For example, Robin Thicke's new song Blurred Lines features 3 beautiful, naked ladies parading around in underwear and playing with children's toys. Along with 3 naked ladies are 3 fully clothed (in layers might I point out) men singing and rapping about how they will "liberate" this woman. Blurred Lines has a few meanings that are important to this post:
1) Robin Thicke talks about blurred lines in the sense that girls act like they don't want him but they really do.
2) The "lady in the streets, freak in the sheets" complex.
The Robin Thicke version (do note that there is nudity):
http://www.vevo.com/watch/robin-thicke/blurred-lines-unrated-version/USUV71300526
Feminist Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOoZgEWKBfU
Three law students from Auckland, New Zealand felt motivated to speak against the misogynistic song and made a parody video reversing the roles. It's quite awkward to watch, but is very effective. The law students aren't the only ones who found this song and video to be offensive. In the UK, Blurred Lines has been banned from 5 university bars. “The song hugely objectifies woman and excuses rape culture,” said Hollie O’Connor, president of the University of Derby Students' Union. “It is a man suggesting that there are ‘blurred lines’ when it comes to sexual consent and that is unacceptable. We felt we needed to take a stand.”
While Thicke claims it was not their intention to send misogynistic and rape approval messages, it is still his responsibility to be careful potential messages he may send. Blatantly saying "you know you want it" and having these girls parade around naked makes his message pretty clear.
While the media displays this kind of content, it also is the server that condemns the type of content. If more people were willing to stand up against what pop culture has deemed okay, videos like this would not be okay to air.
My three sisters and I were just talking about the original video and wording of this song a few days ago. It is very clear that there is some brash terms and the original video was very indecent. I guess because I have 3 sisters I see things from a bit of a different light so I definitely understand the concept of "Sex sells" and how they utilize woman with a certain look and typically revealing outfits to enhance sales. I think it really depends on the market as well. I notice, like you mentioned, they do the same thing with males but one things I really noticed after reading this post was the specificity of it all. What I mean by that is, for guys who argue "they do the same thing with males" I notice that its only specific males. For example, I believe Boris Kodjoe recently did an interview and alluded to the fact that they always have him doing photo shoots shirtless or in tight shirts which is not necessarily his style. That same sex sells theory applies to any man that can be considered as having a "good body" otherwise commercials are the usual BUT WITH WOMEN, almost EVERY commercial has a beautiful girl dressed a certain way. Fashion, nudity, style and attitude tend to be EVERYTHING when it comes to women in media!
ReplyDeleteIt really does depend on what's being marketed. I have found that sexual innuendoes for things as simple as body soap and Skittles are more commonly being used. Before, this behavior and marketing strategy seemed to be limited towards adult things, clothes, etc. but now even the food industry is buying into sexual content sales! It's crazy!
DeleteI also agree that the media skews the idea of beauty. The NY Post reported in 2012 that the average American man weighs 196 and the average female weighs 156 pounds (http://nypost.com/2012/11/23/americans-are-getting-fatter-poll/). Even news reporters play into the beauty game.
I'm interested to see if Robin Thicke says or does anything further after receiving feedback from listeners and fans. As a celebrity, what you put out is a reflection of yourself. It would be interesting to see him take a stance against rape culture, misogynistic behavior and apologize publicly... maybe even encourage the music/video industry to take steps towards a turn from the backlash he's received.
Wow, while I had listened to that song before with my friends I honestly never really took the time to listen to the lyrics. I also had never seen the music video. While I am not one who gets easily offended by the use of sexual advertisement, I must say this video is over the top. I found the parody hilarious and thought it did a great job at capturing the reverse message that women will not stand to be objectified for the purposes of entertainment. This all got me thinking as to why it is so funny to watch the parody because you see the clear objectification of men yet it is clearly not as easily recognized by some as objectifying women in the original video. I think this is a double standard we need to take a look at as a society. Thanks for bringing my attention to this issue.
ReplyDeleteSeriously awesome post. I saw a story a few days back that talked about a study from 3 years ago. In the study, survivors of rape wrote down what their rapists said to them and held it up to a camera for a montage. The story took this montage and compared it to the lyrics of that horrific Robin Thicke song, and a surprising number of utterances of the rapists matched song lyrics. I was surprised that MSNBC was covering the story (and Project Unbreakable itself), and ultimately glad that they did, as it sort of represented a "social stewardship" motive for a corporate media outlet.
ReplyDeleteBesides the disturbing nature of his entitlement and the song's popularity, the song itself just sucks on so many levels. Uninspired, recycled everything. It sounds like a throw-away Prince B-Side from the early 80's.
Here's the link (TRIGGER WARNING): http://www.psmag.com/culture/mouths-rapists-lyrics-robin-thickes-blurred-lines-66569/