1921-1930: My Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKivfzjQxOQ Fanny Brice has been such an icon since she made her debut. Her song “My Man” was one of the top songs from 1921. This tune came from the Ziegfeld Follies (a set of elaborate theatre productions performed on Broadway) which happened in 1921. However the song was also in her movie My Man which came out in 1928.This song is absolutely built on ideas from the past. The amount of sexism and objectifying of women makes me want to smash my head into a wall. In just one verse she says that “her man” has at least two or three other ladies that he’s seeing. Her only response is “But I love him! I don’t know why.” I found this appalling enough without adding in another line from the same verse. “He beats me too. What can I do? Oh my man I love him so.” She sounds so weak; unable to stand up for herself or leave him. This expresses the time period by expressing the oppression of women. Fanny Brice writes about this man who abuses her and cheats on her and all she does is “love” him blindly. However, also happening at this same time period is a huge rise in the women’s rights movement. Strong, independent women are not represented very well in this song.