Dorian Lynskey Blurred Lines

The Film Dreamworlds III examines the explicit nature and the objectification of women in music videos across music genres. A similar theme is presented throughout these various music videos as women are sexualized and exploited. In addition, many music videos display the domination and antoagonizing nature of a man controlling the numerous women submitting themselves to him. The portrayal of these images in music videos advertise and influence audiences to accept this behavior on screen, which in turn strengthens aggressive masculinity and the pornography of women.

Robin Thicke’s music video to his song “Blurred Lines” avidly contributes to the patriarchy, while portraying sexism, gender standards, and beauty standards. His music video can be analyzed from a feminist theory approach, as it’s evident that his song and video contribute to a patriarchal society and its inherently sexist and sexualized ideologies. The ideology behind the song and music video is purely sexual and about male dominance. The lyrics to the song and actions in the video exhibit extreme over sexualization and objectification of the women. Analyzing this piece of popular culture through a feminist approach opens up a provoking conversation about how popular culture functions in a patriarchal culture. Analyzing pop culture though a feminist theory can allow for a larger variety and more in-depth analysis about the social aspects and political agenda within popular culture.

In her article “The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto: Negotiating Spaces for Women,” Imani Perry argues that the objectification of women in the music industry is normalized in our society. Her purpose is to persuade us that most feminists who fight against the objectification and exploitation of women are ultimately colonized by the sexual fantasies of men. As a law professor at Rutgers Law School, Perry structures her text in a very effective manner. Using a general-to-specific organization scheme, she begins by outlining the recurring image of sexualized women in music videos, then presenting various cases of prominent feminist figures in the music industry.

For this journal entry, I chose to compare Audre Lorde's Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference to the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. In Lorde's piece, she talks about how oppressed people are often taught to ignore the fact that they are oppressed. We are taught to handle the difference we face by either ignoring them, copying them or destroying them. Lorde says that society as a whole has failed to see differences as a "springboard for creative change." Her article focuses on the fact that refusing to see creative differences makes it impossible to see the different problems and pitfalls women face. Some problems all women share and other problems all women do not share. For example, the experience of a white woman is different

The documentaries Dream World 3 and Killing Us Softly 4 examine the exploitation of women within the media. The media, such as advertisement and the music video industry, relies heavily on the seductive image of female sexuality. Evident in not only every genre of music, but also every form of advertisement, the videos and advertisements expose and, subsequently sexualize the female body. Such sexualization inevitable leads to

Director Sut Jhally, in his documentary film, “Dreamworlds 3: Desire, sex, and power in music videos”, analyzes the issue of how women are portrayed in the music world. Jhally, in his film argues how music and media has become a proud industry when it comes to advertising women, all for the benefit of popularity and record sales. Jhally believes these videos both inform and misinform our culture about our dominant attitudes regarding femininity masculinity, sexuality and race. He uses an empathetic tone in order to appeal to pathos, the feelings and experiences in women when he presents video clips that are somewhat offensive to watch as proof that women have become a common necessity shown in music videos. Often presented as being sexually aggressive and submissive, being objectified by men. He also intentionally wants to try to stir up emotions as he introduces song lyrics of women being called inappropriate names and images of women being fondled by men throughout the film. Sometimes, aggressively without consent.

Sexual assault and violence is increasing due to advertisements misinforming people into believing that such behavior is acceptable. “In the 1960’s Kilbourne found that she received more recognition for her looks rather than her intelligence” (Grean and Lidinisky, 490). Perhaps this is why Kilbourne wrote her book, Deadly Persuasion, analyzing this problem. Kilbourne found herself in the environment bubble the media is creating where the objective analysis of people is acceptable. Kilbourne’s book is an attempt to bring awareness towards how much harm the media’s portrayal of people is generating. Kilbourne’s book is mainly targeted towards women, and is trying to spur them towards action in an attempt to change the world and, more

Throughout the 20th century the medium of music has allowed for artists to convey their thoughts and feelings on important political topic facing the nation at the time. The power from these songs derives itself from its ability to create a relationship between the listener and the artist and allow for the message to transcend social barriers. A more recent instance of an artist using his music to connect important social issues with a wider audience, is rapper Frank Ocean. Ocean revealed to his fans and the world that he was a homosexual. This admission sent shockwaves throughout the rap community, one that has been marred with constant criticism of perpetuating homophobia and extreme male ego. His groundbreaking 2012 album, Channel Orange, allowed for many people to no longer be afraid of their sexuality and it is something that should be embraced. Frank’s impact will never fully be realized, but he undoubtedly has made an impact on society and a stereotype breaker in the rap community. This paper discusses the article by Gerald Rosenberg, “The Hollow Hope” which describes the effect of political mobilization being sparked from litigation and how the courts have become an avenue for social change. The article specifically looks at the rise of the LGBT movement after landmark Supreme Court cases and whether this sudden mobilization in support, brought an even more fervent opposition. Furthermore, this paper also examines Jeffery Segal and Harold Spaeth’s article, “The

For twelve weeks Blurred Lines was at the top of the Billboard 100 charts and could be heard thumping from speakers everywhere. Sung by Robin Thicke and featuring prominent rappers T.I. Harris and Pharrell, this track was proclaimed the anthem for summer 2013 . At the surface the song is seemingly harmless with a cheery rhythmic beat and catchy lyrics, but when examining the song and accompanying music video, Blurred Lines is anything but harmless. Dubbed “that rape song” by many discerning listeners, Blurred Lines is a song about the blurred lines of consent. With gems such as “You’re an animal, just let me liberate you” and “I’ll give you somethin’ big enough to tear yo ass in two” featured throughout the song it is astonishing how

The song lyrics of this video contain references to more explicit sexual behavior. For example the lyrics, “You’re far from plastic, talk about getting blasted” make women seem like plastic models and provides the message that it’s okay to use women for sex. The song is said to perpetuate rape culture by rejecting the concept of clear sexual consent: there should never be any “blurred lines” relating to sex. A music video called defined lines was created in response to this music video in order to challenge the message portrayed by “blurred lines”. The roles were reversed where the men in the video were portrayed in a sexualized manner and the women were wearing suits. It is obvious after watching the defined lines video that sexualizing men seems ridiculous and yet women are sexualized so often that it has become a definite part of our

In particular, when Thicke sings, “The way you grab me. Must wanna get nasty,” suggests that when women wear “sexy” clothing and behave flirtatiously, they must “want it,” which is what rapists say to justify their actions. The title of the song and the term, “Blurred lines,” which is sung by the artist/s, is aimed at dealing with the theme of misogyny and intended to degrade women. The term, ‘blurred lines,’ refers to the line, being a person’s (in this case a female’s) barrier to their sexual life and when it is said to be ‘blurred, it refers to what the rapists believe as mixed messages, in other words, men not being able to comprehend the meaning of “no.” The way the camera is positioned, as the audience, we can see the way the male looks at the female, combined with the use of lyrics, these aspects together, reinforces the theme of misogyny in the video and this sort of behaviour of men is seen as dehumanising women and according to the University of Queensland, it “increases tolerance for unethical behaviour towards women – specifically men’s attitudes towards sexual harassment and rape.” Though, looking further into the purpose of the video, from the point of view of the artist and the director, is simply to create controversy, specifically targeting the passionate feminists, for example the opinionated people are most likely to express their opinion about this song via any social networking site or when talking to their friends, this spreads like wildfire and the more people listen to it, the more views it gets on YouTube, the bigger the song/artist gets, the chance of the song being played on the radio, the more it gets stuck in their head, and as a result of this, people go out and buy the song, which all reinforces the director’s purpose, to make

“You say you want a revolution/ Well, you know/ We all want to change the world/ You tell me that it's evolution/ Well, you know/ We all want to change the world,” The Beatles’ Revolution, 1968. In their call-to-arms lyrics above, Lennon and McCartney are instructing their listeners to revolt and rebel against harmful social norms in a peaceful, yet powerful, manner. Ironically, while telling their listeners to resist the societal norms created by “Minds that hate,” The Beatles were inadvertently caught up in gender stereotypes and social norms upheld by the music industry in order to sell records, tickets, and merchandise. The music industry has long been criticized for their often blatant display of gender inequality and the promotion and exploitation of unhealthy gender stereotypes put into practice in order to profit off audiences. In the rock and roll and pop genres in particular gender inequalities are simultaneously seen and heard manifested in lyrics, music videos, performances, personas, and its audience. Music, as an artistic medium, has traditionally provided an outlet for artists to express their opinions on society which then ultimately has an effect on the society they are commenting on. Music can empower it’s fans to think and act a way they might otherwise have not, posing the question should a social institution be held accountable for the ripple effects they cause?

Blurred Lines is a popular summer song that is constantly played on the radio. A song like “Blurred Lines” should not be played on public radio. A big problem with “Blurred Lines” is that it attempts to normalize disrespectful behavior towards women. Robin Thicke teamed up with rapper T.I. and singer-producer Pharrell to deliver arguably this summer’s most popular song. The song “Blurred Lines” has placed number one on the billboard hot 100 and has sold over one million copies. Critical reception of the track is mostly positive. Yet with the success comes a not so positive response. When first listening to the song a person might find themselves nodding your head to a catchy tune, but perhaps once a person listens closely to the lyrics some people may not want this song on their iPods.

Priscilla Ipiña ENGL 1302.65501 Prof. Buenning Essay 1 1 Jul. 2015 Crossing the Line

Girls and women are taught that cat calls on the street are normal and to just brush it off. Women have to deal with rape culture every day. Women can’t be out and about at three in the morning in fear of being raped. When I went to Sear’s Driving School, the instructor told every single girl in the class to lock the doors as soon as we get in their car in case anyone tries to attack us or rapes us. Women are told to be mindful of what they’re wearing because if they are raped, someone is going to blame their outfit for being raped. Society has taught women that it’s normal to be seen as sex objects and nothing else. In the summer of 2013, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke was playing in nearly every radio station. I have to admit that it’s a catchy tune and made me want to sing along. It’s when I started singing along that I felt disgusted. The song goes on to say “I know you want it” referring to sex. The song “Blurred Lines” focuses on the so called “blurred lines” that men face when being entitled to having sex with a girl. If rape culture didn’t exist, a song like this wouldn’t be so popular much less have ever been written.