Britney Spears, Rihanna, and Lady
GaGa 3 very strong and powerful female singers in today’s pop music scene. These
women are also known for pushing the envelope with their music videos and the
portrayal of sex in their videos. They are three women who are comfortable with
their sexuality and not afraid to show it. I would usually argue against their
inappropriate behavior in but in terms of this assignment I am taking a
different side. Spears, Rihanna and GaGa aren’t trying to be sex-crazed women
who dance sexually, make-out, and ‘have sex’ with their co-stars in their music
videos they are instead artists expressing themselves in their music. The
problem is that in today’s culture what they do in their music videos and
lyrics is so far from the norm it is frowned upon and they become the
controversial topic of the week when they premiere a new video. Feminists would
see what they are doing as objectifying themselves in a man-run world and
giving into the stereotypes of being nothing more then sex objects for me. But,
that is not it they are trying to show their strength as female music artists
in a business that is run by men.
In A ‘New’ Paradigm? By Liesbet Van Zoonen, she talks about feminism
and the new approach to the feminist theories. It brings to light the other
side of things and how as pop culture has changed in the media so has the ideas
of feminism. Zoonen states that, “Media production, for instance, is neither a
straightforward derivative of the malicious intents of capitalist male owners,
nor is it merely the product of the sexist inclinations of media
professionals.” (Zoonen 1994) Zoonen goes on to say that, “It cannot be seen as a simple black box
transmitting the patriarchal, sexist or capitalist values of its producers. It
is better characterized by tensions and contradictions between individuals with
different professional values and personal opinions, and between conflicting
organizational demands such as creativity and innovation on the one hand and the
commercial need to be popular among a variety of social groups on the other
hand.” (Zoonen 1994).
Basically, while
women live in patriarchal world, women aren’t going to allow things to be seen
in one way instead they are going to create things in the media that gives the
audience a different point of view on things, to represent their personal views
and allow others to form their own based on what they are shown. Trying to be a
female artist in the media world isn’t easy because you have to stand up and be
strong as well as defend your ideas and bring them to life. These three women
do just that and they don’t care as much of what people are going to take away
from it because they are doing for their own expression but they also do it to
share with their fans. Feminists don’t approve with the new pop culture music
and don’t find what they do as actual art because to them these women are
flaunting their bodies and in a negative way giving meaning to the stereotypes
that are placed upon women in this man-run world we live in.
I found an article
for Spears, Rihanna and GaGa, to help explain my point. The first article was
about Britney Spears’ music video ‘Criminal,’ “Britney Spears’ Controversial
“Criminal” Video—How Steamy is it?” by Marianne Garvey. In 2011 Britney Spears
released a music video and in her video it starred her current boyfriend and
some very sexual moments. “The singer, who filmed the video in London last
month with her real-life boyfriend, gets completely naked with her man, takes a
sexy shower with him and rolls around in the sheets with him in what look like
some very real love scenes.” (Garvey 2011). The shower scene was where Spears
got the biggest uproar, next to the robbery that involved Britney holding up a convenience
store owner at gun point. The shower scene was very revealing and showed more
of Britney then most people would have liked and it didn’t make much sense with
the video but Spears is also a woman who is proud of her sexuality of being a
woman and has so qualms of showing her audience that she is beautiful. The
article also gives a statement given by Britney’s people, “But Brit’s camp
slammed the attack on her, telling E! News the video is “a fantasy-themed story
featuring Britney’s boyfriend.” (Garvey 2011). That’s exactly what music videos
are they are a make-believe story being told, the videos bring the lyrics of
the songs to life and there is nothing wrong with that. Women have the right to
express themselves and if showing off what they have to offer as beautiful strong
women, then it’s a good thing. For anyone who hasn’t seen the music video and
would like to check it out here is the link. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6b33PTbGxk&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3Dbritney%2Bspears%2Bcriminal%26oq%3Dbritney%2Bspears%2Bcr%26aq%3D0p%26aqi%3Dp-p1g9%26aql%3D%26gs_nf%3D1%26gs_l%3Dyoutube-psuggest.1.0.35i39j0l9.236.7651.0.8617.7.7.2.0.0.0.520.1069.0j4j5-1.5.0.&has_verified=1)
Let’s be honest sex sells. Pop stars are one of the pre-teens and teens biggest idols. They are extremely impressionable, mostly to young girls. Not only pop stars but actors and actresses, and television characters too. It is hard to define what is appropriate to do as an idol. You want to be a good role model, but in order to be famous, you must fit the entertainment lifestyle which is to be highly sexual in music videos,lyrics, and be overall attractive. The post by Kerri Dolan about female pop stars reminded me a quote by Liesbet Van Zoonen, “It seems indisputable that many aspects of women’s lives and experiences are not properly reflected by the media. Many more women work than the media suggest,very few women resemble the ‘femmes fatale’ of movies and TV series...” (McQuail, 48) Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears all have “femme fatale” personalities. This ideal can be confusing to young girls to consume and it starts at an earlier age for some girls.
ReplyDeleteI remember I got in trouble with my best friend when we were around eight years old. The movie Drive Me Crazy featuring Melissa Jone Hart had just come out and my best friend, C showed me a sexy dance move in my back yard that Melissa had done it it. The movie title referenced the Britney Spears song, so it was automatically a hit with pre-teen and teens in the 90s. Anyways, the dance move went like this, she licked one of her fingers and traced a line down her chest. Un-fortunately my Mom was doing dishes and witnessed me doing this. She called me in and told me that I had done something wrong. My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. Ofcourse I didn’t know this was wrong. I just knew it was cool, because the character in the movie was an older, attractive girl and I wanted to be that too.
Recently I watched the show 19 Kids and Counting and they discussed how the children were not allowed to dance because they the parents thought that dancing was a way of expressing their bodies in ways that hinted sexual actions. I was appalled by this. I absolutely love to dance. From weddings to in my common room with my roommates, I will dance anywhere. But then I got to thinking about that time I got in trouble for doing that forbidden dance move. I couldn’t imagine not being allowed to dance, but the dance moves that little girl idolize are the ones that they see on music videos, that are easily accessible on the internet, TV, and even movies. Movies like Save the Last Dance, and Step Up feature highly sexual dance moves. Go into a club like “Toads” in New Haven and you will see a grosser, sweatier, and clumsier version of these dance moves. The truth is that dancing is truly a way to connect to another person whether we like it or not. I obviously would never prohibit someone from dancing, but if “grinding” is really a trend in our culture now, what are the dance moves going to look like for our children in College?