The Girl Anthem: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

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     Fun is one of the things that keeps everyone going through this hard life. You think that as long as we have fun, everything's gonna be fine. But, this term is severally taken away from girls. When they take it away from them, they try to spit out invalid reasons. The song, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a good slap to all those people. Promise, it would wake them up.

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     "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a 1983 single by Cyndi Lauper. Cyndi Lauper, or Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper,  is a singer-songwriter who won Best New Artist in the Grammys in 1984. She had already sold 50 million albums worldwide and in 2013, she won six Tony Awards. Her debut album, She's So Unusual, sold 16 million copies worldwide and the song, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" became a sensation. The song was composed by Robert Hazard, who first recorded it in 1982, but his version was never released. In 1981, he released the radio favorite, "Escalator of Life", which fitted the trend, at that time, rock. In August of 2008,  he died of pancreatic cancer.

     The song won the 1983 American Video Awards for Best Female Performance and the MTV Video Music Award for Female Video. It was also nominated for the Grammy Awards in 1985. It reached no. 1 in the charts in 10 countries. It was also used as a cancer charity record in the UK.

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     "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" became a worldwide female anthem. The song expressed how fun should be equal for all genders. In an interview with The Atlantic, Lauper said the song means girls want to have the same experiences men could have. It was expressed in this line, "My mother says, "When you gonna live your life right?" Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones". Boys, in the song, are described as 'the fortunate ones', being able to do what they want and go wherever they want. She uses this as a response to her mother's question. Yes, girls want to live on the right path, but not in a way that they are limited to the things they want to do because people undermine what they are capable of.

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     The song also interpreted how some boys take advantage of girls. "Some boys take a beautiful girl, and hide her away from the rest of the world". This means some boys only like girls when they have a pretty face and an hourglass body. Some of them underestimate the abilities of a girl and say that their only charm is their body and face. Some of them think that girls need boys to make their life enjoyable. So, in response, "I want to be the one to walk in the sun". This means girls don't need the boys' judgment for them to have equal experience as they have. They don't need boys for their life to be joyful. Girls just need to be confident with themselves and that where they shine and make their life enjoyable.

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     Girls might be underestimated for their capabilities, but that doesn't matter anymore. No boy could ever stop girls from doing everything they want. No words could bring them down. No judging eyes could belittle them because they're confident. After all, "Girls just wanna have fun".

References:

Green, E. (April 1, 2014). The Feisty Feminism of 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun,' 30 Years Later. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/04/the-feisty-feminism-of-girls-just-want-to-have-fun-30-years-later/359834/

Biography.com Editors. (April 27, 2017). Cyndi Lauper Biography. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/musician/cyndi-lauper

Sutton, M. (n.d). Robert Hazard. Retrieved from https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-hazard-mn0000291054/biography

Girls Just Want to Have Fun. (n.d). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_Just_Want_to_Have_Fun