Final Semester Project

Oversexualization of Women in Contemporary America

In contemporary American society, the amount of sexualization of women in pop music has been expanding greatly.  The portrayal of female pop artists continuously trying to show off their bodies as they make a music video had become very prevalent that the general public considers it a typical part of pop culture. Consequently, the existence of this tendency has constantly been generating controversy. The constant debate on this topic comes from the male gaze viewpoint; which is a concept on how a man views a woman in terms of her own appearance. The woman's own appearance enables herself to be empowered towards the people around her. In Ways of Seeing, Berger says, "A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to be nude," arguing that the woman "stimulates the use of it as an object," (54). Various individuals, including critics, parents, and professors, lambasted the fact that musicians keep relying on the sex appeal of their body figure, in regards to having an effect on people's view and behavior towards women, influencing current fads to the youth, and defacing the image of both sexes through the view of the male gaze notion.

Because of the prevalence of oversexualization in the music industry, there had been a significant impact on people's behavior. In the documentary "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video" by Sut Jhally, the music video industry had expanded throughout American culture since the song "Video Killed the Radio Star." Female sexuality is important for commercial advertising in order to gain the viewer's attention. Music videos throughout the 2000s that displays both male and female sexuality has been considered normal, which gives the viewers the idea of what it means be men and women in their culture; that is, to understand their own identity. Jhally states that masculinity is "tied to power, intimidation, and force" in a music video. From that notion, he exemplifies his point from the 2000 Puerto Rican Pride Parade in New York City when the men doused, sexually assaulted, and stripped women, "having an entitlement to enact their desires on the female body." The occurrences of the images in the scene's footage were, in fact, very familiar to a music video that did the same actions. Thus, the music videos depicting women as sex objects would cause people to adopt the thought that they view women as the ones in the music videos as well as imitate what happens in those music videos.

For decades in American life, people tend to imitate the sexual performances that they are exposed to in pop music; this impacts both children and adults. The large amount of sexualization that keeps appearing in popular culture had stimulated adolescents to create types of suggestive trends in order to affirm what they believe is to become a mature young adult. For example, the act of "twerking," which is a dance that involves bouncing the hips as the dancer squats in a seductive manner, has been a fad that people had mimicked since the mid-2000s. The type of dance had become more popular when two girls  that are known as "The Twerk Team" posted their videos on Youtube. In the 2012 article, "Could 'Twerking' Possibly Be a New Way to Stay Fit?," Starrene Rhett-Rocque, an entertainment journalist, assesses that twerking, although visually sexual, would enable women to "have a healthier body image." This suggests that twerking is a way for women to express themselves, advocating a way to stay fit, have fun, and show their sexual attraction. Twerking had influenced pop celebrities in their performance as well as their lyrics; one of the lyrics in Beyonce's song "Check on It" includes verses such as "Dip it, pop it, twerk it, stop it, check on me tonight," and "But no touchin', just watchin' you twerk it, I'm checkin' up on you tonight!" Other songs have the term "twerking" or suggests the dance in their title such as "Twerk It" by Bustos Rhymes and "Shakin' It 4 Daddy" by Robin Thicke. As more pop artists make more works that involves the sexually provocative dance, the younger generation will most likely try to mimic it to feel stimulated in their mental development as a grown-up. The parents who are aware of the oversexualization of pop music have tried to prevent their children from seeing the overt sexual performances and have tried to voice their criticisms on the state of the industry. For instance, Myleene Klass, a musician, model, and fashion designer, said she will not let her two young daughters watch any pop videos "because there is so much in them they shouldn't see yet," and she said that "[she] would rather explain things to them in their own time than have them watch someone on TV with their crutch out, legs akimbo." Thus, she admits that her daughters are not yet ready to learn about sexuality, although she participated in appearing in a white bikini on television.

The oversexualization of the music industry damages the representation of both the man and the woman. In the article "Why the Backlash Against the DC Twerk Victim Reflects an Over Sexualized Society" by Erica Nichole there were two women that randomly twerked on a man at a gas station. Footage shows that the man was backing away, but the second woman aggressively approached and inappropriately touched him. The man called the police, but when they arrived, they did not take the man's story seriously. The reaction of the police suggests that the man was expected to grope the women; they would assume that he is gay if he did not attempt to grope the women. Nichole stated, "While the statistics of sexual harassment against women are frightening and overshadow that of men, it doesn't mean that it's not real for males in the workplace or on the street." The response of the police in the scene, thus, expresses the idea that the music videos attempts to affirm the expected behaviors of both genders.

In conclusion, the impact of music videos using sexuality fabricates the image of both genders and the standards in American society today. The view of the male gaze had caused the presumption of the representation of both a man and a woman. The notion that "Sex Sells" is common when one attempts to find out why the music industry is oversexualized because the notion is effective to both the consumer and the seller. This practice has appeared throughout history, as the nude body is seen as natural as well as a way to express one's own sexual identity.

Work Cited:

Berger, John. Way of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. 1972.

"Beyoncé (Ft. Slim Thug) – Check on It." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

Bl968. "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Feb. 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

"Could 'Twerking' Possibly Be a New Way to Stay Fit?" Frugivore Magazine RSS. N.p., 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

MailOnline, Annabel Fenwick Elliott for. "'Children Are Too Sexualised': Myleene Klass Reveals Why She Won't Let Her Young Daughters Watch Pop Videos... but Admits THAT White Bikini Saved Her Career." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

Production, A. Media Education Foundation. Dreamworlds 3 (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

"Week 7- Dreamworld 3." Double Vision. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

"Why The Backlash Against The DC Twerk Victim Reflects An Over Sexualized Society | XoNECOLE." XoNECOLE RSS. N.p., 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.