Female artists and sexual objectification in contemporary songs and videos "Sex sells" is concomitantly one of the most common and disturbing expressions in the contemporary society. The music industry is a place where sex has actually sold millions of records and where many artists were forced to employ more 'sexual' attitudes in order to really be appreciated by their fans. The sad truth is that it is very difficult for an artist to be appreciated if he or she does not use values that are generally appreciated by music consumers. Many artists have proved this argument to be wrong, but their number is much smaller in comparison to the ones who used sex as a main tool to sell their records. Some artists today actually take advantage of how the masses respond to sexual images and simply promote stereotypes without actually being experienced in the field of work that they are involved in. Many mediocre singers become great overnight because they focus on having the public associate them with extremely sexual messages. This is surely worrying when considering that TV programs such as MTV often fail to understand that it is wrong for them to promote musicians simply because their lyrics and videos are sexual and thus draw significant attention from the public. The masses need to acknowledge that fame is a concept that most artists are looking for, especially when considering conditions in the present day society. Material values have come to dominate people's lives and
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.
Charlotte Church speaks out about this issue saying “The culture of demeaning women in pop music is so ingrained as to become routine, from the way we are dealt with by management and labels, to the way we are presented the public” (Chase par. 9). This leads to questions, for example, must women be sexualized to gain greater earnings? Does sex truly sell? When we examine artists such as Julia Hotter, HAIM, or Polica, we perceive them as strong artists who are unrestricted in their art by their gender or sexuality. However, when comparing their success, sexualized women have dominated the music industry. Chase explains that women are allowed to fill three main roles in modern pop music: One of the Girls’ Girls, the Victim/ Torch Singer, and Unattainable Sexbot. Artists such as Beyoncé would be considered “One of the Girls’ Girls” who are for women power and are considered empowering. Adele is considered a “Victim/Torch Singer” even though she does not use sexuality to sell records, lyrically, she perceives the wronged women and creates a state of despair. An “Unattainable Sexbot” would be, without a doubt, Miley Cyrus, whose main goal is to be the most successful in the music industry by being hyper-sexualized and unrealistic. If an artist does not fit into one of these categories, they generally have a much harder time being one of the most successful in the music
In 1971, Linda Nochlin issued her article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? This idea of aesthetic genius, says Nochlin, is fiction. Art is rarely produced entirely by the artist for the idea of personal expression. Few identifiers in contemporary art have been as fraught as the term feminist art. What does it mean, who defines it, and how does it relate to past accomplishments of the feminist movement?
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.
All fame begins when you do something noticeable. For example, actors and actresses build upon their careers and reputations by achieving excellence in their personal goals, as well as perfecting their public performance.
All fame begins when you do something noticeable. For example, actors and actresses build upon their careers and reputations by achieving excellence in their personal goals, as well as perfecting their public performance.
(BBC network, 2014). It can also force people to change in character, which is a growing concern. Sexualisation in our society has become extremely prevalent within the younger female gender. Some may dismiss this issue as no more than yet another moral panic situation between sexuality and young girls, but some see this as a serious subject and some of these people are in fact the girls being targeted (Church, 2014). The music industry with their music
During the height of the feminist movement, Linda Nochlin confronted her audience with a bold question: Why have there been no great women artists? On the surface, it is a tongue-in-cheek arrangement of words, purely facetious, but I do not think Nochlin meant them that way. I think the question was genuine and melancholy. Nochlin is one woman looking at the past with sad eyes, begging to understand why her sisters were denied the opportunity to become great.
Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.
In the words of John Wooden, "Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful." The talent we have was given to us by God and we need to remember that. Fame was given to us by the talent we have and we need to be grateful for the talent and fame we have. This essay will show you have some people, places, things, and ideas get their fame.
It is suggested that one of the reasons why artists use misogynistic lyrics in their music is that they have internalized the negative stereotypes about women that are prevalent in American society. African women were historically portrayed as animalistic sexual beasts and African males in a submissive role, giving in to wild instinct or bodily impulses. The internalization of such stereotypes may be a possible explanation of the hyper sexuality within certain hip hop music. Various authors have argued that misogyny is merely an outgrowth of the cultural acceptance of misogyny at large.
An issue many have with Hip Hop music is it over-sexualisation of black women. Within hip hop music videos and the lyrics used to define women, are often portrayed in ways that calls for them to sexually satisfy men. Hunter and Soto (2009), highlighted that women in hip hop music are often characterised as sex workers. Their study coincides with Miller-young (2008), who argued Hip-Hop music has an obsession with portraying women as strippers in their song. She pointed out that Hip-Hop music is extremely misogynistic with males being shown as pimps whilst females are shown involved in sexual acts. This shows that within Hip-Hop music males are shown to be the dominating sex. This can impact on women negatively due to the fact hip-hop has become
Throughout history many artistic works have been deemed "great" and many individuals have been labeled "masters" of the discipline. The question of who creates art and how is it to be classified as great or greater than another has commonly been addressed by scholars and historians. The last quarter of the 20th century has reexamined these questions based on the assertions that no women artists have ever created or been appreciated to the level of "greatness" that perpetually befalls their male counterparts. The position that society has institutionalized on women as unable to be anything but subordinate and unexpressive is a major contributor to this claim. Giving a brief history of gender discrimination in the art
Most popular music today is driven by violence and sex. These musicians put out albums that glorify violence and promote causal sex. When the albums are being produced, the artist does not think of how it will affect the perspective merchant. When
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to