So apparently when you make your feminist rant-iness known, people start linking you to more stuff. Excellent...
1. Slut-Shaming article.
This article was brought to my attention by a friend tagging me in Facebook. I was very glad she did, as I really enjoyed this article. Not because I give a damn about Kristen Stewart, but because I am so tired off society's madonna/whore complex: women are either innocent, pure virgins or they are awful sluts; with no middle ground. Also because male celebrities don't face anywhere NEAR this kind of backlash when they have infidelities.
Oh no! She slept with someone other than who you expected to! Clearly we must burn her at the stake! ⸮
(In case you don't know that weird thing is one of the marks that has been suggested throughout history for denoting sarcasm. I will go down that tangent some other time).
2. Big booty ho article.
This one makes me very very punch-y. My mom shared it on Facebook today, with a note that she was unable to watch the entire video. I completely understand why. I made myself watch the whole thing despite being both offended and horrified.
For this blog I will mention but not discuss the gratuitous violence of a group of young males beating up a clown (for the crime of not being a woman with large gluteal muscles apparently?). I would like to point out that many of the women are "dancing" in a way that makes it look like they are being restrained by their hands, and that none of them look to be enjoying themselves at all. But these aren't really women, are they? They are simple transport modules to carry around the tits and ass that the rappers are so interested in.
The article makes great points, and stands on its own without me having to really add any more thoughts about it. What I do want to add is that I am not a complete prude. I have no problem with the female body being used in music videos per say, even naked female bodies. I just think it has to be well done and respectful. For an example of a music video that uses nudity in a respectful, artistic way I recommend Amanda Palmer's "Want It Back" (NSFW obviously). The differences in how nudity is handled?
She is not super-sexualized; her body is being used as a canvas basically. Although there is a scene where she is restrained there is nothing about it that seems like she is being degraded, and the emphasis is on her coming free from from the restraints. It also helps knowing that she was an integral part of the creative team coming up with the concept, not someone hired to fill out a thong and bra.
Speaking of her, as I adore her comfort with herself and her body, I will use her as another example of a song and video that are even focused explicitly on female body parts, but I still find far less offensive. My only issue with her "Map of Tasmania" video is that all the women are skinny and relatively clean-shaven, which goes against the wording of the song. But it is still quite funny, and not degrading.
See? We can use women's bodies in art without degrading them!
(Looking back these things don't fit together as well as I had planned, but I'm okay with it.)
No comments:
Post a Comment