“I may be bad but I’m perfectly good at it, sex in the air I don’t care I love the smell of it”.
How far has sexualisation in music video progressed in recent years and how is this shown in Rihanna's videos "We Found Love" and "Drink To That"..
“I may be bad but I’m perfectly good at it, sex in the air I don’t care I love the smell of it”. Lyrics written by Rihanna herself you can tell that nowadays, sexualisation in music videos has changed the way women are looked at in our society. Has the music industry become that powerful? This critical investigation will be looking at how Hip Hop artists such as Rihanna are sexualised in music videos and how this has an influence in society. "Boys are all heading to an adulthood of deeply confused - and, potentially, deeply misogynist - attitudes to women". [1]This can relate to my critical investigation as it can suggest that because of the way Hip Hop artists such as Rihanna are being sexually objectified in her music videos it changed the way boys or men look at women as a whole. The music genre that will be looked at is Hip Hop. Hip Hop nowadays is a cultural issue with most artists stereotypically being urban artists from the Caribbean or African. Black people in our society are looked down at nowadays by the “elites” in other words, white people in general as they are socially classed as “more important than black people”. This can be seen present in the infamous London riots of 2011 in august. The country was swept across with a moral panic where predominantly, black males were targeted by the media and held as scapegoats for the unfortunate events which now in our society has led to black people being looked down upon.
The introduction of new and digital media has been one of the main causes of how sexualisation in music videos has become so prevalent. The internet is open to a world-wide audience and it is becoming increasingly popular to have access via the internet. A website on the internet that audiences view music videos on everyday is YouTube. YouTube is a very powerful user generated website which allows people to upload videos so that anyone can view them. Music videos on YouTube are becoming increasingly popular, especially in urban pop with facts and figures stating that over 100,000,000 million videos being viewed on YouTube daily.. This is because urban pop consists of urban characters singing and being sexualised in their music videos. An example of an extremely popular Hip Hop artist who is sexualised in literally every music video she produces is Rihanna. "Earlier this week the pop star Rihanna was unrepentant for filming a music video in which she shoots someone who raped her. She has faced massive criticism from parent groups in America".[2] This proves the point that Rihanna's sexualisation in her music videos is becoming too explicit. Also, as the internet is free for anyone to use, younger children/teenagers are taking advantage of this as you can see from that quote.
Many argue that the famous artist Rihanna has become extremely dominant in the music industry since new and digital media has become popular, especially YouTube. "In music, women are often are shown as dominant characters because of their sexualisation"[3]. This quote best describes the artist Rihanna in many ways and asks the question is Rihanna only gaining dominance because of her sexualisation?. Rihanna’s latest videos “We Found Love” and “Drink To That” are prime examples that show the artist sexualizes herself a lot in her music videos. Rihanna’s music video We Found Love, throughout her video she is dressed very inappropriately and is shown taking drugs and partying. This video was made on a rundown estate in London. This video should not have been given permission to be published as she is shown taking drugs and doing scenes of a sexual nature in a public music video. Her other music video Drink To That is very similar, as it also shows Rihanna very sexualized, however this music video shows Rihanna being very dominant and throughout her music video, she is being praised by others for her music. These music videos have become extremely popular across YouTube with we found love receiving 115,249,164 million hits and drink to that receiving 63,090,355 million hits. This shows that Rihanna is being watched across digital platforms, she is getting more and more fans, but the question is do they like her as an artist or because of her sexualisation...
Another example of a recent music video hip hop star has released that got lots of criticism for the way it was produced was her song S&M. This music video gained lots of YouTube hits as soon as it was released; it was very popular in social networking sites such as twitter and facebook. It received lots of publicity getting a massive 35,007,123 million YouTube hits after being released in 2011. Throughout this music video Rihanna is portrayed as a “slut” or a “whore”. She shows codes and conventions of her acting inappropriate by dressing up half naked and showing most of her skin. She also uses props to convey that she is a “slut” such as sticks, ropes and sex toys whilst singing how much she likes sex. This music video was very inappropriate for young adults or teenagers to watch, however even so was published all over the web 2.0, with it being so popular to view on YouTube, young teens took advantage of this. Many parents have recently have been putting in complaints about Rihanna herself as she is too “full on” and that she is exceeding limits.
“The overtly-sexualised performance by Rihanna and Britney Spears was no accident or mishap, but a deliberate effort to target teens with images and lyrics that glamorise whips, chains and other sexual fantasies.”[4] This is an example from an American newspaper (excite) a parent is arguing about when Rihanna and Britney spears sang S&M live on an American talent show in 2011. The parent was arguing that both artists were way too sexualised, showing too much skin, also using props such as chains, handcuffs, etc.
If we compare Aaliyah who is an old hip hop artist to Rihanna there will be several differences even though they sing to a similar genre of music. Aaliyah was in the hip hop industry in the late 90’s to the early years of 2000’s. In her music videos she is also sexualised, however to a certain extent. An example of a music video she is sexualised in is a music video called “one in a million”. In this music video Aaliyah is sexualised to a certain extent where we could argue that she still looked suitably dressed as an artist. She received 10,340,275 million YouTube hits for this video. However if we compare her to Rihanna, people would argue that Rihanna if far more sexualised in her music videos than Aaliyah. This could be proved by the amount of YouTube hits Rihanna gets compared to urban star Aaliyah. “In music, urban artists, especially black women are bullied into a sexual manor"[5]. This is a very powerful quote from a book written a while ago in 2010. This quote can bring up a debate about different cultures and societies and how black people are represented alternatively in comparison to white people who in the music industry are shown to be dominant. For example Adele a very famous pop star in the music industry, probably one of the most famous and successful pop stars of the century, because she is white. Whilst Rihanna gets criticism about most things she does and is looked down upon.
In recent years, talks of the press and online forums have raised arguments as to whether the hip hop artist Rihanna “purposely” uses these sexualisation techniques in her music videos to gain a wider audience range. “She has since released the self-explanatory "S&M", and discussed in interviews how much she likes to be spanked and tied up during sex”. [6]This was quoted by Rihanna herself. Just by reading this quote can bring up values and ideologies about Rihanna suggesting she is a “slut” or a “whore”. Most of her fan base is teenagers, mainly urban, as they can relate to her music and they may find it more entertaining than adults, especially boys. Urban music such as RnB and hip hop is having an effect in our society with teenagers nowadays.
When these teenagers take in the music they are hearing and watching, they are hearing words that shouldn’t be taught to them and body language images they should not be referring to at such a young age. Especially since rihanna is a very famous hip hop music artist, all these teenagers will look up to her, especially teenage girls. The teenage boys will get pleasure out of watching her music videos as she exploits herself in such a sexual manor.
“A Ghanaian teenager as I hoofed through his neighbour, as I greeted him he referred to me as whats good my nigga".[7] Theorists can argue that this quote suggests or can argue that the music industry, especially hip hop as it is an urban cultured type of music, is having an effect on teenagers in our society, and the main cause of this is the introduction of new and digital media. "I was referred to as Loose, wide, open, ever-ready woman with shameless big wheel ways. Allegedly everybody got a turn at a "big wheeled" woman."[8] This quote can also challenge stereotypes in the media that, all the false information that hip hop superstars such as Rihanna are feeding these teenagers is having a big impact or effect on their daily lives as they are trying to live up to these superstars. YouTube has become a prime factor as to why these teenagers are gaining easy access to these music videos containing sexual nature. Also forums and social networking sites such as facebook and twitter are not helping as these teenagers follow these superstars and view them on a day-to-day basis.
In conclusion, Theorists can argue that the superstar Rihanna is gaining dominance by sexualising herself in her music videos and she could be doing it purposely, primarily to gain all of her urban fan base. However, we could argue that by doing this she is gaining a dominance, however it is in a way where our society are giving her a bad name because of all of her actions and body language she is showing in her music videos. Also her quote in her newspaper articles doesn’t make it any better when she talks about “sex” and “pleasure”.
Word Count – 1506
Bibliography-
Works cited-
Books-
Representation and Tradition in Mainstream American Women's Country Music 1972-2005, Carol Wical, September 2009
"In music, Women are often are shown as dominant characters because of their sexualisation"
Representations Of The Orient In Western Music, Nasser Al-Taee, December 2010
“In music, urban artists, especially black women are bullied into a sexual manor"
Internet-
The Guardian, Flic Everett, Thanks to pop culture my 12-year-old son's life revolves around porn
“"Boys are all heading to an adulthood of deeply confused - and, potentially, deeply misogynist - attitudes to women".
Music videos face crackdown over sexualized content, The Guardian, Patrick Wintour, June 2011
“Earlier this week the pop star Rihanna was unrepentant for filming a music video in which she shoots someone who raped her. She has faced massive criticism from parent groups in America".
The Independent, Tim Walkertim Walker, 24th September 2011
“She has since released the self-explanatory "S&M", and discussed in interviews how much she likes to be spanked and tied up during sex”.
Excite, Moralists Complain About Rihanna Show, May 2011
“The overtly-sexualised performance by Rihanna and Britney Spears was no accident or mishap, but a deliberate effort to target teens with images and lyrics that glamorise whips, chains and other sexual fantasies.”
Moving image-
Rihanna S&M
Rihanna We Found Love
Rihanna Drink To That
Aaliyah One In A Million
Works consulted-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Music-Others-Representation-Appropriation/dp/0520220846/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325181361&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sight-Sound-Music-Representation-History/dp/0520203429/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325181361&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sight-Sound-Music-Representation-History/dp/0520203429/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325181361&sr=1-4
[1] The Guardian, Flic Everett, Thanks to pop culture my 12-year-old son's life revolves around porn
[2] Music videos face crackdown over sexualized content, The Guardian, Patrick Wintour, June 2011
[3] Representation and Tradition in Mainstream American Women's Country Music 1972-2005, Carol Wical, September 2009
[4] Excite, Moralists Complain About Rihanna Show, May 2011
[5] Representations Of The Orient In Western Music, Nasser Al-Taee, December 2010
[6] The Independent, Tim Walkertim Walker, 24th September 2011
[8] Recovering the Black Female Body: Self-Representation by African American Women, Michael Bennett, December 2011
