AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

View Comments to “Stop Violence Against Women in Guatemala”

1. Laura McNamara says:

   November 19, 2009 at 10:48 am

   Rudy, while the song you have posted bespeaks of the issue at hand… broadcasting a song that continues to essentially belittle women through its lyrics is hardly a start to transforming the reality. I know the song is meant to raise awareness but the negative message is still being repeated over and over. How about simply abandoning the message all together and posting a song that portrays women as valuable, worthy, equal, strong, valiant… etc…

   Examples:

   Sisters are Doin it for Themselves by Aretha Franklin

   Now there was a time when they used to say
   That behind every great man there had to be a great woman.
   But in these times of change you know that it’s no longer true

   So we’re comin’ out of the kitchen

   ‘Cause there’s something we foryot to say to you
   we say:

   Sisters are doin’ it for themselves

   Standin’ on their own two feet an ringin’ on their own bells.
   Sisters are doin’ it for themselves.

   Now this is a song to celebrate
   The conscious liberation of the female state.
   Mothers
   daughters and their daughters
   too

   Woman to woman
   we’re singing with you.
   The inferior sex has got a new exterior

   We got doctors
   lawyers
   politicians
   too.
   Everybody
   take a look around -
   Can you see
   can you see

   can you see there’s a woman right next to you.
   We say: Sisters are doin’ it for themselves
   . . .

   Now we ain’t makin’ stories and we ain’t layin’ plans

   ‘Cause a man still loves a woman and a woman still loves a man -
   Just the same though -

   Sisters are doin’ it for themselves.
   Now there was a time when they used to say . . .
   Sisters are doin’ it for themselves
   . . .
   Sisters are doin’ it for themselves

   Strength of a Woman by Shaggy

   [Opening]
   Ugh
   Wah
   Ugh
   Ummmmm
   Yo
   SHAGGY
   Ugh
   Yo
   This one goes out to all my women you know
   My strong women, ugh

   [Verse 1]

   So amazing how this world was made
   I wonder if GOD is a woman
   The gift of life astounds me till this day
   I give it up for the woman
   She’s the constant wind that fills my sail
   Oh that woman
   With her smile and her style,my
   She’ll protect like a child
   That’s a woman

   [Chorus]

   She’ll put a smile upon your face
   And take you to that (ah) higher place
   So don’t you under estimate
   The strength of a woman
   The strength of a woman

   [Verse 2]

   Woke up this morning
   I got up with the scent of a woman
   Just picture if you could what life would be
   Ain’t much good without a woman
   She can nag and be a constant pain
   Oh that woman
   But those hips she’s got me whipped
   And it’s just to hard to resist
   What a woman
   Ugh, hey

   [Chorus]

   Tosses in

   Ugh, ugh, ugh

   [Verse 3]

   Tender lips that’s so so sweet
   Gentle words she softly speaks
   Such an angel when we need
   GOD bless the ground beneath her feet
   She can take you on a high
   Be your comfort when you cry
   But if you look into her eyes
   You’ll see the strength of a woman
   Strength of a woman
   Ugh, ugh, ugh

   [Chorus]

   [Fade]

   Strength of a woman

   I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

   First I was afraid
   I was petrified
   Kept thinking I could never live
   without you by my side
   But I spent so many nights
   thinking how you did me wrong
   I grew strong
   I learned how to carry on
   and so you’re back
   from outer space
   I just walked in to find you here
   with that sad look upon your face
   I should have changed my stupid lock
   I should have made you leave your key
   If I had known for just one second
   you’d be back to bother me

   Go on now go walk out the door
   just turn around now
   ’cause you’re not welcome anymore
   weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
   you think I’d crumble
   you think I’d lay down and die
   Oh no, not I
   I will survive
   as long as i know how to love
   I know I will stay alive
   I’ve got all my life to live
   I’ve got all my love to give
   and I’ll survive
   I will survive

   It took all the strength I had
   not to fall apart
   kept trying hard to mend
   the pieces of my broken heart
   and I spent oh so many nights
   just feeling sorry for myself
   I used to cry
   Now I hold my head up high
   and you see me
   somebody new
   I’m not that chained up little person
   still in love with you
   and so you felt like dropping in
   and just expect me to be free
   now I’m saving all my loving
   for someone who’s loving me

   Reflection by Christina Aguilera

   Look at me
   You may think you see
   Who I really am
   But you’ll never know me
   Every day
   It’s as if I play a part
   Now I see
   If I wear a mask
   I can fool the world
   But I cannot fool my heart

   Who is that girl I see
   Staring straight back at me?
   When will my reflection show
   Who I am inside?

   I am now
   In a world where I
   Have to hide my heart
   And what I believe in
   But somehow
   I will show the world
   What’s inside my heart
   And be loved for who I am

   Who is that girl I see
   Staring straight back at me?
   Why is my reflection
   Someone I don’t know?
   Must I pretend that I’m
   Someone else for all time?
   When will my reflection show
   Who I am inside?

   There’s a heart that must be
   Free to fly
   That burns with a need to know
   The reason why

   Why must we all conceal
   What we think, how we feel?
   Must there be a secret me
   I’m forced to hide?
   I won’t pretend that I’m
   Someone else for all time
   When will my reflection show
   Who I am inside?
   When will my reflection show
   Who I am inside?
2. Laura McNamara says:

   November 19, 2009 at 10:53 am

   Another good example from Christina Aguilera (feat. Lil Kim): Can’t Hold Us Down

   So-What am i not s’pposed to have an opinion?
   Should i be quiet because i’m a woman?
   Call me a bitch (bitch) cause i speak what’s on my mind
   Guess it’s easier for you to swallow if i sat and smiled

   When a female fires back
   suddenly target don’t know how to act
   So he does what any little boy would do
   Makin’ up a few false rumors or two
   That for sure is not a man to me
   Slanderin’ names for popularity
   It’s sad you only get your fame through controversy
   But now it’s time for me to come and give you more to say

   Chorus:
   This is for my girls all around the world
   Who have come across a man that don’t respect your worth
   Thinkin’ all women should be seen, not heard
   So what do we do girls?
   Shout louder,
   Letting them know we’re gonna stand our ground (our ground)
   So lift your hands high and wave’em proud (wohoh)
   Take a deep breath and say it loud,
   Never can,never will
   Can’t hold us down

   Nobody can hold us down(us down)…Nobody can hold us down(us down)…Nobody can hold us down(hold us down)
   Never can never will…

   So what am i not supposed to say what i’m saying
   Are you offended with the message i’m bringin’
   Call me whatever ’cause your words don’t mean a thing
   Cuz you ain’t even a man enough to handle what i sing
   If you look back in history it’s a common double standard of society
   The guy gets all the glory, the more he can score
   While the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore
   I don’t understand why its OK,
   The guy can get away with it while any girl gets named
   All my ladies come together and make a change

   Start a new beginning for us,everybody sing

   Chorus

   Lil’ Kim:
   Here’s something I just can’t understand
   If the guy have three girls then he’s a man
   He can either give her some head, or sex her raw
   If the girl do the same, then she’s a whore
   But the table’s about to turn
   I’ll bet my fame on it
   Cats take my ideas and put their name on it
   It’s aight though, you can’t hold me down
   I got to keep on movin’
   To all my girls with a man who be tryin to mack
   Do it right back to him and let that be that
   You need to let him know that his game is whack
   And Lil’ Kim and Christina Aguilera got your back

   You’re just a little boy,
   Think you’re so cute,so coy
   You must talk so big, to make up for smaller things
   You’re just a little boy
   All you’ll do is annoy
   You must talk so big, to make up for smaller things,
   This is for my girls…

   Repeat Chorus X2

   Ahh Wahoo 7X ahh
   Spread the word
   Can’t hold us down
   Yeh we here
   We Back again
   Yeh Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera
   Yeh
   Can’t hold us down!
3. Rudy Girón says:

   November 19, 2009 at 11:32 am

   @Laura, okay, I will switch the song by another beautiful John Lennon’s ode to women. Thanks for pointing it out to me!
4. Manolo says:

   November 19, 2009 at 1:33 pm

   HIM: Well well… now and forever.
   HER: I will survive.

   I think my conscience was born after finding and reading Ibsen’s “A doll’s house” among my mother’s books.
5. Glennis says:

   November 19, 2009 at 10:52 pm

   Protect our young ladies from all violence in the home and on the street.
6. Erick says:

   November 20, 2009 at 11:49 am

   Rudy, what was the song that was initially posted? Apparently it wasn’t a hit (no pun intended, well, maybe).
   • Rudy Girón says:

     November 20, 2009 at 12:21 pm

     The first song was a great composition by John Lennon which denounces the mistreatment of women the world over. Here you can listen to it; if you dare!
7. Erick says:

   November 20, 2009 at 12:49 pm

   I had never heard that song before, but I liked it, especially after reading the lyrics. I think it describes the reality that perhaps most women have to go through on an every day basis, while at the same time asking people to change their ways/perspective; I don’t think it is meant to intentionally belittle women. But that’s MY two cents.

   Thanks for posting the link; now hope that Laura doesn’t find you (j/k)! =P
8. Janna Rudler says:

   November 20, 2009 at 1:11 pm

   Actually, I think that first song is a pretty accurate description of the double standard women in Guatemala are forced to live with. I’ve often been bewildered at the contradictory code of conduct and manner of dress imposed upon Guatemalan girls. Then when something happens to them, their victimization is blamed on how they were dressed (as in Killers’ Paradise, where police said that the young lady had a belly ring and was wearing sandals, and therefore was just asking to be killed). That song is true, even if its title is shocking.
   • Rudy Girón says:

     November 20, 2009 at 1:23 pm

     @Janna, that’s what I thought, but I did not want to have a song that might be offensive to some women, like Laura.
9. Janna Rudler says:

   November 20, 2009 at 3:59 pm

   I think perhaps she prefers songs that highlight women’s strength as opposed to ones that expose our exploitation. Both, I think, are important. Exposing the ways in which women are manipulated by society shines a glaring light on all those little, damaging things, things that we might otherwise accept as an inevitable part of life. It’s not pretty, but the more they’re brought to light, the less comfortable society will be in perpetuating them. At the same time, fight songs show that we are strong, and that we can survive & prosper in spite of everything.
10. Laura McNamara says:

    November 20, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    Janna hit the nail on the head with the comment above

    I agree that awareness should be raised but ultimately I think broadcasting positive messages will produce more positive results than negative messages (even if it is to bring awareness). But, that being said… still needs to be a part of the whole process.
11. Chepito, Let Me Show You… | AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com says:

    April 20, 2010 at 10:51 am

    [...] like to photograph old people. I like to photograph young people. I like to photograph people, regardless of their age, really. I like to photograph people bonding. I like to photograph members [...]