Don't judge me by what's on my ipod...

I thought the papers for this week discussed three really interesting concepts that we tend to overlook when we think about our musical tastes. Bryson revealed that cultural boundaries can be reinforced, whether intentional or not, through declaring a liking or distaste for a particular musical genre. She also showed that contrary to popular belief, educational attainment does not broaden one's tolerance for music because people with high levels of educational attainment are more likely to reject music that is largely followed by those who are least educated. Reyna presented rather discouraging evidence suggesting that responsibility stereo-types about Black people are greatly associated with negative attitudes towards rap music. Interestingly, the same relationship is not found with other forms of "black music" such as jazz or blues. Snibbe and Markus chose to focus specifically on SES rather than race and found that the more educated you are, the less likely you are to like country music and the more educated you become the more you will prefer rock music. He also highlighted the differences in lyrical content between these two genres and how they inspire different ways of behaving.

The results from these studies have been more thought-provoking than I anticipated. They are not particularly shocking but certainly have made me question why I like the music that I listen to. Every music genre has cultural connotations and people who follow particular genres are ultimately grouped into the stereotypes associated with their genre of choice. Every loyal follower of a genre will say that without the cultural connotations associated with the music, the community and sense of identity it provides would be lost. But it has been made clear that these cultural connotations are reinforcing negative stereotypes about the particular demographic involved and in the case of rap music, can potentially influence political and civil rights opinions. How can we find a balance between maintaining cultural connotations associated with music and counteracting the negative-stereotypes associated with them? I'm sure we all have songs that we are embarrassed to say we love because they either perpetuate an awful stereo-type or because they encourage immoral behavior. But what happens when you are the follower of a genre, not just a song, that is actively affecting how a demographic is viewed and respected? And at what point is music actually influencing how we behave and view other groups of people? At what point is it influencing how we view the group with which we belong?