You Don’t Own Me
Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” is about a woman demanding her independence from her man. Gore doesn’t want any guy to possess her because she is worthier than that. Some men expect women to obey them. They feel superior and treat women like an object. Just like Cho-Cho-san women are being degraded all the time. In Madame Butterfly, Cio-Cio-San is sold in marriage to Pinkerton, an American Navy Lieutenant. Part of the song says “Don’t tie me down cause I’d never stay” which reflects Pinkerton's actions because he abandoned his wife for three years. In the song, it also says “To live the life the way I want” which is how Pinkerton lives. He bought a house that came with a geisha wife and three servants. He didn’t express any intention of fulfilling his role as husband. Pinkerton views his as a marriage of convenience, he intends to abandon her as soon as he encounters an American woman to marry. One day he decided to completely leave his wife and marry another person. This song could have been written for Pinkerton and Cio-Cio-San because she does not possess him and he is a free man.
“Madame Butterfly” depicts a disastrous unreal marriage between an American male and a Japanese female. Self-deception is shown throughout the story because Cio-Cio-San’s Uncle and Sharpless try to talk sense into Butterfly. This story also shows culture clash because young and innocent Butterfly couldn’t tell the difference between unethical behavior from a foreigner and typical foreigner behavior. Butterfly interprets Pinkerton's actions wrong, he had dishonorable intentions of being a legitimate marriage offer. Pinkerton said, “And to the day when I’ll wed a real wife in America.”Another theme also portrayed is honor. Madame Butterfly shows that Japanese and American cultures have completely contradictory ideas of honor. Cio-Cio-San’s family disowns her primarily because she married an American. That was a "dishonorable" thing to do and she disowned her ancestral gods. On the other hand, she regards marriage as a quite honorable and appropriate thing. She also believes that Americanizing herself from a religious and cultural perspective is the only ethical and proper thing to do. She also does what she thinks is honorable which is for her husband to return. (Example:) Cio-Cio-San waits for her husband instead of remarrying and providing for her son, even if her money is running out. Pinkerton shows how an uncultured American is. He believes that he is not really bound by laws, morality or anything else except in America, his own country.
The song “You Don't Own Me” refers to being free and able to do as you wish. For example, saying that I’m no one’s property, or I don’t belong to anyone, and I accomplish everything I desire. Two Philadelphia songwriters, John Madara and David White compose this song to advocate for “Women Liberation Movement,” although women were not considered for many years. The writer's intentions were about the woman confronting a man without fear. The song informs how a woman could have freedom and not depend on a man. It mentions that women are not toys, they are human beings that have their own personalities and don’t try to modify them. Let them be free and don’t tie them down because it will not happen they are going to wonder if they desire. The writers offer Lesley Gore, the signer, to sign this song, she was only seventeen years old; when the writers approached her to ask her, to sign the song. She was having a relaxing day sitting in front of a pool before a performance when she heard the lyrics. She was delighted because she agreed with what the writers were trying to get across the audience. Lesley began singing the song in her performances, and the song was a fantastic hit.
Scene Analysis
My favorite Lesley line is “And don’t tell me what to do.”I chose this line because these words perfectly describe Pinkerton in the story M Butterfly. The story starts with an exciting beginning Cho-Cho-San and Pinkerton joined their lives together; then the story ends with an atrocious and mournful ending. Pinkerton marries Ch-Cho-San who is a Japanese girl; he is a US navy lieutenant (Hwang.) They live happily for some time when Pinkerton decides to abandon her to return to his country, and he doesn’t consider her opinion. He escapes her for three years and marries again to an American lady during the time he was gone. He decides to return to Cho-Cho-San with an intention and take their son back to his country. Cho- Cho-San is devastated because she has Pinkerton never took her seriously. He only saw her as something temporary to entertain himself. Pinkerton is a greedy man and accomplishes anything he wants.
“I Could Do This”
“So just let me be myself,” these two artists John Madara and David White dreamed of been signers. These two artists set off their journeys at an adolescent age; John Madara developed a vocal practice at age seventeen and David White started singing at age fourteen. Madara decided he wanted to sign and quit school at an adolescent age. He wanted to be himself. Madara knew he was passionate about music, regardless of the effort he was going to suffer(forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com). On the other hand, White started at an adolescent age too, and he had the opportunity to develop a singing group (Mindstorm Interactive, Inc). Both artists begin working together around 1957. They create a fantastic dual: songs writers and producers. After a while, they decided to go their own ways because of the differences between them. They wanted to be themselves.
Comparison Chart
Lesley Gore - “You Don’t Own Me” David Hwang - “Madame Butterfly”
 You don’t own me Don’t try to change me anyway You don’t own me Don’t tie me down cause I’d never stay |  Butterfly didn’t own Gallimard, he doesn’t love or care about her He abandoned her for 3 years and when he returns he isn’t planning to stay He replaced her for an American wife “She came with me, she’s my wife” (7). |
| I’m young and I love to be free I’m free and I love to be free To live the way I want | Pinkerton doesn’t want a real relationship with Butterfly He just sees her as something temporary to entertain himself His dream is to marry an American women “And to the day when I’ll wed a real wife in American” (1). |
| So let me just be myself That’s all I ask of you Oh, don’t tell me what to say | Pinkerton tells Butterfly to just let him leave He simply wants to run away like he always does because he is a coward He is embarrassed by his actions “I cannot bear to stay another moment like a coward let me flee” (7) |
Music Video
This I Believe Statement
This I Believe: What I understand is that there are many men like Gallimard just identify women as an object to entertain themselves. In reality, they don’t have good intentions. Some men see women less because they are feminine but are not masculine. They feel powerful and expect women to obey them. A personal connection I have to the song “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore is from a previous relationship. In my last relationship, my boyfriend always tried controlling me. He would try telling me who to be around, and he would try telling me what to wear. I didn’t think his actions were appropriate; therefore, I decided to end the relationship and only remain his friend. When I heard the lyrics, it was extremely emotional to me because men have treated me as less simply because I’m a female. What I can learn from the artist that you must always stand up for yourself. Women and men should be treated equally. It can happen to any of us. Primarily young female teenagers, people try taking advantage of us. It’s a cruel world. I merely wish Song would realize how wrong she is to wait for someone who doesn’t care about her. Just like Song, many young females are trapped in unhealthy relationships, they are frightened to stand up for themselves. I learned you should never let someone control you and if someone doesn’t appreciate you they don’t truly love you.
Works Cited
Garcia, Robert. “Theme of Deception Flutters throughout 'M. Butterfly'.” Tribunedigital-Baltimoresun, 6 Dec. 1990. Web. 07 July 2018.
Medina, Victoria. “Lesley Gore.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 07 July 2018.
Rodriguez, James. “M. Butterfly Essential Quotes by Theme: Stereotypes.” Enotes.com, Enotes.com, 4 May 2014. Web. 07 July 2018.
Soriano, Iliana. “‘You Don't Own Me’ – Iliana Soriano – Medium.” Medium, Augmenting Humanity, 25 May 2016. Web. 07 July 2018.
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