Hi Daily Kos,
I am a long time reader and not so often diary writer. But I wanted to share something on behalf of my talented girlfriend, comedianne Melinda Hughes.
Today Melinda put up a music parody video of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines". The parody is called "Lame Lines".
As you may or may not know "Blurred Lines" is one of the top songs in the U.S. The Unrated version of its music video has been very controversial. If you have not seen it, the video (caution: NSFW) is here:
http://www.vevo.com/...
Melinda's parody video here (includes a couple of curse words):
https://www.youtube.com/...
Melinda also wrote an open letter, explaining why she created this parody video. Her reasons are akin to many of the voices I have heard on DailyKos. Here is her letter:
"As a woman with a history of sexual abuse, watching the Blurred Lines music video caused a tremendous amount of pain for me. Although the women are hot and the goat is cute, I, like most women who have experienced sexual abuse, sexual assault, or rape, have a serious bone to pick with the message. The undeniable popularity of this hit song has raised some serious issues for me about what entertainers choose to communicate. Sexual abuse, sexual assault, and rape often leave the victim feeling powerless. Victims are often blamed by the offender, others in their personal lives, society, and even themselves. The “I know you want it” lyrics seem to perpetuate these victim-blaming reactions that leave many of us feeling powerless long after the abusive incident.
And unfortunately, there’s a “douchebag” percentage of the population that listens to music like this and takes it at face value. Certain members of our society may listen to this song and watch this video and think, “Hey, I deserve to have the hottest girl in the bar. That’s what she is here for, my amusement.” One in six US women have experienced a rape or attempted rape. The vast majority of rape is committed by someone the victim knows as opposed to a stranger. Many women are hoping this phenomenon that has been termed “Rape Culture” will be quickly shot down.
And my big question is... how did the majority of viewers and listeners miss the intention of the video to “degrade women as much as possible.” Are we that hypnotized by three pairs of beautiful breasts? Or is that how commonplace the degradation of women is in our society...so common we don’t even recognize or notice when the artist goes out of his way to offend as much as possible? And even more perplexing, why was the intention of Blurred Lines to degrade women? This song does not play as a satire or a parody or a social/political commentary on a current issue. The song plays as just another R&B song that degrades and objectifies women with a “let’s see just how much we can get away with” feel.
The video’s use of nudity is disturbing. And I like nudity. I’m naked myself... quite often. Nudity is beautiful but nudity is vulnerable. When nudity is respectful, the beauty of the human body (whether male or female) can be fully appreciated. The nudity in the Blurred Lines video is more of a publicity stunt than a respectful appreciation of beauty. In the video, the men are given all the power, all the control. The women are passive. The models dance with vacant expressions as the three fully-clothed men touch them and gawk at them in whichever way they choose, without any reaction, positive or negative from the women. As a result, the women seem more like sex dolls for the amusement of the men than actual women. The women are not celebrated for their wit, their intelligence, their creativity, their loving nature, their ability to give life, or even their individual beauties. They are celebrated as sexual objects.
Why are the other wonderful qualities of those women (and women in general) being ignored, and as a result, devalued? Not only are the models stripped of their clothing, they are stripped of their voices, stripped of their individualities, stripped of everything. I think many women are tired of being represented in the entertainment industry and in society in such a limited way.
When the value of women is continuously placed on whether the woman fits the ideal of sexual beauty (many times not actually achievable without a surgical procedure) and whether she fulfills what we expect from her sexually, we create a society in which the goal of a woman is to be sexually appealing. The feminine contribution to society is reduced to looking sexy or being sexy. This view of women and their opportunities and roles in our society is something I would like to change.
Instead of seeing a rise in plastic surgery, I would like to see a rise in feeling self-worth in who we are as people from the inside out. Instead of seeing a rise in eating disorders, I would like to see a rise in women business owners. Instead of seeing a rise in music videos like Blurred Lines, I would like to see more videos like our parody that show women as smart, sassy, sexy, empowered, equal."