Discussion Of Lilly Allen's Argument Against The Sexualization Of Women

Female artists in today’s music industry are often depicted in a sexualizing manner, because their managers know that sex sells. However, in the video for her song, “Hard Out Here”, it would seem that Lilly Allen is free to sing about whatever she wants, and dress however she pleases (Allen 2013). This song, allegedly a “feminist anthem” (O’Hagan 2013: 1), was meant to ridicule, and fight against, the blatant sexism against women in the music industry, a sexism that is made obvious through the sexualization of women. Allen had the opportunity to truly take a stance against the portrayal of women as sexual objects in this male-dominated industry. Instead, the music video shows degrading images of women dancing half-naked, which are

Her witty lyrics are not very effective when paired with the video, which results in a mere imitation of the very videos that she is mocking. Ironically, the back-up dancers are actually being objectified as sexual props, which is what Allen was disparaging in the first place. Thus, it fails in challenging the patriarchal conditions that women are forced to contend with in the music industry. Moreover, Allen never attempts to actually attack the entertainment industry in any consequential way. It is true that she skillfully calls out Robin Thicke for his dubious and controversial song, “Blurred Lines”. y walking in front of silver balloons that spell out "Lily Allen has a baggy p--sy”. She also ridicules the A&R man who tries to teach her and the dancers how to twerk. Other than that, she does try make a pointed difference in the music world. Allen could have had a group of A&R men strip down to their underwear and twerk during the entire video if she really wanted to ridicule them. To disparage the reality of the glass ceiling, she could also have set up a reversal of roles in which all of the women wear business suits and order the A&R men around. Instead, the video’s countless close-ups of breasts and buttocks prevent the video to separate itself from the rest of the music videos that show the very same images. Lastly, Allen’s argument falls short as it appears that she does not believe in her own activist message. Allen sings, “Inequality promises that it's here to stay / Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not goin' away”. Though she could be writing this to prompt women to make a change themselves, it comes across as rather pessimistic. It is as though she does not believe that women’s submissive and objectified position in the