Wednesday, April 1, 2009
What happened to love letters and love songs?
Many women in the media are portrayed as less than human in many aspects. In movies and television we see them dressed promiscuously and used as sex objects. They are “arm candy” for men or trophies that men show off to build their self-esteem. It is almost as if women are the property of the male race. When we watch music videos on MTV or online (YouTube.com, etc), we are witnessed to the little clothing that wardrobe requires the women backup dancers/ singers to wear. I’m sure flashing off a woman’s body in such a way does sell albums, but at the same time it teaches an explicit message. It says that if a man talks, acts, and treats women the way they do in a particular music video, then they too can get women like those seen in those videos. The lyrics of certain songs strongly suggest promiscuity as well as the wrong messages about women. I did some research on songs that might potentially be degrading to women, unfortunately, I found quite a few. I came across a song by T Pain called “I’m in Love with a Stripper.” A section of the song goes as follows: “There’s a hoe in the room, there’s hoes in the car. There’s hoes on stage, there’s hoes by the bar. Hoes by near and hoes by far.” He is basically calling women by a derogatory name. At the end of the song he says “Hoe bring your ass.” This made me think that at this point in the song he is saying that women are sex objects and nothing more. 3OH!3 is a Hip Hop group who sings a song called “Don’t Trust Me.” I heard this song while I was at work. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Towards the end of the song they sing “Shush girl shut your lips, do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips. This repeats two more times. This message is telling women to stop trying to have intellectual conversation so that they can please men. This is the YouTube clip of the “Don’t Trust Me” video. The section of the song that I quoted is around the 2 minute mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFpT2QSDWM0
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Love the title. The depiction of women in videos and in songs is always in a constant tug of war between selling and making money and downsizing women's nature. Women are rarely seen being a person, an individual with a career, a backbone, and at the same time sweet and pretty in videos and even in songs, women are degraded and in a way subjected to traditional ideals from men who cannot get it into their heads that time has changed and women should not be subservient and quiet in the background. Women have a voice, and they should be heard. Songs and videos that depict women in such a degrading light is disgusting. It only goes to show that not all men value women, and at the same time it shows that women need to be aggressive and speak out for their morals. I think the reason some songs and videos with negative portrayals of women are constantly influx is the fact that some people do not really take the time to focus and listen to the lyrics because of all the added bedazzle and effects. We really need good music back and better videos. A lot of artists today are promoting change in the society's structure in their videos by emphasizing positivity and a clean image, and that is a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteWomen are exploited in the media, especially in the Hip Hop and R&B industries. In the Hip Hop and R&B industries women are portrayed as objects of the men’s desires. However, some artists try to dismiss the stereotypical roles given to women in the entertainment industry. R&B artists such as, Ne-yo has songs that promote women’s independence. Furthermore, songs are emerging that show women in a positive context. Ne-yo's song titled, “Miss Independent” presents a positive image of women in the entertainment industry. Furthermore, Ne-yo’s video, “Miss Independent” allows people to see that women are not always exploited in videos.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8h2f7aT2sM&feature=PlayList&p=24366A0D5534704C&index=0