Ways Of Woman To Be Independent As Portrayed In Meghan Trainor’s Songs.

REFERENCES

Cristalis, Irena and Scott, Catherine. 2005. The story of woman’s activism in East

Timor. Catholic Institute for International Relations.

Destiny’s Child (Performen). (2001) Independent Woman. New York: Columbia.

Eagleton, Mary.1991 Feminism Literary Criticsm. New York. Longman.

Eagleton, Terry. 1983. Literature Theory an Introduction Second Edition. United State by The University of Minnesota Pess. South, Suite.

Fiedan, Betty. 1963. Feminine Mystique. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc

Griffin, G. and Hanmer, J. (2002), “The UK” in G. Griffin (ed.), Women’s Employment, Women’s Studies, and Equal Opportunities 1945-2001: Report from Nine European Countries , Hull: University of Hull.

Groden, Michael dan Martin Kreiswirth (ed). 1997. Feminist Theory and

Criticism. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hess, Gery R. 2013. The Music – Poetry Connection. [Online]. Retreived from

(Accessed on January 5th, 2017).

Kumar, Manisha 2010. Poetry Vs Song. [Online] Retreived fro

th, 2017. (Accessed on Agustus

2016)

Kutha, RatnaNyoman, 2004. Teori, Metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.

Lewis, John. 2016. What is Feminism? [online] Retreived fro

Meleong, Lexy, 2005, MetodePenelitianKualitatif. Bandung: PT. Remaja Rosdakarya Offset.

Montgomery, Casey. 2014. Feminism in Sylvia Plath’s the Bell Jar. [Online] Retreived from https://www.humanities360.com. (Accessed on September 2016)

Munshi, Shoma.2001. Images of The Modern Woman in Asia. Britain: British Library.

Palmer, Richard E.1982. Hermeneutica. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.

Parkins, Geogre. 2002, The American Tradition in Literature, Volume 2. New York: McGraw-Hill

Reinharz, S. 1992. Feminist Methods in Social Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Sugihastuti, Adib Sofia. 2003. Feminisme dan Sastra: Menguak Citra Perempuan

dalam Layar Terkembang. Bandung: Katarsis.

Tong, Rosemarie Putnam. 1998. Feminist Though: Pengantar Paling

Komprehensif kepada Arus Utama Pemikiran Feminis. Bandung: Jalasutra.

Van Zoonem, L. 1994.Feminist Media Studies. London: Sage Publications.

Zuprader, Mathew. 2012. Difference Between Poetry & Song. [Online] Retreived fro

CHAPTER III

METHOD OF RESEARCH

There is always a research method needed in the process to make thesis. That research method needed in order to fully understand all the data that are going to be used to finishing this thesis. In this chapter, the writer will explain about the method of the study that going to be used to achieve the best result for this thesis. The writer will go through the necessary steps for achieving the most effective study results and these steps involves research design, data sources, data collection, and data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

Research design is important in doing analysis of the study. Parahoo (1997:142) describes a research design as “a plan that describes how, when and where data are to be collected and analyzed”. The function of a research design itself is to obtaining information relevant to the research or to accurately describe and assess meaning related to an observable study. In analyzing Meghan Trainor’s selected songs, the writer is going to use descriptive design. Then, the writer is also using qualitative research because the all data are analyzed in the form of words and sentences.

3.2 Data Collection

Data collection is a term which is used to describe a process of preparing and collecting data. In this step, the writer is using library research to collect the primary and the secondary data. Library research is defined as the systematic study and investigation of some aspect of library and information science where conclusions are based on the analysis of data collected in accordance with pre-established research designs and methodologies (retrieved from secondary data will be used. The primary data is the first data which going to be analyzed. In this case the primary data that will be used are the lyric of Meghan Trainor’s songs. The secondary data is the data from other resources such as gathering from books, articles, webs and another supporting material that relevant for this thesis.

The next step is data selection. The primary and the secondary data that have been collected are going to be selected. The data selected are the data which relevant with the focus of this proposal. The writer will re-read the primary and the secondary data. In this data selecting, the writer will choose the appropriate songs that going to be analyzed. After that, the writer will also look into the secondary data then; give notes or highlighting the related idea from other resources such as books, articles, webs and another supporting material that relevant for this proposal. All those giving notes or highlighting are important to provide the study of the analysis in this thesis.

3.3 Data Sources

The data of this study is primarily from selected songs entitled dear future husband, me too, and no. dear future husband was recorded in 2015, while me too and No were recorded in 2016. The data in these songs can be in the form of words, phrases, or sentences. However, the writer only focuses on data that indicates the purpose of woman being independent and how is the independent woman portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s song. Supporting the primary data, the writer also uses some related textbooks, articles, interviews in reference to further guidance.

3.4 Data Analysis

The third step is data analysis. In analyzing the study of this thesis, the writer uses descriptive-qualitative method. This method is a scientific procedure to get the conclusion from a particular thing to general idea based on the theory. Bogdan and Taylor in Anggraini (20014:13) said that qualitative method is a research procedure that descriptive data such as written words or verbal expression from the people and their behavior that have been observe. Descriptive method is used when the source data are in form of written text or spoken text, such as words, phrases, clauses, and the sentences. Qualitative method is a procedure resulting descriptive data in form of written text or spoken in language society.

In analysis of this study, the writer will arrange the data in accordance to the area of analysis. The writer will then:

1. Identify and interpret the data that suggests the solution for problems of independent women.

2. Classify the data accurately by relating it to the problems and aims of this study within Meghan Trainor’s selected songs.

3. Analyze the phenomenon of the independent women’s that relates to the Meghan Trainor’s selected songs.

4. Conclude the analysis of the study and give suggestions for the readers who will read this thesis.

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

Feminist theory is associated with women’s inequality and subordination. The period of feminist history is marked with women fighting for the right to vote, simultaneously there were rumblings of freedom for the enslaved. Feminism fundamentally advances the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. As inclusive as this definition appears, feminism has been a movement of segregation, accusation, and turbulence.

Women and girls are culturally restrained and processed into becoming the Other, lesser, subordinate subject. In the restricted performance of their gender, they are devoid of courage and a power of choice, one that is quelled by a ‘fear of patriarchal discipline’. It was not until feminism became a sustainable concept (a debatable moment in itself) that women developed the potential to oppose the ‘dominant femininities’ they had been forced to appropriate.

The modern music industry, whilst providing a key social outlet for women to express feminist ideologies, presents a platform on which gender performance, or performativity, has become ‘discursively produced’. Women have a choice in the way they represent their gender to the public, many relishing the opportunity to subvert the conventional femininities placed upon them by the patriarchy. Despite this radical development for both feminism and women’s performativity, phallocentrism remains a reality in the twenty-first century.

4.1 Independent Woman Portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s Songs

Meghan Trainor is one of the popular singers who offers the movement of female empowerment her music. Meghan Trainor makes her breakthrough with her studio albums Title and Thank You. The songwriter has her songs with addictive melodies, mix-mash of R&B and Pop and promoting the message about modern womanhood, body image and empowerment. These songs below, Dear future husband, No, and me too are three selected songs from her albums that promote and celebrate the idea of woman being independent.

4.1.1 Strong Dignity

According to the famous encyclopedia on the internet, Wikipedia has stated that Dignity denotes “respect” and “status”, and it is often used to suggest that someone is not receiving a proper degree of respect, or even that they are failing to treat themselves with proper self-respect. It is also had descriptive meanings pertaining to human worth. While the Urban Dictionary has stated that dignity is a proper sense of pride and self-respect, the respectfulness, or formality in somebody's behavior and bearing. It is also the condition of being worthy of respect, esteem, or honor.

Strong dignity is what Meghan Trainor’s Dear Future Husband is all about. It tells about how Meghan set the terms and agreements about what to do and what not to her current boyfriend if he want to level up their relationship into marriage. Dear Future Husband encouraged woman to have strong dignity in facing man. Basically, ittalks about how woman should be treated specially by the husband. In this song, Meghan lets out lists she wants her spouse to fulfill.

Dear future husband Here's a few things

You'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life

The intro of the song above talks about there are some terms and requirements needed if the man want to have the girl as his wife.

(Awwwww) Take me on a date I deserve it, babe

And don't forget the flowers every anniversary 'Cause if you'll treat me right

I'll be the perfect wife Buying groceries

Buy-buying what you need

At this point, Meghan tells how are she wanted to be treated special and if she were treated like she wanted, she will reward her husband. And the reward would be being the perfect wife as the husband wishes.

You got that 9 to 5 But, baby, so do I

So don't be thinking I'll be home and baking apple pies I never learned to cook

But I can write a hook Sing along with me

Sing-sing along with me (hey)

In this phrase, Meghan tells about how she don’t do a ‘normal’ wife duties. She don’t cook like usual wife do, but she do write song—which is something unusual wife do.

You gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

Tell me everything's alright

At this point, Meghan tells about how she always want to be on top of the relationship, whether she’s right or wrong.

(Awwwww)

Dear future husband,

Here's a few things you'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life

Dear future husband,

If you wanna get that special lovin'

Tell me I'm beautiful each and every night

The lyric above are partly the repetition of the opening lyrics. And also, Meghan tell that if her husband wanted to get the special treat of loving that she has, he have to tell her beautiful every single night.

After every fight Just apologize

And maybe then I'll let you try and rock my body right (right) Even if I was wrong

You know I'm never wrong Why disagree?

Why, why disagree?

In the phrase above, Meghan tell that whenever she and her husband got into a fight, her husband has to make the first move and apologize because Meghan is never wrong and never she will.

If you gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

Tell me everything's alright

The lyrics above are the repetition of few stanzas earlier. Dear future husband,

Here's a few things

You'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life (hey, baby) Dear future husband,

Make time for me Don't leave me lonely

And know we'll never see your family more than mine

Parts of the lyrics above are the repetition of the chorus lyrics earlier. But in the next few phrases, Meghan tells that her husband has to make time for her and

being reminded that her husband would spend time a lot more with her families than his families.

I'll be sleeping on the left side of the bed (hey) Open doors for me and you might get some kisses Don't have a dirty mind

Just be a classy guy Buy me a ring

Buy-buy me a ring (babe)

At this point, Meghan tells about the terms that she has and her husband has to obey it.

You gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

Tell me everything's alright

Future husband, better love me right The lyrics above are the repetition of this song. 4.1.2 Self Confidence

Confidence is a feeling of trust in someone or something. To be self-confident is to have confidence in yourself. Self-self-confident people don't doubt themselves. This is usually a positive word: you can be self-confident without being cocky, arrogant, or overconfident. If you know what you’re doing, you have every reason to be self-confident.

Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too” is her taking an opportunity to explain how much she loves herself and how happy she is with her own accomplishments.

Who's that sexy thing I see over there? That's me, standin' in the mirror

What's that icy thing hangin' 'round my neck? That's gold, show me some respect

Listeners can detect the body-positive message we’ll hear through the rest of the song. Trainor appears to be countering negative messages some people send themselves when they see themselves after they’ve just gotten out of bed without any makeup or other preparation. And tehn, This half of the verse takes a different tack and suggests that this song will also be self-praise and a little bragging as she reflects on the status she’s achieved as a popular celebrity.

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

She’s obviously very happy about what she’s been able to accomplish, and she’s trying to live her life to the fullest. She’s satisfied with who she is and wants everyone to know that she doesn’t need to find her completion in a relationship with someone else. She also seems to be suggesting that her listeners (particularly female ones) need to hold similar standards for themselves.

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

This is where the body-positive/”self-positive” message disappears, and we get a glimpse at (for lack of a better term) a chest-thumping, “come-at-me-bro” song describing her own satisfaction with herself. This tactic serves two purposes. First, Trainor is celebrating her own success. Second, she seems, through example, to be encouraging her listeners to adopt similar attitudes–to

be so happy with who they are that they begin to think that others want to be like them. She wants them to stop wanting to be someone else and to embrace themselves.

I walk in like a dime piece I go straight to V.I.P. I never pay for my drinks My entourage behind me My life's a movie, Tom Cruise So bless me, baby, achoo And even if they tried to They can't do it like I do

In the second verse, Trainor sings, “I walk in like a dime piece.” perfect ten.

This portion of the song is a little bit more mysterious in its intention since Trainor’s audience will likely not be able to empathize with her accomplishments. Either she’s fine with simply bragging for a little while, or she’s trying to brag about who she is so that her audience will have an example to follow as they look for the good in their lives.

Here she continues her celebration and takes pride in her life and the status she’s achieved, something that may actually be a significant show of self-love– another attitude that Trainor is well known for.

4.1.3 Capability

According to the famous online dictionary, Merriam Webster has stated Capability is a skill, an ability, or knowledge that makes a person able to do a

particular job the nature of the tasks to which you are assigned will depend on your capabilities, also it is the physical or mental power to do something the natural capability some people seem to have for teaching. "No" is a by discusses men who approach women and "can’t take the hint" when their advances are rejected.

I think it's so cute and I think it's so sweet

How you let your friends encourage you to try and talk to me But let me stop you there, oh, before you speak

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

The lyrics above tells about how Meghan thinks that its cute for the guy who want to approach her, even his friends encourage him to. But she refuses.

My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

The phrase above tells us that Meghan is refusing any type of questions the guy been asking in order to know Meghan’s little detail and Meghan tell him to just let it all go.

First you gonna say You ain't runnin' game,

Thinkin' I'm believing every word Call me beautiful,

So original,

Meghan in this phrase is telling us about she knows what is the guy’s first move in order to get to know her.

I was in my zone Before you came along,

Now I'm thinking maybe you should go Blah, blah, blah,

I be like "Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

The lyrics above is telling us how Meghan try to scout over the guy—the one who want to approach her—she was in her comfort zone before the guy came up.

All my ladies, listen up If that boy ain't giving up

Lick your lips and swing your hips Girl, all you gotta say is...

Meghan through the phrase above is telling her friends to stand up by themselves if the typical bad guy is trying to approach them and scout them over.

My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No" The phrase above is the repetition from the before phrase.

Thank you in advance, I don't wanna dance (nope)

I don't need your hands all over me If I want a man,

Then I'mma get a man But it's never my priority.

Meghan here is talking about how she doesn’t want the guy who’s approaching her to get any near her. If she wants a man to be near her, she will be open to he guy.

I was in my zone, Before you came along,

Don't want you to take this personal Blah, blah, blah,

I be like "Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No" This phrase is the repetition from the few phrases above.

4.2 Purpose of Being Independent.

Being a strong, independent woman means that you are able to find happiness on your own. You have self-confidence without having to rely on another person or society for validation. It means emotional independence and being able to have healthy relationships with others without falling into co-dependent patterns. It means learning to express who you are at your core, whether you are shy and soft-spoken or loud and assertive. You don’t need to try fitting a certain mold.

Independent woman who think through her situation will suffer from an inferiority complex as a female. The more the independent woman fears failure, the more enthusiastically she will try; but this conscious enthusiasm remains an activity and falls short of its goal. If she has trouble pleasing men, it is because she is not like her little slave sisters, a pure will to please; her desire to seduce may be strong, but it has not penetrated into the marrow of her bones and as soon as she feels awkward, she gets fed up with her servility. She tries to take her revenge by playing the game with masculine weapons, she talks instead of listening, she flaunts clever ideas, unusual feelings she contradicts her interlocutor instead of going along with him, she tries to outdo him.

The independent woman today is divided between her professional interests and the concerns of her sexual vocation; she has trouble finding her balance; if she does, it is at the price of concessions, sacrifices, and juggling that keep her in constant tension. More than in physiological facts, it is here that one must seek the reason for the nervousness and frailty often observed in her.

Woman’s situation encourages her to seek salvation in literature and in art. Living on the margin of the masculine world, she does not grasp it in its universal guise but through a particular vision, for her it is not a group of implements and concepts but a source of feelings and emotions, she is interested in the qualities of things inasmuch as they are gratuitous and secret; taking on a negative attitude, one of refusal, she does not lose herself in the real: she protests against it, with words; she looks for the image of her soul in nature, she abandons herself to her reveries, she wants to reach her being, she is doomed to failure, she can only recover it in the realm of imagination. So as not to allow an inner life that does not serve any purpose to sink into nothingness, so as to assert herself against the given that she endures in revolt, so as to create a world other than the one in which she cannot succeed in reaching herself, she needs to express herself. Thus it is well-known that she is talkative and a scribbler, she pours out her feelings in conversations, letters, and diaries. If she is at all ambitious, she will be writing her memoirs, transposing her biography into a novel, breathing her feelings into poems. She enjoys vast leisure time that favours these activities.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

5.1Conclusion

There are three Meghan Trainor’s selected song that the writer analyzes; there are Dear Future Husband, Me Too, and No. After analyzing the three Meghan Trainor’s selected song and linked that to the movement of feminism as the way woman being independent, the writer conclude that in her selected songs, Meghan makes statement that: Woman should be treated better and extends her compositions about self-love and self-empowerment. Since many years ago, woman always considered as weak human being. This mindset is well imbued in everyone’s mind and became such a stereotype. From these songs, Meghan tried to encourage woman all over the world to love their selves no matter what and empower woman to believe that we are strong enough to stand by ourselves.

The term independent woman means way for woman being equal are. they are waiting for a chance to break free and rushes to equip themselves with the knowledge and ability to be able to have activity in the public sphere. The independence they get is not a gift or come for granted, but it is something that has to be fought. Many hindrances and obstacles faced by women to advance and survive

These three songs entitled Dear Future Husband deliver the message of being independent woman. “Dear future husband” has the idea about encouraging

woman to have strong dignity in facing man. The song basicallytalks about how woman should be treated specially by the husband. “Me too” basically talk about an opportunity to explain how much she loves herself and how happy she is with her own accomplishments. And the last song “No” bring the idea about men who approach women and "can’t take the hint" when their advances are rejected.

The aim of being independent is woman to be able to encourage to seek salvation in everything she wants. Living on the margin of the masculine world, interested in the qualities of things in as much as they are gratuitous and secret, taking on a negative attitude, one of refusal, she doesn’t lose herself in the real. She’s able to being all ambition.

5.2Suggestions

This thesis talks about the independent woman as portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s selected songs. Based on the analysis of this thesis there are some ideas and fact about the society and the world where we live in, both for men and women. The writer finds that women deserve as same as what men deserve. They struggle to find the solutions for their rights and make a better life. Women rebel and escape as they are being oppressed and burdened by patriarchal culture.

From the songs that have been studied, the writer hopes that readers, especially women, can be stronger and brave to screaming their voice. Women should be more smart, intellectual, strong and independent in standing for themselves in order to live the life they desire. With this study, the writer also hopes this thesis will be useful to enrich the knowledge and understanding about

feminism, especially the women’s oppression in order to struggle against patriarchal culture and woman’s stereotype. Finally, the writer hope, by reading this thesis, the readers will more respect and care with women.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Kasim (2005:40) mentions in Introduction to Literature (teaching materials): Based on its form, poetry can be divided in to seven forms; they are ballad, ode, elegy, pastoral, sonnet, confessionals, and free verse. Some of that poetry was created in order to be sung and preserved orally among illiterate or semiliterate people. People sing to express their feeling. Literature is the mirror of life. It reflects human life and all phenomena that appear in daily life. Literature can be anything that expressed even something impossible. However, the writers are not the liar because of their imaginative or even their silly mind that creates silly words as their works. Those words may have the deeper meaning that we never think before. It may contain of the various value and idea, philosophical idea for instance. Literature is the way to express the experience of the writers. They write whatever they see, whatever they hear, whatever they want to say by using selected and special ordered words to make their work beautiful. Obviously it is possible for the reality of a fictional world to approximate to that real life, to create an illusion of everyday reality, but it is also possible for the writer to express the idea. In this case, the writer uses words as their medium to express their idea. Literature cannot be separated from the aspect of life because it is the imitation of life and it concerns with the aspect of life such as religion, social, politics, economic, cultural, historical, etc.

Poetry is a part of literature. Poetry derives etymologically from the Greek word ‘poiesis’ which means ‘a making, forming, creating (in words), or the art of poetry, or a poem’. Poetry as a literary work is also one of the oldest genres in literary history. William Wordsworth in Understanding Poetry (2009:5) says, “poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. This tradition is based on the expressive theory about literature. On the other hand, McRae (1998:1) says that poetry is words with a frame around and also the words inside birthday cards. Therefore, it is quite difficult to make an exact definition of poetry. Poetry is not just the creation of meaningful arrangements of words. Besides, poetry can never be fully explained. It can be felt. There is no use to talk about poetry if the readers do not feel it. There is always mystery about poetry. As a result, it can be finally concluded that poetry is a spontaneous expression of human’s feeling or imagination which has best words in the best order.

Poetry has four main aspects. Pardede (2009:11) says, “the aspects of a poem are sense, feeling, tone, and intention”. Sense is the subject matter of the poem. It is what the poem is about. Very often, but not always, a poem’s title will give the readers some indication of its general meaning. Then by reading it over and over carefully, the readers can catch its meaning. Feeling is the attitude of the writer toward the subject matter. By reading a certain poem carefully, the readers can understand what the writer feels or thinks about the subject matter and his/her opinion about it. Tone is the attitude of the writer towards the readers. It is about whether the writer is in a good mood or bad mood, optimist or pessimist, happy or sad, etc. The readers understand it by giving their attention to the words (diction)

that the poet uses in his/her poem. And the last is intention. Undoubtedly, the poet writes a certain poem for he/she has a special intention, at least for he himself/she herself, to express his/her feeling. But what the readers have to know is that good poems are written because they have to be, not because their authors want them to be.

2.1. Hermeneutics

The term hermeneutics is said to derive from the Greek god “Hermes” who “practiced” the revelation of divine messages. In order to deliver the messages of the gods, Hermes had to be acquainted with their language as well as with that of the mortals for whom the messenger were destined. Hence, Hermes had to understand and interpret for himself what the gods wanted to communicate before he could translate, articulate, and explicate this to their mortal subjects. While Hermes had to ‘explain’ what the gods intention were to mortals, his explanations were clarifications aimed at rendering what was unclear, clear in order to allow mortals to make sense of understanding what was being conveyed. Hermeneutics is defined as theory of the interpretation of meaning (Butler, 1998: 285).

In finding the meaning of a literature artwork, the concept of hermeneutics gives attention in analyzing the meaning of texts. In Literary Terms and Criticism John Peck and Martian Coyle state that Hermeneutics refers to the general theory of interpretation, the procedures and principle involved in getting at the meaning of texts. What is called a text depends to a large extent upon the ideas about what are we looking for. (1984:134).

The word hermeneutic means the science or art of interpretation. The word hermeneutics was originally confined to the interpretation of sacred scripture; but during the nineteenth century it broadened its scope to encompass the problem of textual interpretation as a whole. (Eagleton, 2008:57)

In introduction to Literary Hermeneutics written by Peter Szondi states that hermeneutics is the theory of the exegesis interpretation or interpretation on literary works (1995:1). Later in this book, Chladeneus stated that hermeneutics as theory of interpretation indicating the true understanding of a passage. Notion of understanding is the meaning of a passage, and what idea its possible obscurity lead to definition of interpretation as the teaching of concepts which are necessary for complete understanding of a passage, but which reader might lack. It means that “words, phrases or sentences” have something in themselves through which one could reach a certain or probable understanding by interpretation.

The philosophical hermeneutics in the 20th century also contributed a momentum to carry existentialist thought into the 21st and as theory interpreting a text, originally a Biblical and then a legal and finally any literary or artistic text, hermeneutics has played an important role in Continental though. It was introduced into modern philosophy by Friedrich Schleiermacher, where his hermeneutics’ orientation gives a relevance he necessarily had for the existential philosophy in the late nineteenth century, later he stated that It is not a matter of interpreting individual passages but of comprehending what is spoken and written in its original life of its author: speech and writing viewed as “moment of life breaking forth” and at the same time as an act, that is, not merely as a document

but as an active, vital expression of life. Schleiermacher distinguished two moments in the act of understanding, grammatical interpretation as the consideration of speech in its relation serves one of them, and psychological interpretation which he also terms technical interpretation, as the consideration of speech in its relation to the thought of its originator. (Szondi, 1995:117).

Hermeneutics concerns with the meaning of an unfamiliar text, whether its strangeness to be historical, like an ancient inscription or simply foreign to us, like the statements of someone from another culture or even from another profession or academic specialty. Szondi states hermeneutics theory determines the possibility of universally valid interpretation on the basis of an analysis of understanding. Interpretation of what is seen depends in part on one’s past experience, prior knowledge, professional background, culture and expectations (1995:1). Since, hermeneutics deals with the issue of meaning, the meaning itself has variants interpretation. In Literary Theory: an introduction, written by Terry Eagleton, Husserl states that meaning was kind of ideal object, in the sense that it could be expressed in a number of different ways but still remain the same meaning. On this view the meaning of literary work is fixed once and for all; it is identical with whatever ‘mental object` the author had in mind, or intended, at the same time of writing, Eagleton (2008:57).

Talking about poetry, we will think about beautiful word, diction, idiom, symbols and stanzas. However, we need to know poetry at a glance. Poetry is an expression of writer’s idea that uses the selected word to beautify its stanza. We

also will find some symbols in it, that’s why poetry has more specific meaning that the word itself. Lucelles Ubercombie in Pardede’s Understanding Poetry (2008:6) says that poetry is the expression of imaginative experience, valid simply as such and significant as such communicable given by language which employ every available and appropriate device.

2.2 Feminism

In General, in the sense of feminism is an ideology that drives women to reject the culture of the patriarchy, marginalized, sub-ordinized, and devalue the position of women in the fields of politics, economy and social life in general. In a special sense, i.e., in literature, feminism associated with ways to understand the works of literature in relation to the production process as well as the reception. Relating to the emancipation of women and equal rights, in contemporary social science known as gender equality movement (Ratna, 2004:184).

In addition to the cultural movement, as feminism is also one of literary theory which leads to the study of literature to focus the analysis on the problems of women. Feminist literary criticism is primarily a criticism that looked at literature with a special awareness of certain gender many affect the political, economic, cultural, social and literary. During this time representing readers and creators in literature are men. Feminist literary criticism is expected to bring a new perception and expectation in the analysis of literature. Next Humm (1986:12) says, the power of feminist criticism lies in the courage of women to reject the separation of literature from other social activities and being critical of the

ideological force in the culture. Feminist criticism focuses on reading as a woman. The women are not biological but in refers to the strategy and ideology. A woman biologically not necessarily have any awareness of the social construction of women. Awareness of gender roles and social-cultural construction this is a strategy that socialized feminist in their struggle. "We read with a gender role with a consciousness of the social construction of feminity".

Kate Millet citing Moi "Millet argued that social and cultural context must be studied if literature was to be properly understood" (Moi, 1986:24). To understand literary works properly, required extensive knowledge about social culture. The same as those expressed by other literary critic that literary analysis can’t be released from the socio-cultural context of the community in which it is produced.

Feminist critics of special task is to analyze the impression (Melody) of women as presented in literary works based on an egalitarian vision of humanity, as claimed by Spencer (1982:154) in Feminist Criticism and Literature. "Feminists Criticism may be said to have one of the specific tasks on the analysis of the image of women as they appear in the existing literature, based upon an egalitarian vision of humanity".

Next is the period post feminism with Naomi Wolf, Susan Falludi and Ann Brooks. The term post feminism not indicate anti feminism but rather to describe the simultaneous merger, revision and depolitized of many of the main purpose of the second wave feminist.

“I believe post feminism is distinct from anti feminism and sexism, for it aptly describes the consciousness and strategies increasing numbers of women have developed in response to the new difficulties and opportunities of post industrial society in this sense the diffusion of postfeminist consciousness signifies both the achievements of, and challenges for modern feminist politician” (Stacey, 1987:520).

Post feminism firmly explain consciousness and strategy of increasing of the women in responding to the difficulties and opportunities in community post industry, in this case the dissemination of awareness of post-feminist shows the achievement and a challenge for the modern feminist politician. Brooks with great detail reveal the intersection of feminism thoughts with post feminism and post colonialism who presented a dynamic movement that is considered capable of challenging the framework of thought patriarchy and imperialist (Ibrahim in Brooks, 1997: xvi).

In the process, facilitating a pluralistic conception of post feminism broad-based subject application of feminism and has focused on the demands of the margined culture, diaspora and the colonized for a non-hegemonic feminism that is able to vote in local, indigenous feminism and postcolonial (Ditto, 1997: xvi). According to Wolfwomen of whatever will feel happy in the groups struggle when they felt accepted to be part of the struggle, Wolf (1999) invites activists to embrace and convert all thewomen in the struggles of stopping discrimination.

2.2.1 Independent Woman

Independent Woman’s way for being equal are; they are waiting for a chance to break free and rushes to equip themselves with the knowledge and ability to be able to have activity in the public sphere. The independence they get is not a gift or come for granted, but it is something that has to be fought. Many hindrances and obstacles faced by women to advance and survive. The community determines the stereotype of women as weak and passive, emotional because it's not worth getting an important position in the work. Not to mention with the very nature of the term misused to hinder the advancement of women. People say, "never mind the women don't need high school-a total look forward to going to the kitchen as well." That wretched thing like this can be trusted by most women and certainly very detrimental. Most of the other women continue to fight

2.3 Related Studies

A thesis entitled Feminism through Figurative Language in Contemporary

American Songs of Leading Contemporary Feminist Music Icon by Morakot

Areerasada and Pataraporn Tapinta talks about feminist values reflected in contemporary American songs of ‘third wave’ feminist lyricists such as Madonna, Pink, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Kesha and also analyze how those feminist values are reflected in those songs through figurative language. The main theoretical frameworks of four major perspectives of third wave feminism of figurative language. This thesis helps the writer understanding feminism through song written by woman in order to elaborate the thesis.

Another thesis entitled The Detailment of Feminism: A Qualitative Study of

Girl Empowerment and The Popular Music Artist by Jodie Christine Simon talks

about “Girl Power!” is a message that parent raising young women in today’s media-saturated society should be able to turn with a modicum of relief from the relentlessly harmful messages normally found within popular music. But what happens when we turn a critical eye towards the messages cloaked within this supposedly feminist missive. A close examination of popular music associated with girl empowerment reveal that many of the messages found within these lyrics are frighteningly just as damaging as the misogynistic, violent, and explicitly sexual ones found in the usual fare of top 100 hits. In fact, this cooption of feminist messages introduces a new danger in that it makes the commodification of feminism into a marketed brand of heightened sexual awareness while promoting traditional male behaviors as equalizing acts of power. This helps the writer to look further about the feminism to write the thesis.

A thesis entitled Feminism in an Era of Mainstream Co-optation by April Amanda Caddell tells about Contemporary American culture is witnessing the phenomenon of many high-profile celebrities proudly calling themselves, feminist—I refer to these individuals as celebrity feminists. This phenomenon comes as a shift from the historical avoidance with the term feminist and the feminist movement due to mainstream media’s portrayal of feminism using negative and fallacious stereotypes. The current shift to “feminism is wonderful,” in the mainstream media—as a reflection of a white supremacist and patriarchal society—de-politicizes feminism, making it less of a radical movement that seeks

social change and more a portrayal of individual empowerment on the part of exceptional women. This thesis also helps the writer to elaborate about feminism and how it is affecting the world.

By the brief description above, the writer of this research is using Qualitative Descriptive method by Meleong from his book entitled

MetodologiPeilitianKualitatif to analyze Feminism as it is portrayed in the lyrics

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

We are still fighting for acceptance and a true understanding of the term ‘feminism,’ it should be noted that we have made tremendous progress since the first wave. It is a term that has been unfairly associated first, with ladies in hoop skirts and ringlet curls, and then followed by butch, man-hating women. Due to the range of feminist issues today, it is much harder to put a label on what a feminist looks like. Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social rights for women that are equal to those of men. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.

Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to receive education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights within marriage, and to have maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to promote bodily autonomy and integrity, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. Feminism was not an isolatable issue, a particular 'campaign' alongside other political projects, but a

dimension which informed and interrogated every facet of personal, social and political life

Regarding to feminist movement, the term of independent woman can be defined exploredby various sources in pop culture. Rapper Roxanne Shante’s 1989 rendition of Independent Woman highlighted relationships and asked women not to dote on partners who do not reciprocate. Similarly, the definition of an independent woman in the buys her own things, and does not allow a man to affect her stability or self-confidence. She supports herself entirely on her own and is proud to be able to do so.

As the famous encyclopedia in the internet, Wikipedia stated that literature as cultural and historical phenomena investigates the conditions and the movement of feminism in the form of drama, novel, short story, prose, poetry, etc. The feminist movement produced both feminist fiction and non-fiction, and created new interest in women's women's lives and contributions have been underrepresented as areas of scholarly interest. Much of the early period of feminist literary scholarship was given over to the rediscovery and reclamation of texts written by women. Studies like

Novelist were ground-breaking in their insistence that women have always been

According to Kumar (2010) in her article entitled Poetry Vs Song that Poetry is a separate art form to lyric writing. Poetic devices such as assonance, alliteration, metaphors etc. are used, but whereas poetry is a stand-alone art, in songwriting, lyrics are only one factor in the song- the melody, the harmonic choices, the rhythm and texture are all part of the art. The meaning and message found in most songs, especially those songs that are composed today, are pretty direct and straight to the point. In fact, there is not much thought and analysis needed, on the part of the listener, to determine what the song is all about. In the case of poetry, Meaning is one of the major elements of poetry. In some cases the meaning is explicitly expressed, and in others it is implied or hidden under the symbols. The readers have to understand the symbolic figures to discover the meaning. Besides, poets will often utilize a variety of different figurative forms of spe

There is the manner on how poems and songs are appreciated. In the case of poetry, the appreciation of the poem comes from the careful analysis of the wording of the poem itself. This includes the play of words, the rhyming scheme, use of figurative forms of speech, and the like. On the other hand, songs are mostly appreciated based on the accompanying music.

As stated by Hess in his article entitled The Music – Poetry Connections that songs and poetry are normally not mentioned in the same sentence together. However, the similarities between music and poetry are far greater than observed by the general public and media.Some of the similarities are:

and Emotion.Songs themselves have to be rhythmic. As well, poetry flows just the same. Rhythm is what makes music as well as poetry. The flowing of words, the instruments, smooth melody are all a part of the greater meaning, poetry.In fact, there's even a form of poetry which is made into music called are just that, musical lyrics. Sometimes they are used in songs, sometimes left as just words with a specific rhythm. They are what they are, lyrics express the thoughts and feelings of the author. Nonetheless, even music without words is poetry, just not in the most recognized sense of the word. Poetry is about flow, rhythm, meaning and expression. Instrumental music expresses, flows and shows just as much emotion as does music with words.

Zapruder (2012) also said in his article entitled The Difference Between

Poetry and Song Lyrics that many musical artists present their song lyrics as

poetry. This reflects not a commercial move on their part, but a desire for the words they write to be taken seriously. Lyrics inherently have less literary merit than poetry, or are easier to create, or are less valuable in a cultural or human sense, and therefore somehow do not deserve the rarified title of “poetry.” But the desire to consider lyrics as literature reflects some unfortunate and persistent biases that are detrimental to both poetry and song. This desire presumes that poems, because they are “literature,” must be serious, that is, written in forms that reflect obvious mastery of literary mannerisms. And it presumes that what is valuable about lyrics is how they reflect those literary values and skills. The biases inherent in such a widespread distinction do a disservice to both poetry and song. The expressions of this belief also have been evidenced in another various forms.

Just like another literary artwork, songs, lyrics, and poetry are very valuable medium to express the feeling.

Women's music is the music by women, for women, and about women. The genre emerged as a musical expression of the second-wave feminist movement as well as the labour, civil rights, and peace movements. Women's music also refers to the wider industry of women's music that goes beyond the performing artists to include studio musicians, producers, sound engineers, technicians, cover artists, distributors, promoters, and festival organizers who are also women.

In the early 1990s, punk music played an important role for the formation of ‘Riot Grrrl’, a recent young, feminist (sub) cultural movement that combines feminist consciousness and punk aesthetics, politics, and style. Due to this influence, young women were indeed looking for a way to liberate themselves from the roles and stereotypes that society had set, and music helped create a subculture in which they could enjoy this kind of freedom. More importantly, music made the hope that one day, the values that Riot Grrrl placed on women and their compassion for all oppressed people would become the norms in mainstream society. Thus, it is not surprising that songs with feminist themes can be usually found in almost every period of American history since then.

Besides, in the present time, several recent popular music artists, especially American singers, possess great influences on the masses despite their uniquely queer identity and expression. Some of these popular music artists have been

criticized by the general public and scholars as feminist music icons. Six of these were Madonna, Pink, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Kesha. As well, their contemporary works, which reflected life during this period, were usually reported on by several institutions. One of them which has been well recognized is the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the American music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs by their popularity. The modern music industry, whilst providing a key social outlet for women to express feminist ideologies, presents a platform on which gender performance, or performativity, has become ‘discursively produced’. Women have a choice in the way they represent their gender to the public, many relishing the opportunity to subvert the conventional femininities placed upon them by the patriarchy. A female artist is an example of said cultural object in her branding and commodificationwithin the music industry. Women assume power and control over the way they are presented, achieving an artistic agency and independence from patriarchal pressure.

Alongside to that, Megan Trainor is one of the singers who promote the movement of feminism in her songs. The writer had chosen some of songs to become the object of analysis of feminism as portrait in some Meghan Trainor selected songs. Meghan Elizabeth Trainor is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Born in December 22 1993, Nantucket, Trainor wrote, recorded, performed, and produced three independently-released albums between ages 15 and 17. Common themes in her lyrics include subjects of modern womanhood, body image, and empowerment. Theses selected songs entitled “Dear future

Husband”, “Me Too”, and “NØ” are three songs that will become the object of analysis. Each song represents the expressive about feminism.

“Dear Future Husband”reminisced on her past romantic relationships, where she was mishandled, and with the track, she wanted to make a statement that women should be treated better by their boyfriends. Another song entitled “Me too” lyrically extends her compositions about love and self-empowerment, urging listeners to be more content and confident with themselves.Last song, “NØ” lyrically talks about men who approach women and "can’t take the hint" when their advances are rejected. These three songs contemplate 21st-century womanhood especially in the term of independent woman.

To analyze Feminism in this research, the things that are necessary to be considered more are the lyrics in the song entitled “Dear Future Husband”, Me too” and “NØ”. Also this research is using Qualitative Descriptive method by Meleong from his book entitled MetodologiPenelitianKualitatif to analyze Feminism as it is portrayed in the lyrics of Meghan Tainor’s songs.

1.2. Problems of the Study

Problems of study on this research are:

1. How is independent woman portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s song? 2. What is the purpose woman to be independent?

1.3. Objectives of the Study

Related with the problems above, this research tries to analysis the answers of those questions, they are;

1. To describe the way of Meghan Trainor of being Independent Woman. 2. To describe the aim of the writer about woman-independent and equality.

1.4. Scope of the Study

Related to the problems and objectives of the study, the writer has to limit the scope of the study. Therefore, the scope of study on this research is analyzing the feminism as it’s portrayed in some selected Meghan Trainor’s songs and how the feminism itself takes a big part of nowadays life. Scope of study is necessary in order to make a research to be specific and well managed. This research is only focused on the lyrics of the songs.

1.5. Significance of the Study

The significances of this analysis are to make people understands more about feminism life and how it’s taking in nowadays life. In doing analysis, the writer hopes that the findings can acknowledge the Feminism in nowadays life. This study also expected to contribute to the development of literature, particularly the point of view in people lives. This research also explains about the meaning of the lyrics song and reflection in our life where Feminism is the biggest lifestyle in this time.

ABSTRACT

This thesis is entitled Ways of Woman to be Independent as Portrayed in Meghan Trainor's Songs that analizes the feminism movement and the way to be independent woman in the world dominated by man. This analysis is focuses on the feminism. The songs are selected in the search of thematic feminism through the lyrics of the songs. The selected songs are "Dear Future Husband", "Me too", and "No". "Dear Future Husband" tells the story of a woman who can determine her life standard freely. "Me too" is about a successful and confident woman. "No" tells the story of a woman whodares to decide her own life. In order to resolve the problems, the writer uses the theory of Feminism and Hermeneutic to find how an independent woman portrayed in the selected songs. The method applied for this thesis is the qualitative descriptive and library research in doing the analysis. After done the research by using the theories, the writer finally found that woman should be treated better and extends her compositions about self-love and self-empowerment. Also, the term independent woman means way for woman being equal with man.

ABSTRAK

Skripsi ini berjudulWays of Woman to be Independent as Portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s Songs yang menganalisistentang gerakan feminisme dan cara untuk menjadi wanita independen di dunia yang di dominasi oleh laki-laki. Analisis ini berfokus terhadap feminisme. Lagu-lagu yang dipilih dalam pencarian tematik feminisme melalui lirik lagu ini adalah "Dear Future Husband", "Me Too", dan "No". "Dear Future Husband" bercerita tentang seorang wanita yang dapat menentukan standar hidup bebasnya sendiri. "Me Too" bercerita tentang seorang wanita yang sukses dan percaya diri. "No" bercerita tentang seorang wanita yang berani memutuskan atas hak hidupnya sendiri. Untuk menganalisis masalah, penulis menggunakan teori feminisme dan hermenitika untuk menemukan bagaimana seorang wanita independen digambarkan sebagaimana tersirat di dalam lagu. Metode yang diterapkan dalam skripsi ini adalah metode kualitatif deskriptif dan riset perpustakaan. Setelah dilakukan penelitian dengan menggunakan teori tersebut di atas, penulis akhirnya menemukan bahwa wanita harus diperlakukan lebih baik dan meluas komposisinya tentang mencintai diri sendiri dan pemberdayaan diri. Juga, istilah perempuan independen berarti cara untuk wanita berkedudukan setara dengan pria.

WAYS OF WOMAN TO BE INDEPENDENT AS PORTRAYED IN MEGHAN TRAINOR’S SONGS.

A THESIS BY

REFI NURFADILLA

REG.NO : 120705103

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA

MEDAN 2017

WAYS OF WOMAN TO BE INDEPENDENT AS PORTRAYED IN MEGHAN TRAINOR’S SONGS

A THESIS BY

REFI NURFADILLA REG. NO. 120705103

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2017

WAYS OF WOMAN TO BE INDEPENDENT AS PORTRAYED IN MEGHAN TRAINOR’S SONGS

A THESIS

BY

REFI NURFADILLA REG. NO. 120705103

SUPERVISOR CO-SUPERVISOR

Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.Hum

NIP. 19570720 198303 2 NIP. 195612141986012001

Dra. DiahRahayuPratama, M.Pd

Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara Medan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra From Department English.

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2017

Approved by the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara (USU) Medan as thesis for The SarjanaSastra Examination.

Head, Secretary,

Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, M.S. Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A., Ph.D NIP. 19541117198003 1 002 NIP.19750209 200812 1 002

Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara, Medan.

The examination is held in Department of English Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara on February 9th, 2017

Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara

Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S. NIP. 19600805 198703 1 001

Board of Examiners

Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, M.S. ___________________

Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A. Ph.D. ___________________

Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.Hum. ___________________

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I, REFI NURFADILLA, DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OR EXTRACTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT DUE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.

Signed : Refi Nurfadilla

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

NAME : REFI NURFADILLA

TITLE OF THESIS : WAYS OF WOMAN TO BE

INDEPENDENT AS PORTRAYED IN MEGHAN

TRAINOR’S SONGS

QUALIFICATION : S-1/SARJANA SASTRA

DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH

I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA.

Signed :Refi Nurfadilla

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AssalamualaikumWr, Wb.

All praise to Allah SWT for all the gracious, blessing, compassion and good health that were necessary to complete this thesis. Salawat and Salam to the noble Prophet, Muhammad SAW.

First of all, I would like to thank my parents whom always there to raise and teach me until this very day. To my siblings, Bang Alfit, KakRifa, Bang Rian, my brother and sister in law, KakLusi, Bang Azmi, KakIvanaliza. My nephew and nieces, Dziya, Fathia, Khalil and Fakhira. And lastly, to all family members of Amra’s Family.

My gratitude goes to the Head and the Secretary of English Department, Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, M.S. and Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A., Ph. D.,for providing me with necessary facilities and opportunities given to me during my study in this faculty.I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Siti Norma, M.Hum., as my supervisor and Dra. DiahRahayu Pratama, M.Pd as my co- supervisor for their amazing help, knowledge, expert advices and encouragements throughout the process of finishing this thesis, which was so needed and offered with kindness and patience. I also would like to give massive thanks to all lecturers of USU’s English Department.

For my out of campus circle bestfriends Alisa Ramadhini, HardiantriPragusti, NoviaFadillah, DindaPratiwi Margiarto, Ria Afriani Rao. Thank you for being a really good bestfriends, who doesn’t leave me behind or even talk behind my back HAHAHAHAHA.

To Wahyu Maulana, thank you for the helpwhenever I need, being a special part of my life.Thank you for all the love, humorous moments you gave me and most of all, thank you for the supports you always give.Miss Dini, whom always hungry every 3 hours and have the urge to go to a place where the aircon always working well and whatever you have to eat it always have to be noodle, if only we weren’t this close probably I’m not here yet, I’m not in the edge of graduation yet. Thank you so much for understanding, helping, encourage and remind me to finish this thesis. Thank you for always say yes whenever I ask you to go anywhere.

Bang Abel, thank you for the helps during this thesis progress. Thank you Al-Jabirun or as so called Monochrome for the happiness, laughs, ups and downs all along the college life, I’m really grateful for the friendship, joy, fight and insane adventures we’ve been through. Adim, Occina, Bunda Min, Depanik, Dekpitliii, Windi DarBinj, Zahara Sari, Syayayu, Cikepiiiiiin, Edonaa, Yanto, Elsa. Also, I would like to thank every single person of my classmates, Elit A because we’ve shared unforgettable 4 years of togetherness and all members of Sastra Inggris 2012. Thank you as well to the juniors Kiky Charla, Ojak, Mumuy, Fathiyek, Tanta, Yuni, Nurul Husnah, Reza Teje, Randy, Gerald, Razi, Agung, Morris, Andre, Nurul, Roni, Yolla, Febri, Sinta, Nissa, Lingling, Jaka, Ahsan, Raja, Akmal, Dimas, Frans David. Thank you to the seniors whom I speechless to label you guys, Ka Annis, Ka Ninis, Ka Nadia, Ka Atun, Ka Dinda, Ka Aii, Ka Vivi, Ka Filzha, Ka Dini, Ka Wina, Bang Ijal, Bang Yuda, Bang Arep, Bang Kiteng, Bang Bayu, Bang Fadil. If there’s any name I haven’t mention there for I’m sorry, because there’s too many precious memories that can’t even fit to be mentioned here.

Finally. I hope that thesis will be worthwhile contribution for the reader, and also receive any constructive criticism, to develop this thesis.

Refi Nurfadilla

Reg. No. 120705103

ABSTRACT

This thesis is entitled Ways of Woman to be Independent as Portrayed in Meghan Trainor's Songs that analizes the feminism movement and the way to be independent woman in the world dominated by man. This analysis is focuses on the feminism. The songs are selected in the search of thematic feminism through the lyrics of the songs. The selected songs are "Dear Future Husband", "Me too", and "No". "Dear Future Husband" tells the story of a woman who can determine her life standard freely. "Me too" is about a successful and confident woman. "No" tells the story of a woman whodares to decide her own life. In order to resolve the problems, the writer uses the theory of Feminism and Hermeneutic to find how an independent woman portrayed in the selected songs. The method applied for this thesis is the qualitative descriptive and library research in doing the analysis. After done the research by using the theories, the writer finally found that woman should be treated better and extends her compositions about self-love and self-empowerment. Also, the term independent woman means way for woman being equal with man.

ABSTRAK

Skripsi ini berjudulWays of Woman to be Independent as Portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s Songs yang menganalisistentang gerakan feminisme dan cara untuk menjadi wanita independen di dunia yang di dominasi oleh laki-laki. Analisis ini berfokus terhadap feminisme. Lagu-lagu yang dipilih dalam pencarian tematik feminisme melalui lirik lagu ini adalah "Dear Future Husband", "Me Too", dan "No". "Dear Future Husband" bercerita tentang seorang wanita yang dapat menentukan standar hidup bebasnya sendiri. "Me Too" bercerita tentang seorang wanita yang sukses dan percaya diri. "No" bercerita tentang seorang wanita yang berani memutuskan atas hak hidupnya sendiri. Untuk menganalisis masalah, penulis menggunakan teori feminisme dan hermenitika untuk menemukan bagaimana seorang wanita independen digambarkan sebagaimana tersirat di dalam lagu. Metode yang diterapkan dalam skripsi ini adalah metode kualitatif deskriptif dan riset perpustakaan. Setelah dilakukan penelitian dengan menggunakan teori tersebut di atas, penulis akhirnya menemukan bahwa wanita harus diperlakukan lebih baik dan meluas komposisinya tentang mencintai diri sendiri dan pemberdayaan diri. Juga, istilah perempuan independen berarti cara untuk wanita berkedudukan setara dengan pria.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ... v

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii

ABSTRACT ... ... x

ABSTRAK ... ... xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS……...xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ... 01

1.2 Problem of the Study ... 07

1.3 Objective of the Study ... 08

1.4 Scope of the Study ... 08

1.5 Significance of the Study ... 08

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Hermeneutics ... 11

2.2 Feminism ... 14

2.2.1 Independent Woman ... 17

2.3 Related Studies ... 17

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Research Design ... 20

3.2 Data Collection ... 21

3.4 Data Analysis ... 22

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Independent Woman Portrayed in Meghan Trainor’s ...……25

4.1.1 Strong Dignity ... 25

4.1.2 Self Confidence ... 28

4.1.3 Capability ... 30

4.2 Purpose of Being Independent ... 33

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusions ... 35

5.2 Suggestion ... 36

REFERENCES ... 38 APPENDICES

i. Meghan Trainor’s Biography ii. Lyrics

APPENDICES

i. MEGHAN TRAINOR BIOGRAPHY

Meghan Elizabeth Trainor was born on December 22, 1993 in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the daughter of Kelly Anne "Kelli" (Jekanowski) and Gary Trainor, both jewelers. Trainor has two brothers: Ryan (born 1992) and younger brother Justin. Trainor began singing at age six, initially singing with her father at church. She began writing music at age 11, starting with her own arrangement of the song "Heart and Soul" (1938). Trainor attributes her early career progress to being born into a musical family. Trainor's father was a music teacher and musician, and plays organ in a Methodist church. Her great-uncle Bob LaPalm was in a prior band with Al Anderson of the rock band NRBQ, and Trainor's aunt and Trinidadian uncle, Lisa and Burton Toney, are soca music performers and songwriters.

At age 11, Trainor told her father that she wanted to become a recording artist and began writing songs, recording them using GarageBand from her MacBook. "She did a lot by ear," her mother recalls. Her father encouraged her to explore various musical genres. At age 12, Trainor began performing as part of Island Fusion, an "all-purpose party band" which performed covers, soca music, and Trainor's compositions. The band included her aunt, her younger brother, and her father. Trainor played piano, guitar, and bongo drum, and sang with the band

for four years. By age 13, Trainor had written her first original song, "Give Me a Chance". When she was in the eighth grade, the family left Nantucket. They temporarily relocated to Orleans, Massachusetts before moving to North Eastham, Massachusetts, where the children attended NausetRegional High School. At Nauset Regional High, Trainor studied guitar and was a substitute cheerleader. Additionally, Trainor sang and played trumpet in a jazz band for three years.

While she was still a teenager, Trainor's parents encouraged her to attend songwriting conventions, and they took her to venues where production companies were searching for new artists and songwriters. At age 15, she took guitar lessons from former NRBQ band member Johnny Spampinato. During this time, Trainor used Logic Studio to record and produce her compositions, and later worked independently from a home studio that her parents constructed for her.

Between the ages of 15 and 17, Trainor independently released three albums of material she wrote, recorded and performed herself. Her eponymous debut album, Meghan Trainor, was released on December 25, 2009, receiving airplay from local radio station WCIB. Trainor enrolled in the Summer Performance Program at the Berklee College of Music during the summer of 2009 and 2010, reaching the finals of the program's songwriting competition. Trainor released "Take Care of Our Soldiers" on April 16, 2010, a charity single in support of American troops abroad. In 2011, Trainor released two acoustic albums, I'll Sing with You and Only 17. During this time, she received the accolade for Best Female Artist at the 2009 International Acoustic Music Awards, and the Grand

Prize at the 2010 New Orleans Songwriter's Festival, the 2011 Tennessee Concerts Song Contest and John Lennon Love Song Songwriting Contest.

At a music conference in Colorado, Trainor was introduced to former NRBQ member, Al Anderson. Impressed by Trainor's songwriting ability, Anderson referred Trainor to his publisher, Carla Wallace at Big Yellow Dog Music, urging Wallace to sign Trainor. At this time, Trainor was offered a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music; however, Trainor decided to forego college to pursue a career in songwriting instead. Wallace offered Trainor a publishing deal with Nashville-based Big Yellow Dog Music, which Trainor signed at age 17. She began her career as a songwriter-for-hire in part due to her ability to write in a number of genre styles. She gravitated to song publishing, unsure of herself as a recording artist. "She thought she was one of the chubby girls who would never be an artist," her father recalls. Trainor graduated from Nauset Regional High School in 2012. Her second single, "Who I Wanna Be", was released on April 24, 2012.

Throughout 2013, Trainor traveled to Nashville, New York City and Los Angeles, where she would write and help produce country and pop music. She would also sing lead and background vocals for demos of other artists, with her vocals occasionally making the final cut. She later earned her first songwriting royalties by penning for artists from Italy and Denmark. In June 2013, Trainor met producer Kevin Kadish in Nashville through a referral from Wallace and a mutual friend.Kadish and Trainor shared a love for retro style music and began recording

together that month. Trainor later became frustrated with commuting to Los Angeles for songwriting sessions. Her parents did not want her to relocate, describing a move there as expensive. In November 2013, Trainor decided to relocate to Nashville instead. There, she wrote songs for a number of acts, including Hunter Hayes, Rascal Flatts, R5, and Sabrina Carpenter.

Kadish and Trainor co-wrote "All About That Bass" in 2013. After various record labels declined to have their artists record the song, Trainor recorded the song herself, and performed it on the ukulele for Epic Records chairman L.A. Reid. Trainor hired Troy Carter as her manager. "All About That Bass" was released on June 30, 2014, and its music video became a viral hit. "All About That Bass" reached number one in 58 countries and became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with worldwide sales of 11 million units as of December 2014.

"All About That Bass" preceded Trainor's debut extended play (EP), Title, released on September 9, 2014. It was composed entirely by Trainor and Kadish, and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and number 17 on the Canadian Albums Chart. Trainor released her second single, "Lips AreMovin" on October 21, 2014. The song's music video was commissioned by Hewlett-Packard, who included Trainor as part of a promotional campaign for their HP Pavilion product.The single peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the fifth female artist to follow up her chart-topping debut hit with another top 5 single. "Lips Are Movin" marked her second top 10 hit in Australia and Canada, and third in New Zealand. In November 2014, she appeared as a guest mentor on

the seventh season of American series The Voice. Trainor was listed as the fourth most Trending Music Artist in Google's Year in Search for 2014. Billboard ranked her as the fourth Top New Artist of the year, and placed her 12th on their own 21 Under 21 2014 list.

Sony Music Entertainment requested that Trainor's current publisher, Big Yellow Dog Music, pull Trainor's three self-released albums from circulation in the build-up to her major label debut, Title. As a result, Title is recognized as Trainor's debut studio album. It acts as a full-length replacement of her EP of the same name, and was released on January 9, 2015. The album debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200, making her the 13th female artist with a debut number 1 song and album. On March 3, Trainor released the third single from the album called "Dear Future Husband", which eventually peaked within the Hot 100 top 20. Trainor featured in Charlie Puth's first single "Marvin Gaye" which released also in March 2015. Her next single, "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" featuring John Legend, became her second number-one on the Australian Singles Chart and third top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Trainor's first headlining concert tour, That Bass Tour, began on February 11, 2015, with Australian band Sheppard as the opening act. The album was to be further promoted through the MTrain Tour, with Charlie Puth and Life of Dillon as opening acts. It was set to begin on Friday, July 3, 2015. However, around that time or shortly afterward, in July 2015 (the online article did not specify a specific time) she was diagnosed with a vocal cord hemorrhage- a potentially serious but somewhat common event among singers, and was ordered by her medical team to undergo complete vocal rest, which has meant the

cancellation or long delay of at least the first two dates in the MTrain Tour: a Friday performance of July 3, 2015 at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the following Saturday night, the Fourth of July (Independence Day), at the Mohegan Sun, in Uncasville, Connecticut. On August 11, 2015, Trainor announced via social media that she was canceling the remainder of her North American tour due to further vocal cord hemorrhaging and would seek surgery "to finally fix this once and for all." On July 28, 2015, it was announced that Trainor was writing a song for the The Peanuts Movie soundtrack, entitled "Better When I'm Dancin'", which would be sung by herself. "Better When I'm Dancin'", released with an accompanying music video, is also featured on Just Dance 2016's new subscription platform, Just Dance Unlimited. In August 2015, Trainor co-wrote Rascal Flatts' single "I Like the Sound of That". On October 30, 2015, Trainor appeared on Undateable as the musical guest. She also made a cameo appearance as a customer named Meghan. In late 2015, American singer Who Is Fancy released the single "Boys Like You", featuring Trainor and Ariana Grande. Title was the ninth best-selling album of 2015 worldwide, with 1.8 million copies sold according to IFPI.

Trainor revealed to E! Online on January 7, 2016, that her second studio album, Thank You, was almost finished. Trainor told MTV that the album was influenced by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Bruno Mars, and features a collaboration between herself and R. City. The album's first single, titled "No", was produced by Ricky Reed and released on March 4, 2016, not long after Trainor won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The lead single has so far

peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Shortly after "No" was released, Trainor released four promotional singles, "Watch Me Do", "I Love Me", "Better (featuring YoGotti), and "Mom" which features her mother, Kelli Trainor. Starting in July 2016, Trainor will embark on the The Untouchable Tour, in support of the album, with Hailee Steinfeld and Common Kings as opening acts. The album was released exclusively on Apple Music on May 6, 2016, and is scheduled for standard commercial release on May 13, 2016. Her second single from the album, titled "Me Too", was released on May 5, 2016. The accompanying video was released on May 9, 2016, but was later removed that day due to unapproved digital manipulation of Trainor's body. It was corrected to the unedited version and re-released the next day.

ii. LYRICS

"Dear Future Husband" Dear future husband

Here's a few things

You'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life

(Awwwww) Take me on a date I deserve it, babe

And don't forget the flowers every anniversary 'Cause if you'll treat me right

I'll be the perfect wife Buying groceries

Buy-buying what you need

You got that 9 to 5 But, baby, so do I

So don't be thinking I'll be home and baking apple pies I never learned to cook

But I can write a hook Sing along with me

Sing-sing along with me (hey)

You gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

(Awwwww)

Dear future husband,

Here's a few things you'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life

Dear future husband,

If you wanna get that special lovin'

Tell me I'm beautiful each and every night

After every fight Just apologize

And maybe then I'll let you try and rock my body right (right) Even if I was wrong

[Laugh] You know I'm never wrong

Why disagree? Why, why disagree?

If you gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

Tell me everything's alright

Dear future husband, Here's a few things

You'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life (hey, baby) Dear future husband,

Make time for me Don't leave me lonely

And know we'll never see your family more than mine

I'll be sleeping on the left side of the bed (hey) Open doors for me and you might get some kisses

Don't have a dirty mind Just be a classy guy Buy me a ring

Buy-buy me a ring (babe)

You gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

Tell me everything's alright

(Woah! Hey.)

Dear future husband Here's a few things

You'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life

Dear future husband,

If you wanna get that special loving Tell me I'm beautiful each and every night

(That's right!)

Oh-woah

"Me Too"

Who's that sexy thing I see over there? That's me, standin' in the mirror

What's that icy thing hangin' 'round my neck? That's gold, show me some respect

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

I walk in like a dime piece I go straight to V.I.P. I never pay for my drinks My entourage behind me My life's a movie, Tom Cruise So bless me, baby, achoo And even if they tried to They can't do it like I do

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

(Turn the bass up) Turn the bass up (Turn the bass up) Let's go!

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

Don't have a dirty mind Just be a classy guy Buy me a ring

Buy-buy me a ring (babe)

You gotta know how to treat me like a lady Even when I'm acting crazy

Tell me everything's alright

(Woah! Hey.)

Dear future husband Here's a few things

You'll need to know if you wanna be My one and only all my life

Dear future husband,

If you wanna get that special loving Tell me I'm beautiful each and every night

(That's right!)

Oh-woah

"Me Too"

Who's that sexy thing I see over there? That's me, standin' in the mirror

What's that icy thing hangin' 'round my neck? That's gold, show me some respect

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

I walk in like a dime piece I go straight to V.I.P. I never pay for my drinks My entourage behind me My life's a movie, Tom Cruise So bless me, baby, achoo And even if they tried to They can't do it like I do

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

(Turn the bass up) Turn the bass up (Turn the bass up) Let's go!

I thank God every day

That I woke up feelin' this way And I can't help lovin' myself

And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me, too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

I'd wanna be me too

If I was you, I'd wanna be me too I'd wanna be me too

"NØ"

I think it's so cute and I think it's so sweet

How you let your friends encourage you to try and talk to me But let me stop you there, oh, before you speak

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

First you gonna say You ain'trunnin' game,

Thinkin' I'm believing every word Call me beautiful,

So original,

Telling me I'm not like other girls

I was in my zone Before you came along,

Now I'm thinking maybe you should go Blah, blah, blah,

I be like "Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

All my ladies, listen up If that boy ain't giving up

Lick your lips and swing your hips Girl, all you gotta say is...

My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

Thank you in advance, I don't wanna dance (nope)

I don't need your hands all over me If I want a man,

Then I'mma get a man But it's never my priority

I was in my zone, Before you came along,

Don't want you to take this personal Blah, blah, blah,

I be like "Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

All my ladies, listen up If that boy ain't giving up

Lick your lips and swing your hips Girl, all you gotta say is...

My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

I'm feeling untouchable, untouchable I'm feeling untouchable, untouchable I'm feeling untouchable, untouchable I'm feeling

("Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No")

All my ladies, listen up If that boy ain't giving up

Lick your lips and swing your hips Girl, all you gotta say is...

My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go

"Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No"

I'm feeling untouchable, untouchable I'm feeling untouchable, untouchable I'm feeling untouchable, untouchable I'm feeling