This song, unlike the first and second songs, is completely and utterly wholesome. “Little Things” talks about a girl’s insecurities, flaws, and the fact that the boy(s) in this particular song think(s) that these imperfections are what make a girl real and genuine. The lines:
“You’ll never love yourself half as much as I love you
And you’ll never treat yourself right darling, but I want you to
If I let you know, I’m here for you
Maybe you’ll love yourself like I love you, oh,”
take on a subject position because I think almost all girls, and especially ones that listen to One Direction’s music, tend to judge themselves with the alignments of society (thinking there is only one ideal body image, comparing themselves to other females or female models, and/or questioning their own self worth, to name a few). One Direction, as a band, is offering advice to their female audience to be mindful of how they treat themselves by reminding women that they are enough as they are. This song is definitely a reflection of reality. Our identity, like we talked about in class, is how we describe ourselves to each other and what others expect of us socially. This song is a beautiful reminder to be aware of how we, as women, describe and feel about ourselves (that we should feel good) and holds a positive message for young females all around the world.
The Sex Role Perspective is, in a way, not shown in this song because the lyrics are not of typical pop music culture; the objective idea that women are pawns to play with or to admire her body only if it fits the social norm. Rather, this song portrays that yes, there is more to a female body than just physical features, and yes, not all boys objectify women but CAN be unconditionally loving and romantic. Recently, I think artists in general are becoming more aware that objectification is not the only topic to write a song about, but it definitely is still a prominent issue in pop music.
Shared by: Elyse Hornung
Image Credit: Wikipedia