JT and Timbaland will feed your sexual appetite

It seems that we live in a society that will only accept extreme views of men and women. There is the young virgin who is a prude and then there is the hyper-sexualized slut. At the same time that we tell young women that they must wait for Prince Charming to ride in on his white horse, we show them music videos where scantily-clad females are props surrounding famous musicians. Recently, I watched this music video for "Carry Out" by Timbaland featuring Justin Timberlake.

The lyrics are pretty obvious. A man provides a ticket and a woman fulfills his order. He satisfies her appetite with foreplay, and she provides the dessert. I think what strikes me the most about this video is the comparison between an appetite for food and appetite for sex. Women are constantly caught in traps where they are not allowed to have appetites for food (why? well, they wouldn't want to get "fat" and become unattractive to male suitors), and women also face judgment for having sexual appetites. Based on the images that we receive in the media, it is only thin, beautiful, and white women that are allowed to have sex and talk about it with the assumption that they don't really eat to maintain their figures. When women are eating dessert in this music video, it is clear that they are doing this in a hyper-sexualized manner referencing oral sex.

While the video is encouraging a woman's sexual appetite, it is reinforcing the view that women only have that one appetite. What about her appetite for new experiences, travel, or love? These other aspects of female identity are missing, and young women easily learn that to feed a man's sexual appetite they need to provide the dessert. People have sex. It is a natural part of life, but it becomes problematic when women only have sex or are sexual objects.

A couple of other thoughts I'm thinking through on this music video:

-The history of hip-hop culture would provide some interesting commentary on this video. I read parts of this book, Check it while I wreck it: Black womanhood, hip-hop culture, and the public sphere, where author Gwendolyn D. Pough, makes some thought-provoking comments about female rappers who have used questionable messages from male rappers to create empowering lyrics and music videos.

-Also, Justin Timberlake is a repeat offender. The film Dreamworlds turns a critical eye to his video for "Cry Me a River" where he stalks a Britney Spears look-alike and breaks into her home because he can't get over a breakup. (creepy, I think yes!)

-Also, I think it's interesting to consider how race and gender intersect in this video. I'm taking a course in African American Women's literature that I absolutely love (!), and we have discussed the ways that historically black women have been hyper-sexualized and compared to animals. Consider this recent ad:

The Woman Behind "ADELE"

As a big Adele fan, it disappoints me that magazines and tabloids spend so much time labeling her and dismantling her image as a positive role model for young people. Adele has been very vocal about her comfort with her looks and wanting to make good music instead of changing her appearance to make someone else happy. This is such an empowering message amidst the barrage of teen icons that do not wear underwear (Thanks for that one, Britney!) or become hyper-sexualized at a young age (Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, and list goes on...). 

Adele was recently featured on the cover of Vogue magazine. Let's just take a moment to point out that the woman on this cover vaguely resembles Adele (but, that's another issue entirely!) I found the article initially on a different website, and it focused entirely on Adele's comments that she was finished being a "bitter witch" and "loved sex and cooking for a man." After reading the entire interview on Vogue's website, it's clear that certain websites were using selective attention to portray Adele as angry and man-hating. This is an uncomfortable position Alanis Morissette and Kelly Clarkson can understand. So, apparently women are supposed to be cheery and happy all of the time but if they express anger towards their exes, they're crazy or bitter? 


While I often disagree with the messages in "Sex and the City", this scene captures exactly what I'm talking about.

I question: who is ADELE? And to be honest, I don't care because I love her music. And shouldn't that be what matters?

Sizeism on Display in American Idol Top 13

Yesterday, I had a conversation with my dad about the contestants in the American Idol Top 13, and he pointed out that America always chooses the more attractive and thin people to continue on in the competition. This is not a shocking revelation considering the transformations of past American Idol participants such as Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, and Katherine McPhee. Jennifer Hudson's doing weight loss commercials. Carrie Underwood's slowly ditching her "good girl" image for her listeners, and Katherine McPhee has become a Hollywood starlet with the new television show, "Smash." McPhee discussed her struggles with weight and and an eating disorder openly in 2010. At the same time as she was sharing her body struggles, Katherine appeared in this heavily-Photoshopped image on the cover of SHAPE magazine. Can we ever give women a break?

These images are particularly troubling since this past week was National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. While these images and stories aren't the only factors contributing to eating disorders and poor body image among young girls, they matter. Children consume an absurd amount of television every day, and I often talk with young girls that think they need to be as thin as a Victoria's Secret model to look good in their bras or lose weight to look like their favorite celebrity.


Check out the Love your body Campaign and 20 Ways to Love Your Body!

The Denison Feminists also did this cool project where they put positive quotes on sticky notes all around campus (in the dorms, bathrooms, etc...)

YouTube Child Sensations: Offensive, Funny, or Disturbing?

I love a good YouTube video, particularly this child covering Darren Criss's version of "Teenage Dream." Yet, what happens when parents go too far? 

This YouTube video of two little girls in ballerina costumes singing Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" has me worried. One area of concern is the point in the song where Minaj sings, "He's just got to give me that look/When he give me that look/Then the panties comin' off, off..." These children are five and eight-years-old. I don't think I can find a more blatant example of the early and over-sexualization of young girls. 


Ellen did a segment on her show where she brought the little girls on for a duet with Nicki Minaj. I have a problem with this because it is encouraging the girls to emulate Minaj's image and continue to sing her lyrics. Young girls are constantly receiving mixed messages about their sexuality. They can look sexy but not be sexual. Even if the girls don't understand the lyrics, they are still being exposed to them. I think many of the "popular" songs today promote a culture that disrespects women and removes a woman's control over her body. The song promotes a culture where women's panties come off when a man looks her way. Even if others don't agree with my points, I still think there needs to be more conversations surrounding these YouTube videos and the future consequences they have on children.

(http://forblackwomen.net/wp-content/uploads/

2011/09/super-bass-makeup-nicki-minaj.jpg)

Check out Minaj's official video for "Super Bass"!

Rihanna's Not Your Role Model

On Tuesday, Rihanna was named Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive. To celebrate her title, she posed nude for the magazine's cover.

She offers some interesting comments in the article about not thinking she is "sexy" while she simulates sex on stage during her concerts and admits to wearing racy outfits. While there is nothing wrong with embracing sexuality, Rihanna's songs position her and her listeners as sex objects. In the interview, she shares that she "doesn't want to be anyone's role model. She just wants to be a musician." I would argue that just being a musician is not possible when millions of children consume her music and image.

What do movie and television posters say about their female leads?

I love watching films and critiquing them. I've been thinking about how movie and television posters portray their female leads. This poster sparked my interest:

In terms of romantic comedies, I think this movie is one of the best ones I've seen in years, so when I saw this poster I was bummed. This image is problematic because Marisa Tomei is reduced to a pair of legs. Steve Carrell is also pigeon-holed into the sex-crazy male with that goofy expression on his face. The "legs as framing" technique is overdone, particularly in hip-hop music videos. For more information on this, you can consult the Media Education Foundation's website and documentary, DreamWorlds. The videos on this site are great for educators to use in their classrooms. They're currently producing a documentary of Jessica Valenti's, The Purity Myth. I read this book last summer. Valenti discusses sex-education in the United States, "purity balls" where young women creepily promise to stay faithful to their fathers before marriage, and she calls into question where this concept of "virginity" came from. Take a look at Valenti's book!

Another promo for a television program that caught my attention:

And:

So "Don't let the name fool you", just judge me based on the slip dress I'm wearing?! What's going on in these pictures? The last one caught my attention because she's not looking at the viewer. While she is powerful and strong, this ad reminds the viewer that she is "feminine" and a woman with the heels and sexy, black dress. There isn't anything wrong with women looking sexy, but there is a problem when she is reduced to that one image. What about these images says that she's strong?

I then looked at this image:

This image fits with many other promos ABC has created. Desperate Housewives was one of the worst offenders with images like this and this. It's playing on an old double-bind that women need to be innocent, as shown with the white clothing, yet sinful and dirty with the slogan "they're not saints." Anyone else notice that while the show tries to incorporate some diversity, they are "whitening" this image. I find that ridiculous! This image will attract male audiences, but I find it problematic and disheartening that these images of women are recycled over and over again. When will this change?

Media education is important in an age where young people and their parents watch on average four hours of television per day. I'm currently reading Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism in the 21st Century edited by Rory Dicker and Alison Piepmeier, and the first chapter begins with a call for media education. I think this starts small by questioning the images that have become so ingrained in our minds that we perceive them as normal. It is not NORMAL that women are portrayed as body parts instead of people.

I'm 20 years old, and I feel like I'm too old to be at a Kesha concert

(http://www.picgifs.com/celebrities/k/kesha/celebrities-kesha-548695.png)

Last week, my roommate and I took a spontaneous trip to Columbus to see Kesha perform. It was quite an experience to be sandwiched in between hundreds of preteens and older couples with their seven-year old children chanting to Kesha's "Tik Tok", "Cannibal" and "Take it Off." My roommate looked at me embarrassed asking if I also "felt like I was too old to be at this concert." 

The public image Kesha has crafted intrigued me the most. She emerged on stage in a black leotard, ripped stockings, wild hair, and crazy makeup, the opposite of a proper, well-manicured woman. She cultivates the persona that she's doesn't care about the way she looks. She just wants to party, drink a lot of beer, and play music occasionally. Her lyrics are simple, and I can see why her messages are seductive to young women that want to go out and have a good time. While she may fit narrow beauty standards with her thin frame and blond locks, she tarnishes that image when she curses on stages, touches herself, and dresses in messy clothes and makeup. So, she is escaping one stereotype that women must be polite and "nice" while confirming a stereotype that girls just want to party and exist for the pleasure of men. I still don't know what to make of Kesha's "image", but there is something that tells me that she's a lot smarter than she shows.