A sixteen year old girl poses for the camera, wearing a shirt that resembles something more akin to a bra than to an actual shirt. She is lying prostrate upon the floor with the photographer snapping pictures above her scantily-clad form. The girl's name is Britney Spears. She has just recorded her first hit single, named "Hit Me Baby One More Time".
As Britney's veneer of a bubblegum pop princess fades, she has resorted to shedding more and more layers of clothing in order to attract a new breed of audience. Singing songs entitled "Oops I Did It Again" and "I'm a Slave for You", her raunchy music videos are now being mimicked by thirteen year old girls across the world. Britney Spears and her disreputable counterparts are not the only ones guilty of the corruption of minors-- our entire society is to blame for cramming pedophilic messages down the throat of America.
Yet another former sugar-pop princess corrupting the morals of our youth is the singing sensation Christina Aguilera-- who first made her debut singing an innocent love song written for the Disney movie "Mulan" Many people also remember her cute, sap-filled lyrics from her first chart topper "I'm a Genie In a Bottle", yet she didn't achieve true star status until she took off some clothes and began belting out sexual double entendres and reciting lyrics rife with subliminal sexual subcontext.
Contrary to popular belief, Ms. Aguilera's fan base does not solely consist of the primary school crowd-- her journey to number one on countless musical charts could be achieved by the pre-teen demographic alone. Much in the fashion of the Spice Girls and Britney Spears before her, Christina Aguilera has become the d...
... middle of paper ...
...ore publicity than anything she has yet done, Britney was quick to market this stunt into a new video in which she and Madonna roll on the ground; touching themselves inappropriately, and swaying together to the beat of the music in a thinly veiled attempt at making soft-core pornography-- which is watched by hundreds of thousands of little girls worldwide.
This subject brings up the question of whether or not kids mimic the pop idols or if the pop idols merely mimic the changing attitude of our society. Was our culture changed by them--or paradoxically-- did our culture change them? As girls of a younger and younger age are developing faster physically--they must race in order to catch up mentally (Leeds 1). These sexy images portrayed by pop idols and the media may be sending extremely harmful messages about what it means to be a young girl in American culture.
Female beauty ideals are an overwhelming force in teen media. Approximately 37% of articles in leading magazines for teen girls emphasize a focus on physical appearance. This is none to surprising considering two of the top contenders in this media genre are Seventeen and Teen Vogue. CosmoGIRL and Elle Girl were among the ranks of popular teen magazines, but in recent years have become exclusively online publications. Add in a dash of publications Tiger Beat and Bop, and it becomes glaringly obvious that girls are charged with the prime directive of looking good to get the guy. The story becomes more disturbing when the actual audience, which includes girls at least as young as eleven years old, is considered. In a stage when girls are trying for the first time to establish their identities, top selling publications are telling them that their exteriors should be their primary concern of focus. Of course, this trend doesn’t stop with magazines. A study conducted in 1996 found a direct correlation between the “amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos” a...
Demi Lovato is more than just a famous actress and singer. She has dedicated much of her time to her fans. Everyone faces their own battles and have their own insecurities, yet she inspires her fans to embrace and overpower them. She not only uses her vocals for singing, she uses it to reach out to her fans. In terms of sales (music and concert), advocating mental health, and philanthropy, Demi Lovato has changed the meaning of the music industry.
At first glance, Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” would seem to be nothing more than just another vapid pop song. With its run-of-the-mill lyrics and catchy beat, it would appear that “Bad Romance” is no different from every other song on the market. However, upon closer inspection, “Bad Romance” and its music video explore the complex themes of fame, wealth, power, and freedom.
The adverse subjects of child pornography and sex tapes have consistently been a controversy in the world. Today, there constantly seems to be a new sex scandal or pornography crime occurring. Sex tapes of celebrities are regularly circulating and they appear to be a popular topic to discuss. This was true when singer, R. Kelly, allegedly participated in a sex tape with a young girl. Kelly went to court on an account of child pornography instead of rape or sexual abuse.
In today’s world, celebrities are often misunderstood, especially singer/songwriter Robin Rihanna Fenty, referred to as Rihanna. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos have been talked about in negative ways for some time now, but what people do not understand is that it is all for fame. Celebrities will do anything to keep their careers going strong. If one really took the time out to take a deep look at Rihanna, they will notice how humble she really is. After going through the abusive relationship with Chris Brown, Rihanna has struggled with gaining that strong confidence in who she is.
Since the explosion of music videos in 1981, a large portion of their popularity has been due to the objectification of women and their sexuality. “Early content analyses showed that anywhere from 40% to 75% of music videos contained sexual imagery”(Arnett, 2002). Hip-hop music videos especially have a reputation of degrading women. In these videos “women are often depicted in positions of submission to men” (Sommers-Flanagan, 1993).On the flip-side Country music videos are “known for [their] socially conservative themes”(Frisby & Aubrey, 2012).
Hip-hop and rap music are commonly criticized for its anti-feminist lyrics and degrading exploitation of women in music and music videos. (Sharpley-Whiting ) Many feminists have taken action against the music industry, which produces these messages in the music they release. However, in the hip-hop genre there are plenty of successful female rappers promoting feminist views, artist such as Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige have made the choice to condemn the derogatory culture towards women. (Oliver, 382–384) However others female hip-hop artist, such as Lil Kim or Rihanna, have decided to provide no resistance towards the deleterious depictions of women in their music and in turn sometimes exploit themselves. Due to her extreme fame, success, and controversial image, at the front of this discussion is female rapper Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj is challenging the common view of women in hip-hop by proclaiming feminist ideologies through the art of reclaiming the genres negative undertones towards women and by providing an opportunity for women to be seen as equals rather than objects.
In “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect,” Stephanie Hanes covers the sexualization of young girls and women in every aspect of the media that influences children and teens. She explains that girls see media figures, movies, and sports being sexualized, and how this is causing children to associate looking and acting a certain way to being ‘the perfect women’. Hanes believes the hypersexualized media is causing girls to obtain a negative body image and it’s killing their self-esteem. The author proposes what she believes society should do about overcoming this obstacle, and how people can crush the stereotypes about women; to her everyone is responsible and should aid in fixing these problems. She explains that the media
Rihanna, from her very first music videos has compelled public eyes as an effigy, an icon and a statement of music lifestyle. Her independent outlook, badass attitude mixed with a Caribbean accent has undoubtedly confined not only music but the whole popular culture of our time. Diamonds, We Found Love, Bitch Better Have My Money and S&M are some of the top songs by this epic singer. Songs that today rule bars, dance clubs, parties and of course her numerous fans.
In “The Pop Singer as Ultimate Predator”, Emily Esfahani Smith mentions Lady Gaga as a “feminist”. She describes Gaga’s success in the media is progressive for women equally movements. However, Smith challenges Gaga by declaring signs of male dominance in her music videos, such as, sadomasochism. Sadomasochism means obtaining sexual pleasure from pain. Additionally, Smith articulates that Gaga’s feminist message does more for men then women because men are often shown masculine and in control. Smith refers to “Bad Romance” as an example of inhuman acts like human trafficking. Smith proclaims that Gaga defies traditional women, but in her music videos, she is shown as a sex object. Smith disagrees with Lady Gaga’s views on feminist; nevertheless, Gaga is a feminist--- a modern feminist.
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...
“I was extreme… From skateboarder to hip-hopper to rave child to lead singer of a rock band - I did it all, and all at the same time (P!nk Quotes).” Alecia Beth Moore took music as most people knew it and made her own style. In order to appreciate P!nk’s original music, one must understand P!nk’s defective childhood, how she overcame the struggles in her life, and the foundation and inspiration she left for other upcoming musical artists.
The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group famously known for their hits "Don't Cha" and "Buttons". This group of lovely ladies sold 54 million records internationally which made them one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Here are 15 facts you probably did not know.
Have you ever noticed walking into a large shopping complex and seeing children as young as 6 years old wearing midriff bearing t-shirts and short skirts? And wondered to yourself why the younger generation of today portray themselves like that and why their parents allow it. It all goes back to the strong impact that sexualization portrayed in media and marketing has on everybody in today’s society especially young children from toddlers to late teens, both girls and boys. They see it everywhere from movies/television shows, magazines, clothing, computer games, toys, the music industry and of course the internet.
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...