Contemporary Woman Writer

Florence Welch

Florence Welch is an English born singer and song writer, and more commonly known as the lead singer of indie band, Florence and the Machine.  In her early music career, she started playing gigs with her best friend and fellow band mate, Isabella "Machine" (thats where the name of the band came from.) She recorded and released her first album, Plans, in 2007.  Florence and the Machine didn't start becoming popular in the United States until around 2009 when her songs were being featured in shows and movies such as Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy and Eat Pray Love.

I chose to focus on one of Florence's earliest singles, "Kiss with a Fist".  Obviously the lyrics of the song sound quite violent and disturbing, but Welch claims the song portrays a hypothetical and psychological violent relationship between a couple. 

She quotes, "Kiss with a Fist" is NOT a song about domestic violence. It is about two people pushing each other to psychological extremes because they are fighting but they still love each other."

I chose this song because I feel that it depicts the double standard that many women still feel today.  The song represents two different ends of the spectrum pertaining to women. The first, being a strong and courageous woman fighting back against a man; the second being a woman's vulnerability and giving into a man.  Lyrics such as "You hit me once, I hit you back" or "I broke your jaw once before, spilt your blood upon the floor" convey the strength and ability of a woman to stand up to a male figure. 

On the other hand, lyrics such as "A kiss with a fist is better than none" portrays the common feeling that no woman truly wants to admit. I feel that many women may be unhappy in their relationship, or even in danger because of abuse, yet they continue to stay in that relationship because they fear the loss of that companionship and "safety" of having a man by their side. Portraying hypothetical violence, "a kiss with a fist is better than none"  pretty much translates into "he makes you unhappy, but at least he's there" which is a feeling women, especially teens, commonly face today.  I feel that this issue still exists in this day and age mainly because of the way society was in the past.  In many of the readings we have read thus far, society's views on women were that having and taking care of a husband was said to be the number one priority, and I still think that concept is engrained, at least somewhat, in our minds today.