Nudity and the 21st Sextury
The very subject of nudity is instantly a known topic when involving many different subjects. It will grab someone’s attention even in the most difficult setting. When you are referring to nudity you are referring to not only power, but also vulnerability. It is especially known for its power in the music industry ever since the beginning of MTV. While MTV is now known for its reality TV shows, in its prime it brought attention to something truly unique which is the music video. In that time MTV set the stage for the evolution of music channels by allowing other genres to branch off.
In this paper I aim to explain the aspect of nudity and sexuality in relation to music videos and how nudity time has become a normal occurrence within music videos.. So these are some of the questions I have to ask. Is the saying “sex sells” really true in regards to nudity and music videos? Are Artists using the tool of nudity to alter or to emphasize the meaning of their songs by visual effect? In what way/ways is nudity perceived as a better choice when in regards to marketing and overall subjectivity?
Let’s start by setting our glance into the 1970’s. There were music videos that existed but they were isolated overseas mainly in Europe and so the United States really had no grasp of the music video. The normal at the time was staying up late to view the “Midnight Special” hosted by “The Wolf Man” which were mainly live performances by bands at the time. It wasn’t until 1981 that the first music video was rolled out in America. The clip was of the Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” and with the debut of the video also came the beginning of the media madness involved with music television.
It didn’t take long for...
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..., she would rely on videos themselves for her promotion. In most of the videos she is seen low-cut bottom clothing and sleeveless shirts flaunting her body. In some cases she went as far as being clad in revealing leather as a dominatrix, strutting her curves while covering the hap-hazard lyrics of the song. The response was quite positive, with women loving her display of female power and the males obviously loving her figure. Further investigation reveals that it wasn’t just country that nudity was claiming success, but across all other genres.
Most of the material thus far has been about the female aspect of the spectrum. It should then be taken into the direction of the male spectrum. This should give a glance into the other side and determine if nudity really is an overall general sex sells theme or if it is only relevant when involved with music of the female.
Avant Garde is unusual and experimental art, styles, ideas, etc… Picasso’s Cubism is a good example of this. The Italian Renaissance was probably the single most avant-garde time in the history of painting and sculpture. Nudity became acceptable and recognized as a noble type of art. Impressionism also played a large role in Avant Garde. Suddenly colors became unorthodoxed, for example, grass could be red, the sky could be brown, People could be blue, etc… In the early 20th century Fauvism, the style of les Fauves (French for "the wild beasts"), a loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities
Other aspects strengthen the advertisement design's sexual appeal. The foreground woman's strapless swimming suit, highlighted in red, is the most notable example. Her chest prominently resides above horizontal boxes in both th...
As the years progress, the influence of sex has taken a more profound effect on teenagers. Nowadays, it seems that sex is everywhere. The television shows, the Internet, magazines and even the movies almost always have a “sex scene” in them or portray sex in some sort of way. Because the industry is realizing that teens are having sex, (unprotected sex at that) they are now producing a number of commercials where they ...
In 1981 MTV "Music Television" was introduced on cable television and revolutionized rock marketing. Just as FM radio had superseded the hit-oriented AM format, music videos, produced as mini-movie advertisements for songs, became essential to a performer's popularity. Early in the decade, the British group the Police was one of the first to combine a progressive sound with polished videos. The expense of producing videos and MTV's virtual monopoly made it difficult for experimental music to compete with the dance-pop sung by American artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, and Madonna, and the British groups Duran Duran and Depeche Mode. Nevertheless, performers such as the Irish group U2 and the American group R.E.M. emerged from their underground roots to enjoy enormous success. Now a few of the new genres of the 80's.
This study works to examine the use of sexual objectification of women in music videos today. The primary purpose was to examine the differences between genres, specifically hip-hop and country. I tested the following; Women are more likely to be sexualized in hip-hop music videos than in country music videos.
The events that took place during the halftime show of the Super Bowl may have shocked and angered many parents for exposing such sexual behavior and nudity to their children, but there were also a great number of people who questioned why people were so upset over a few seconds of screen time that Janet Jackson’s left breast received. After all, it was simply part of the female anatomy. Many people argued that it wasn’t just nudity, that it was “softcore” pornography because of the sexual conduct that was behind the performance. It is understandable that Jackson and Timberlake’s routine was full of sexual innuendo, but the majority of young children usually don’t pick up on such behavior and thus a simple “wardrobe malfunction.”
The sexualization of women in the 21st century has led many to wonder whether or not the feminist movement actually resulted in more harm than good. Although the progress and reform that came out of the feminist movement is indisputable, things such as equal rights under the law, equal status and equal pay, the reality is that the subjugation of female roles in society still exist, and the most surprising part about this is that now women are just as much as at fault for this as men are. Ariel Levy defines female chauvinist pigs as “women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves” (Levy 11). This raunch culture is mistakenly assumed to be empowering and even liberating to women when it is in fact degrading and corrupting to the modern feminist movement and makes it more difficult for women to be taken seriously in society. The shift in the nature of the feminist movement is in Levy’s opinion attributed to by the massive industry now profiting off of the sexualization of women, the reverse mindset now adopted by post-feminists and women in power roles in our society, and ultimately the women who further their own objectification as sex objects and thus, so by association, deem themselves lesser than man.
Most celebrities aim to raise the bar each year over how explicit and sexy they make their act/persona, but thats not the only way to stay relevant. Celebrities like Madonna and Miley try to make their acts stand out by adding their own shock factor. The easiest and most common way to do this is to follow the wise expression: sex sells. Alyssa Mil...
Again, there are different ideas of what is considered pornographic from artwork, movies, and books. While one may look at a painting that depicts nude forms or read a book that includes sexual acts may not see this as a form of pornography while others would find it morally offensive. Feminist would argue that the morality of porn is it is degrading and humiliating to those involved, not of its sexual nature. Their concern is that it promotes sexism and violence against women or children. “What is objectionable about pornography…is its abusive and degrading portrayal of females and female sexuality, not its content or explicitness” (Rodgerson & Wilson, 1994) However, others may feel that it is sexually liberating and in no way degrading to those involved. Those women feel in control of their sexuality and choose to participate in acts as a way of expressing themselves while feeling it has no barring on their moral character. While others would argue that it promotes immoral behavior which would lead to criminal acts or an unhealthy obsession with sex. “The most commonly feared adverse effects of pornography include undesirable sexual behaviors (e.g. adultery), sexual aggression, and loss of respect for traditional family structures and values, loss of respect for authorities, and a general nonspecific moral decay.” (Hald & Linz,
Laura Kipnis has described pornography as “an archive of data about...our history as a culture”. Therefore if, she described it as such, what can it tell us about the sexual history of the 20th century? Examining the history of the forms of archive from pornographic playing cards to blu-ray discs and the internet, this shows the ever changing form of how as a society we view pornography. From the forms of archive come the social implications of pornography. This will be examined through the 1986 Meese Commission in the United States of America into the pornographic industry. Finally, this exposition will also examine the differing views of Gay and Straight pornography and the changes that have taken over the 20th century. Overall, the 20th century was a fundamental shift in sexual attitudes towards pornography.
I can recall a time when the media was influencing my life and actions. The week after I graduated high school, my girlfriends and I took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, where the MTV beach house was located that summer. As I look back on the week of drunken partying and sexy guys, I can only wonder how I made it home alive. How could any young woman find this behavior acceptable? Every young woman there was flaunting their bodies to the young men around them. They were proud to be sexual objects. Where did they learn such debauchery? This is the kind of woman that is portrayed throughout MTV and various other aspects of the media. They have even coined the term “midriff”—the highly sexual character pitched at teenage girls that increasingly populates today’s television shows—in order to hook the teen customer. Teenage women increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today’s version of what’s “cool.” The media is always telling us that we are not thin enough, we’re not pretty enough, we don’t have the right friends, or we have the wrong friends… we’re losers unless we’re cool. We must follow their example and show as much skin as possible. The type of imagery depicted by MTV-- as well as people like Howard Stern, the famous “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and various Hip Hop songs—glorifies sex and the provocative woman.
For years, popular music has involved pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and the negative effects of explicit music has outraged society. There is a fine line that divides vulgarity from artistic expression. Whatever the motive behind the explicitness of popular music, it has many negative consequences on our society and therefore should be stopped.
A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems
In the today’s society, social media has gone out of hand. Most people these days have a cell phone, Ipad and/or laptop and most definitely a television at their home. Therefore, access to pornography has become extremely easy and can be available to any individual in less than 5 minutes. The best definition of pornography can be explained as sexually explicit words or images intended to provoke sexual arousal. The easy access to porn has raised many people to question if porn is harmful, if it should be censored, and if it is unsafe. Many debates have been going on about porn concerning freedom of rights, speech, and entertainment and right of privacy. The main people to have argued on this point are Catherine Mackinnon and philosopher J.S. Mill.
A life in erotic cinematic film also known as skinematography can become a rewarding career and punishing career. An example in pornography could be a camera and two people having sex it can sometimes be over a dozen people having sex. However people in today’s time keep in the shadows and say that pornography is something they hold equal to a painting of some of the greats, on the other side of the scale non-viewers of erotic films will say they are obscene trash and often view the common spectators as dirty minded fiends. But those men and women sometimes have what can be looked at as an addiction or a habit that is accept and promoted today. Pornography is not just smut, it can be clean. “Pornography can be seen as a vile act in church but others see the use as something healthy” (McKay).