The third song I will be analyzing by the boyband One Direction is, “Temporary Fix”. This song is off of the band’s Made In The A.M. album from 2015. The lyrics of this song are highly sexual, and therefore provided me with a lot of interesting points when referring to how sex and gender roles are present within boyband media.
The song starts off with lyrics that state:
Saw your body language and I know how you’re feeling
These lyrics show how the woman’s body language is inviting and makes the boys feel wanted by her. We learned about the female gaze and how a woman’s behaviors with her body can be used to draw in men. The song then continues on to say:
Standing with somebody but he doesn’t know what you like
Men are constantly comparing themselves to other men and competing with other men for women. This is because a masculine characteristic is to be dominant, assertive, a leader, and the most powerful. In cases of heterosexual relationships, men always feel the need to prove themselves to be better than the other men present in a woman’s life by tearing other men down. Men also fight to be the best sexually for a woman.
We can tell that the woman is wanted for sexual reasons because of the lyrics:
All that I can see is you waking up in my t-shirt
The song also continues to refer to hookup culture with the chorus:
You can call me
When you’re lonely
When you can’t sleep
I’ll be your temporary fix
You control me
Even if it’s just tonight
You can call me
When you feel like
I’m your good time
I’ll be your temporary fix
You can own me and we’ll call this what you like
Let me be your good night
The chorus refers to how people should be able to call each other when they are lonely and have a “temporary fix”. Hook-ups are very common, especially for men. Therefore we can see how these sexual encounters are downplayed within the song. The next verse also provides listeners with more content that aims towards creating comments about a woman’s body in a sexual way. The lyrics state:
Your body is saying everything, I don’t have to read your mind
Feel you on my neck while I’m calling a taxi
Climbing over me while I climb in the backseat
Now we’re taking off, now we’re taking it off tonight
Again, the boys are referring to the woman’s body “speaking”, rather than seeing her as an actual person. They are objectifying her in the way where she is only seen as a body in this situation rather than an actual human with thoughts and feelings. The rest of this verse goes back to referring to sexual encounters. The boys make this woman out to be tender, attractive, and affectionate towards them.
Overall we can see that this song reinforces the gender and sex roles given to both masculine and feminine personalities.
Shared by: Abigail Gonnering
Image Credit: Pinterest