Women’s History Month Spotlight: Melanie Martinez
By Misha Speede and Lana Noredin
2/9/2021
(Trigger Warning:// Blood, Slight Gore, Suicide, Use of Drugs/Getting drugged/Pills, Depression, Anxiety, Eerie, Eating Disorders/Anorexia/Bulimia, Bullying/Harassment, Language| K-12 Recommended for grades 7th+| Where to watch: Youtube)
Women’s History Month Spotlight #4 is Melanie Martinez. She is a model for the alternative pop world and makes music that reflects on the struggles of society. She stands up against racism, homophobia, transphobia, and more. Her time on The Voice, at only fourteen years, really did a wonderful job and helped her develop her own style of music. Melanie Martinez is especially known for her early 2000s trend-setting look within the alternative pop music community. She is known for her half black-half dyed hairstyle parted down the middle, and her adept ability to write music in a childish format with important themes.
- The Principal
- The song’s lyrics analyze Melanie’s view on Trump. Eg. “Shooting at the angels while claiming you’re a good guy.” This verse talks about how Trump poorly handles school shootings and never takes accountability for any of his actions.
- Orange Juice
- This songs’ meaning has to do with many young adults/teens suffering from eating disorders/body dysmorphia, especially in these times because of society. Eg. “Ooh, I wish I could give you my set of eyes, ‘cause I know yours ain’t working fine.’” This verses’ meaning is all about how Melanie wishes that they could “switch eyes” so that they can see themselves in her perspective. Melanie’s perspective is that everyone’s beautiful. No matter what.
- Mad Hatter
- The song’s meaning has to do with Melanie accepting and loving herself, Eg. “So what if I’m crazy? The best people are.” It doesn’t make much sense but switch out the word crazy with weird or abnormal. What Melanie’s trying to make clear is that it’s okay to be abnormal, nobody’s perfect.
Melanie Martinez is significant to Glasgow’s community because she sings and talks about tough subjects no one really talks about and provides a sense of comfort to those who are experiencing these feelings. From singing about those who have severely wronged others in the world to singing about her own depression and how it affects others, she educates others properly on the sensitive topics in this world.
Sources:
https://melanie-martinez.fandom.com/wiki/Melanie_Martinez
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/melanie-martinez-32659.php
https://www.vogue.com/article/melanie-martinez-cry-baby-lollapalooza
Lana Noredin is a 7th grader at Glasgow Middle school. Her family is originally from Sudan but her and all of her siblings were born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Falls Church, VA. Some of her talents are drawing, painting, and rollerskating. Some things she likes to do for fun are play video games, watch anime, read, and listen to music. Some of her favorite artists are Mother Mother, Beach Bunny, Cavetown, Arctic Monkeys, Babymetal, and Jack Stauber. She had two cats, but one passed away unfortunately. Although she can roller skate, she can’t ice skate or knows how to ride a skateboard.
Misha Speede is an 8th grader in Glasgow Middle School. She is currently growing up in a very diverse and multicultural family; her mother is Chinese and she is African American. She can speak Cantonese and Mandarin, and she really enjoys eating all of the Chinese delicacies. Besides speaking three languages, she also enjoys writing, especially poetry and fantasy. She also really like reading, if she could live in a book fandom, she would live at Camp Half Blood. She is also in orchestra at Glasgow, and she plays the violin.
keira
Oct 4, 2021 at 8:45 am
i rlly like mel so thanks 🙂
Sofia Hemmens
Mar 10, 2021 at 6:39 am
Do you take requests for spotlights?
Maclain Monsky
Mar 10, 2021 at 9:03 am
We would love some suggestions for spotlights. We don’t have a specific form for History Month spotlights however if you would like to suggest a spotlight you can email the Editors and Chiefs (Ayesha Gulzar and Diana Prudius) or Ms. Grillo. Thank you!