Musical Analysis Three In Iggy Azalea’s music video one can see how the video constitutes a harmful form of cultural appropriation, this can be seen by the way Iggy over sexualizes a modest culture with the lyrics, clothing, and dancing. What she is doing is degrading and transforming the authenticity of the Indian culture. One point that can be connected from lecture to the video is that this video only benefits Iggy while it hurts an entire country and the communities in it [3]. The people of India and their culture can be seen as one of the most modest in the world however while watching the music video Bounce Iggy Azalea destroys the whole image of what India actually is. India’s dance and music is very different from many other countries, they have their own style and taste and even though Iggy’s video is Indian themed she does not seem to respect them. There were a few clips in particular that I believe had no reason to be in the video and those were the ones who had children in them. The kids are seen spraying colors on each other as if they are …show more content…
The lyrics and the video do not go together one bit. One verse in the video is “Let your hair down, and shake that shit, shake that shit, shake that shit sweat it out, go nuts in this bitch, dip it, spin it and watching my hips I see you watchin' my hips, crazy, move your body like Swayze, round and round, shake it, break it, make it bounce! It's a fucking celebration” [1] and what is shown is Iggy and other women dancing then there is also cut scenes with children. That is inappropriate, no kids should be shown while Iggy is saying that, and then there is the women dancing. The women are seen in their typical clothing and they seem to be dancing somewhat in the classical Indian dance, which is something that should not be done to that type of
In his most recent album, Kanye West raps, “Now if I fuck this model/ And she just bleached her asshole/ And I get bleach on my T-shirt/ I 'mma feel like an asshole.” He suggests that it is the girl’s fault for getting bleach on his tee shirt, which she only did to make herself more sexually appealing. This misogyny in hip-hop culture is recognized to bring about problems. For instance, the women around these rappers believe they can only do well in life if they submit themselves to the men and allow themselves to be cared for in exchange for physical pleasure. In her essay, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hoes”, Joan Morgan argues that the same rap music that dehumanizes women can be a powerful platform for gender equality if implemented correctly.
Will sexism ever come to an end in today’s society? Are women going to let men step all over them? Jennifer Mclune discusses in her article, Hip-Hops Betrayal on Black Women, how black male singers objectify and degrade black females in the music industry. The purpose of this article is to show how black women are being deceived in the hip hop industry and being used as sex symbols instead of showing them for their true colors. Mclune (2015) voices her strong argument in attracting her audience by using ethos, tones, and the use of word choices.
Cyrus was the host 2015 VMAs and she did a racist performance of using black culture, a popular, trending culture in America, to promote herself as “wild and dangerous” by using black people as “props” for butt slapping and twerking (Makarechi 2013). Therefore, Manji turned her acceptance speech toward Cyrus by calling her out on her liberalist discussion about her on media a few days earlier. Cyrus had stated that Manji should blame herself for not being nominated as the best music video of the year along with Taylor Swift and other artists (Feeney 2015). Manji pointed out how the entertainment industry chose white artists to win awards and ignored nonwhite artists even though their music was also very popular and well-deserving to received awards as well. Furthermore, Manji pointed out that if Cyrus was going to enjoy black culture, she should care about the black people who created that culture as well. Cyrus, on the other hand, refused to give a response (Feeney 2015). Hence, in summary of what Wiley thinks, she stated, “’[White feminism] thinks twerking is a revolution on Miley but wants to know why Nicki just won’t respect herself though’” (Button Poetry
Overt sexual and gender stereotyped messages have become commonplace in the American music video scene. Nicki Minaj 's video for her hit single “Anaconda” is no exception, with its graphic images of scantily clad women with vibrating and shaking bodies dancing around in an exotic jungle setting with plenty of phallic imagery. Not all of the messages conveyed by this video are immediately apparent; upon scratching the surface, viewers will see gender messages that are far more covert. And while there may be a temptation to assume the worst about the video 's representation of power, gender, sexuality, and stereotype, the video is also strangely empowering. On the surface, Minaj portrays the female gender as highly sexualized and disempowered and yet some of the deeper messages in this video also reflect a sense of female empowerment, confidence, and an embracing of sexuality and sexual assertiveness.
Some people would view this music video a different way. A possible opposing viewpoint would be that people should not do illegal things to support a family. If the father did not turn to illegal activities to support his family, the police would not have invaded his home and shot his daughter. Other opposing viewpoint would be how the father should have found a job to avoid getting into trouble.
American pop culture recently received flak for cultural appropriation. Artists such as Katy Perry and Selena Gomez were criticized for superficially incorporating Asian images into their music. However, cultural appropriation and cultural tourism – and its consequences – are commonly seen in relation to traditional culture; this lack of attention towards visual representation of modern Asian subcultures – in relation to Asian Americans – dismisses the potential impact of these images. A visual analysis of Avril Lavinge’s “Hello Kitty” and Gwen Stefani’s appearances with the Harajuku Girls reveals that the use of Japan’s Harajuku subculture in American pop culture perpetuates Asian American stereotypes. Specifically, these acts contain characteristics of the submissive “lotus blossom” stereotype and the invisibility that comes from this stereotype. These characteristics result in an insidious formation of race; Avril Lavinge and Gwen Stefani’s cultural tourism constructs the concept of an American that excludes the Asian body through contrasts between themselves and the background Asian body. This racial formation relies on the idea that the two artists have become part of the Harajuku culture, yet they are clearly distinguishable from the homogenized Asian body.
Taylor Swift’s Shake it off video contains elements of cultural appropriation that exhibit stereotypical tropes which have been used to define African American women and, in particular, their sexuality for years. The video perpetuates the negative stereotypes that have placed Black women on the opposite side of respect for centuries. The video involves White women twerking in a way that conforms to the male gaze, for profitable success. Twerking involves thrusting hip movements, low squatting stance, and shaking of the derriere. White women are able to perform the twerk without being socialized as hyper-sexual, whereas Black women are. Hence, the different conceptions of White and Black womanhood. The inability for Black women to escape their skin color is the one of the many reasons they are ridiculed. Their skin color assigned them to the category that defines them as unholy, dirty, and promiscuous White women have the ability to hide behind their skin color, which classifies them as pure, and innocent in society eyes. The cultural appropriation of twerking is an exercise of White women’s privilege. Black women are judged harshly for
Beyoncé places society on trial for the crime of gender inequality and discrimination with her song Pretty Hurts. Director Melina Matsoukas and singer Beyoncé Knowles illustrated a message of “perfection” with their pop music video. This video raises concerns toward females and the extent they would cross to achieve their obsession of perfection. The quest for perfection has become a norm in society, causing impractical goals and struggles for females. In the music video “Pretty Hurts,” Beyoncé targets the unrealistic standard of beauty that society has created by using imagery, real life situations, and lyrical context. In effect, she illustrates the gender inequality and discrimination females endure in society.
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 climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
... control in the eye of male viewers . Regarding Rihanna’s “S&M” music video, radicals would argue that even though Rihanna seeks to show enjoyment through her sexual action and lyrics, she limits female empowerment and promotes sexual violence in the form of bondage against women. Furthermore she supports gender inequality by acting for men satisfaction through her sexual talk and actions . Radicals believe that the common sexual images seen in current pop culture prove that women have not yet reached liberation and are still being manipulated by men, as by acting in sexual ways, women seek to impress their male audiences . By doing so women limit and hide their real personal identity, therefore any belief that women have achieved liberation is a false one, since they are still acting for the benefit of the society in instead of their own, in order to be successful.
These lyrics from one of the first hip hop women band in United State introduce clearly our subject. Usually when the people think about women in Hip Hop culture, they think about sex, they think about women half nude in music videos, we just have to remember the conteoversial music video of Nelly for his song Tip Drill (2003). Women's studies students protest against misogyny in this video who shows women as sexuel object simulating sexuel acts and men throwing money on women's breats. This case is common in Hip Hop culture, specially in Gangsta Rap in videos of 2pac, Notorious Big, 50 Cents, etc. Patricia Hill Collins, Tricia Rose and bell hooks (Hill Collins Patricia : 1991, Rose Tricia : 1994, hell hooks : 2003) spoke about the perverse effect of women's nudity in Hip Hop culture and compare Hip Hop to pronography. They all agree to say that the Hip Hop culture is a male and machist world, where women are used to reinforce the apparent masculinity of rappers. These authors studie rap music through the gender and the race in United State, because women in video music are always black, almost the same happens in France not really with rap but R&B which is a part of the Hip Hop Culture. All the singers of R&B in France have arabian origins, whereas american R&B is more heterogenic. The quetsion is why all the women are black in american video rap music ? And why all the R&B french singers are arabian ? Can we see a postolonial and esclavagist heritage ? These two image, black female seen as a "bitch" and the arabian woman called the "beurette" in France show two different feminities, but how these "myths" involved in the development of a group identity? And what they reveal about the society ?
210). These sexist messages become ingrained in the minds of their listeners, which in regards to rock music, is predominantly male (Kimmel, M.S., & Holler J. p. 243). From this, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that music plays a role in contemporary gender inequality. In addition, the hard and heavy sound of rock music reinforces the Give Em Hell: aura of aggression, violence and daring masculinity norm. Meanwhile music directed towards women reinforces today’s femininity ideals. “According to prominent scholar and theorist Martha Nussbaum (1995), seven key features are involved in the act of objectification; these include: instrumentality, denial of autonomy, inertness, fungibility, violability, ownership, and denial of subjectivity. Of particular relevance to the sexual objectification phenomenon, and thus of this study, scholar Rea Langton (2009) adds three more features to Nussbaum’s list: reduction to body, reduction to appearance, and silencing.” (Jamie Glantz, p. 23). An example of how contemporary music is objectifying women can be seen in the lyrical discourse of I’m A Slave For You by Britney Spears. In just the first stanza is a representation of the female ideal to be young; “I
“Sex and the Social Dance” was a streaming video which examined the sexuality of social dances around the world. Regardless of geographical location or decade of popularity, dance conveyed social values. In particular, the sexuality was expressed through physical contact or lack thereof, in the gender roles of the dance, and in the purpose of the dance.
With the music being the highly profitable, capitalist enterprise that it is today, it is no wonder that it is controlled and regulated by a few large conglomerates that exist is today’s world. It is important to make clear that although evidence is being presented of the positive aspects of globalization through music that there is overwhelming evidence that cultural imperialism is more than it seems on the outside. One must keep in mind that cultural imperialism, globalization and the creation of a global village is a business. People are profiting at other people’s loss of cultural identity, they are sold a culture and heritage. With the every growing N’Sync fan clubs and Britney clones, the world is turning into a stage for pop culture and its glamorous unattainable standards.
In today’s society, dancehall music is one of the most popular forms of music, however, the themes and lyrics of many songs that fall in this genre tend to be vulgar, offensive, violent and sexist. Sexism in dancehall music is one of the main topics of this paper and is apparent through the negative portrayal of women found in both the lyrics and music videos of such songs. This is an important issue because since dancehall music is so popularized today these negative representation of women, are being popularized to a huge majority of people, potentially giving them the idea that it is acceptable to treat women in such demeaning ways.