My Take On Hit "Any Man of Mine"

In the song "Any Man of Mine" Shania Twain once agains shakes the ground for expectations of men in country music. For my first blog post on this topic, I really focused on how men are viewed as strong and fit, and I gave a general analysis on how this is true in many country music songs. However, in this song review I want to take a step deeper on how gender roles are snuck upon listeners and how women (and men) feed right into in.

My take on this song begins with the first few lines. Shania immediately describes what she wants in her man, and if he wants to be her man, he better be a certain way if he wants to keep her. However, what I found very interesting in this song is how PERFECT this man must be, and how (for lack of better terms) un-perfect she can be in return.

For instance, Shania opens her song with the line, "This is what a woman wants.." as if all women want all men to be this way. She then goes on to explain that "And I can be late for a date that's fine But he better be on time." The lyrics that contain such comments as these seem to be the attitude Shania has in this song and really highlights the gender role opposition she's playing here. I believe songs such as these are what really impact listeners, and start to play a small role in society's actions. If this song had to have a label, it would definitely be in the "spoiled brat" section.

Now, I am not here to say that I do not in fact love some of Shania's work, however, this song really pin points on the idea go gender roles in country music, far beyond what some may see. It is seen that she is placing this role on any man of hers that he must be flawless, always loving, caring, and perfect, while she does not in fact have to return the favor. I don't know about anyone else, but doesn't that sound a bit selfish? Since when is it O.K. to teach young women that since you are a female, your mistakes are quite alright, while being a male means perfection and full of love all of the time.

As a matter of fact, I read a great article just recently that discussed the idea that Shania Twain is in fact shaking things up in country music. Beyond this song, she even goes further in other lyrics and discusses elements of rhinestone cowboys and other key features her dream man will have. Shania is known for writing what she feels and thinks, whether it be fitting or appropriate to the subject or not. It is also evident that her songs relay the message of highly separated gender roles, such as in "Any Man of Man" and in her song concerning rhinestones and glitz and glam. Once again, Shania is discussing what kind of man she is looking for and what she hopes him to be. Though the article took this song and ran a little too deep with the idea that rhinestones insinuated homosexuality, I do think the real problem here is that Shania is participating in such division in her own genre, and it is causing many problems, whether detrimental or not. Her songs may be popular and played throughout radios all over the country, but her lyrics and their meaning really do not settle well with people who (like myself) analyze and fully understand the heart behind each song. Encouraging such gender differences can really hurt success further down the road, and it is artists such as Shania that will eventually have to write good things about the male population more so than the bad.

If I had to rate this song on a scale of 1-10, 10 being perfect, I would unfortunately have to give it a 2. I believe the message this song delivers is quite twisted and very demeaning for men, and it screams gender role division quite loudly.

For more reviews to come, thank you for reading.

Savanna