinions about gender roles which leads into negative
gender stereotypes. Our topic is significant because it’s
necessary to point out the misconceptions to the audiences. This
text aims to teach a proper understanding of media contents,
because the power of media is limitless. Furthermore, this topic
merits further investigation because re-education is necessary,
especially for the youth, regarding equal gender empowerment.
IV. Research Questions
The research questions used for this study will be based out of
one, or a combination of The Patton Model and or The Spradley
Model pending approval of this justification. Below is a sample
of what both models entail.
The Patton Model
1.) Behavior or Experience Questions; 2.) Opinion or Value
Questions; 3.) Feeling Questions; 4.) Knowledge Questions;
5.) Sensory Questions; 6.) Background/Demographic Questions.
The Spradley Model
1.) Descriptive Questions; 2.) Structural or Explanation
Questions; 3.) Contrast Questions.

V. Theories to be used
The three theories that the researchers will be applying to this
research process are: 1) Gerbner, Gross, et al. (1979)
Cultivation theory which presumes that television is a
socializing agent that subtly shapes conceptions about reality
the more one watches it, including, but not limited to, that the
more a person is exposed to television the more they develop
stereotypes about certain people 2) Gerbner’s General Model in
Communication theory which takes into account that a message
receiver is an active selector of information within a context
means of availability (attitude, culture, mood, and personality).
3) Lastly, Kenneth Burks communication theory, “Dramatism,”
will be used to make correlations between the music video, the
message, and its purpose through a theoretical lens. Using the
dramatistic pentad’s five key elements of human drama, the
researchers will explain how the music video’s act, scene,
agent, agency, and purpose are revealed through language as
symbolic action. Put book citation
Research questions or problems you will be addressing:
The research questions go as follow: 1) does the symbolic
action in the music video reproduce stereotypical gender roles?
2) Is the content sending out negative or positive messages
about both males and females? And 3) is there a message
delivered after further consideration of its make up?
VI. Methods
The main method used for this study will be compare and
contrast. Using compare and contrast, is the best model to use
because the visual and verbal cues that the music video provide.
Furthermore, by comparing and contrasting, we can examine
“heterogeneous male/female nonverbal interactions according to
social expectancy as presented in the sampled music video”
(Kimbrel, 2008, p.10).
References

Goffman, E. (1976). Gender advertisements. New York: Harper
& Row
Im in love with a stripper official video. (2009, October 25).
Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsVyphcFwfc
I’m In Love With A Stripper-T Pain lyrics (C., Trans.). (2010,
June 10). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNvio92xvck
Kimbrel, D. N. (2008, October 7). The Visual Analysis of
Heterogeneous Sex Role Interactions: A Content Analysis of
Popular Music Videos. Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
https://books.google.com/books?id=8K2Jld9vCIoC
Popa, D., & Gavriliu, D. (2015, May 22). Gender
Representations and Digital Media. Retrieved October 6, 2016,
from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.mimas.calstatela.edu/science/artic
le/pii/S1877042815015906
Rhodes, R. (2013, October 31). Representation of women in
music videos. Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSgdjVMDwaU
Rose, J., Mackey-Kallis, S., Shyles, L., Barry, K., Biagini, D.,
Hart, C., & Jack, L. (2012). Face it: The Impact of Gender on
Social Media Images. Communication Quarterly, 60(5), 588-
607. doi:10.1080/01463373.2012.725005
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender
and Society, 1, 125–151. doi: 10.1177=0891243287001002002

Ever since I could remember, lyrics made me act and feel in certa.docx

Ever since I could remember, lyrics made me act and feel in certa.docx

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