Women Are Not Toys
On June 11, 2000, over 20 women were publicly beaten and sexually assaulted in the middle of Central Park during the cities’ annual Puerto Rican Pride Parade. Men ripped off the clothes of women who happened to be either a part of the parade, or just walking by. Water was poured all over several of them as they were beaten to the ground and in most cases, sexually violated (Sut Jhally 2007.) Sadly, this is only one of many stories of public abuse and ridicule towards women by men. What is to blame for this behavior? Could violent video games be the culprit, as they often have been accused? Do violent actions depicted in movies lead to these horrible occurrences? Or could it be something we’re constantly exposed to, that we may not even realize is a problem. Many researchers think the media is to blame, but what source specifically? The answer is simple: music videos. Most people are aware of the vulgar lyrics in today’s typical top 40 song, and how they typically demean women, but what about the visual representation of these songs and their lyrics? These outlets of expression affect our society and our actions more than we think. How women are portrayed in music videos has created a cultural disrespect and increase in violence towards women. [I really liked my introduction and I think it effectively engages the reader and makes them interested.]The first music video to ever air on MTV was Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles, a British synth-pop band, in 1981 (Hoye 2001.) Thus started the era of music videos and their importance in pop culture during the 1980s and beyond. While emphasis on sexual motifs has grown in the twenty-first century, these early music videos started out very sexually as well. The rock band Warrant was a leader in sexual videos with their 1990 single Cherry Pie. [I didn't realize that Cherry Pie was from 1990, I thought it was from the '80s so that's why I mentioned it first. I wish there wasn't such a gap between the first example of the first video and this video.] The main focus of the video is a scantily clad girl dancing around licking her fingers, dressing up in various costumes, and being sprayed with water (Stein 1990.) This video was banned from airing on Canada’s MTV-equivalent music network, MuchMusic, because of it’s sexist and racy content (“Cherry Pie” para. 13.) [I could not find this information ANYWHERE else besides wikipedia, I was so mad! The source that the author used (whoever wrote this part of the article on wikipedia) didn't work anymore and was a bad website.] However, it led the way for American artists to copy many reoccurring themes that come up repeatedly in sexual music videos today. These themes include: spraying women with water or alcohol (usually women wearing white clothing), women outnumbering men, women eating food erotically and licking their fingers, women undressing, women showering in full view for anyone to see, and men throwing money at women, just to name a few. As Kid Rock said, when talking about one of his music videos, “It’s all about the girls” (Sut Jhally 2007.)
If you watch a music video today, no matter what genre, the main focus of the video is usually on women. Whether it’s rap, country, pop, or rock, women are everywhere in the music media. More often than not, these women are fulfilling male sexual fantasies in their presence and actions; women are often dressed up as a cop, schoolgirl, librarian, teacher, or a cheerleader to cater to male role-playing fantasies. Scenes of men having group sex, sex in airplane bathrooms, and other exotic places are also themes that often come up. Music videos are usually all about this fantasy world and the artists in them are living out their fantasy by taking advantage of the girls around them. [I wish I had expanded on the idea of the male "fantasy world" more. This is a really important piece of this argument.] Of course, the women in these videos are always willing and all they seem to want is sex. Women are depicted as wanting to have sex with any, and as many men that come around. Even if they say no, they’re often easily seduced into saying yes because these women only want one thing-sex, and normally they won’t take no for an answer. Often, women even turn to [other] women for their sexual cravings, and of course, to show off and please the men around them. Men throw money at women in such a way that implies women are just objects that can be bought and sold. The female body is also highly emphasized in music videos today. However, a women’s body is usually shown in parts, not as a whole, and shot from certain angles to emphasize the implied sexuality of the body. One video that uses almost all of these motifs is rapper Nelly’s Tip Drill. Not only is the message of this song highly sexual and offensive, but the visual portrayal of these ideas is much worse. The majority of the video features women in bikinis shaking their behinds [I hate that I had to use this word, I think it sounds so stupid!] for the camera in full view, most of them wearing a thong, or nothing at all. Four women in a hot tub is a reoccurring scene throughout the video as well; all four of them are topless as they make-out with one another and simulate having sex with each other. Other scenes show Nelly and other men throwing money on the women, smacking their behinds, groping the women, looking them up and down, and pouring alcohol and water all over them while they party (McDammit 2003.) Another incredibly misogynistic video is Honky Tonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins. The song itself is about girls’ rear-ends and so this entire video depicts a club of girls shaking their “badonkadonks” for the camera. Many of the girls are dancing erotically, some using stripper poles, wearing next to nothing. The men in the videos repeatedly smack the girls on their behinds and the women just laugh and smile as if they enjoy all the attention (Malone 2005.)
As if sexism and exploitation of women isn’t bad enough, music videos have evolved to feature violence towards women as well. Countless videos depict women being beaten, verbally abused, thrown across rooms; you name a violent action, there will be a music video showing it happening to a women by a man. In Justin Timberlake’s video for Cry Me A River he is stalking his ex-girlfriend, watching her while she showers and undresses. He breaks into her house and videotapes himself making out with another girl to get back at her for supposedly wronging him (Lawrence 2002.) A more extreme example of violence and mistreatment of women is Limp Bizkit’s video for Eat You Alive. The video is mainly Fred Durst, the lead singer, screaming at a girl tied up to a chair. One line that shows how awful the message of the song truly is, visually and audibly, is “...cause I’m a man and I can think what the hell I want, you got that straight?” (Durst 2003.) Another, even more violent video is Eminem’s video for Love The Way You Lie featuring Rihanna. This video shows a man hitting his girlfriend, and then right after, the two of them beginning to kiss. The video goes back and forth between him beating her and portrayals of their “love” for each other (Kahn 2010.) Messages such as this reoccur far too much in music today, and often are depicted visually by the songs’ corresponding music video. While these misogynistic views are obviously a problem in the media, how do we link these messages to real life violence? [I think this was a really good transition.]
Referring to the first example given, the men that attacked the women of the Puerto Rican day parade did many of the same things to those women that artists in music videos do to their ‘fantasy girls.’ The men in New York City poured water all over the women passing by, just like in many music videos. The men touched and violated the women in Central Park, which is often shown in music videos as well. However, there is major difference between the women in the videos and in real life; the women in Central Park weren’t smiling, laughing, or enjoying the assault. On the contrary, they were afraid and extremely upset about how they were being treated. Videos of that day show women sobbing while recounting their experience (Sut Jhally 2007.) The women in music videos are always willing to have sex or give sexual favors. Are men starting to think that women in reality think like this as well? Another grave example is from a Mardi Gras celebration in Seattle, Washington in 2001. Riots broke out and women were attacked in the streets. Many women had their clothes ripped off and were beaten. One man died from injuries sustained in trying to protect one of the women from the rage and abuse. While there was one man trying to defend the women, the vast majority of the men there were violently abusing any girl they would get their hands on (Sut Jhally 2007.) Also, often depicted in music videos are women dressed in barely there clothes, if any clothes at all. These women are also happy and don’t mind being touched and ogled at by the men around them. However, again, the women in reality have a very different opinion about having their clothes taken off publicly for everyone to see; these real women don’t enjoy being touched by several men in sexual ways. What led these men to believe their actions were okay? Is it a coincidence that these men mimicked the actions of artists in popular music videos? The answer is no, this is not a coincidence. Where else would these men have gotten the idea to pour water all over women and rip their clothes off in public? These ideas don’t come out of our own subconscious, they’re often brought on by outside sources. Our society as a whole is oblivious of how much the media affects our thoughts and actions.
Not only are there real-life examples to show the effect of music on men, but scientific studies as well. One experiment involved 54 college-age men; 27 of them listened to misogynous rap music and 27 listened to neutral rap music. Then, each participant viewed several short films depicting either sexual-violence, assault, or they were neutral. Afterwards, the participants each chose which short film to show a woman. Among the participants in the misogynistic condition, 30% showed the sexually violent or assaultive film clip to the women, and 70% showed the neutral clip. Out of the participants in the neutral condition, only 7% decided to show the sexual-violence or assault clip, and 93% showed the neutral clip. One of the scientists involved in the experiment explains that, “These findings suggest that misogynous music facilitates sexually aggressive behavior and support the relationship between cognitive distortions and sexual aggression” (Barongan and Nagayama Hall.) In light of this study alone, there is no doubt that misogynistic music videos and music in general have a grave affect on those who watch them.
Considering the evidence stemming from real-life acts of violence and scientific studies, how women are treated in music videos greatly affects the thoughts and actions of men in our society today, and has led to more violence and disrespect towards women. Misrepresentation of women has been present in music videos since the early ‘80s. After all this time, recognition of this issue is finally coming into view. How much longer will it take for this cultural obsession with sex and disrespect towards women to end? Why do women allow themselves to be portrayed like this? It’s difficult to know the answers to these types of questions, but one thing is certain: if society doesn’t speak out against misogyny now, music videos will become increasingly racy, and the next generation of men might think that this is the way women are supposed to be treated. It seems as if the death of women’s equality is upon us; what an awful thought, considering how far women have come in history. So what can we do as a society to stop this portrayal of women? We can boycott these artists music, we can speak out and inform others of this problem, and as women, we can stand up against men and not tolerate this type of behavior and abuse. Women are so much more than a pretty face and body, and we need to act with this mindset to maintain our respect.[I think my conclusion effectively wrapped up my paper well and presented plausible solutions.]
Works Cited
Barongan, Christy, and Gordon C. Nagayama Hall. "The Influence Of Misogynous Rap Music On Sexual Aggression Against Women." Psychology of Women Quarterly. June 1995. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://pwq.sagepub.com/content/19/2/195.short>.Cherry Pie. Dir. Jeff Stein. Perf. Warrent. YouTube. June 1990. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFtD1DMal3o>.
"Cherry Pie (Warrant Song)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Pie_(Warrant_song)>.
Cry Me A River. Dir. Francis Lawrence. Perf. Justin Timberlake. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2002. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DksSPZTZES0>.
Dreamworlds 3. Dir. Sut Jhally. OVC: JMU Online Film Collection. 2007. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <https://mdid.cit.jmu.edu/ovc/mef00044/>.
Eat You Alive. Dir. Fred Durst. Perf. Limp Bizkit. YouTube. 10 June 2003. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb24kLd459Y>.
Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. Dir. Brian Malone. Perf. Trace Adkins. YouTube. 27 Dec. 2005. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watchlivepage.apple.com?v=vNVguvNE7qc>.
Hoye, Jacob. MTV Uncensored. New York: Pocket /MTV, 2001. Print.
Love The Way You Lie. Dir. Joseph Kahn. Perf. Eminem and Rihanna. YouTube. 5 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U>.
Tip Drill. Dir. Marcus McDammit. Perf. Nelly. YouTube. 2003. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IR8sEAAiGA>.
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