Women in Music Videos: What’s considered going too far?

Rachel Nee
2/27/15

 

Women in Music Videos: What’s considered going too far?

            One of our discussions in class this week was based on the portrayal of women in music videos. We viewed two music videos, one done by Motley Crew and one by rapper Nelly. Both music videos showed girls in bikinis, dancing around. Motley Crew’s video showed women in a strip club while all the men sat around and watched them, throwing money and cheering them on. Nelly’s was based on a party held at a mansion where girls are dancing everywhere. These videos portrayed women as the object for the men; Nelly’s video was more explicit showing the girls fully naked at points dancing against each other. To me it is disturbing to see women put in this position, especially as explicit as Nelly’s video had got. Why have these women put themselves in this position in the first place? Why are they always shown as objects? These are two music videos that were done at different times, but it shows that those ideas have not changed. Motley Crew’s video was in the 1970s, and Nelly’s was done in the 2000s, we’re still dealing with this issue years later. We still see music videos where women are the objects; half dressed, shown in a weak position as the object of the men. Why is it that this idea that women are only shown as good for their bodies continues to be shown? It’s always based around those that are skinny and pretty, what was seen as ideal to put in the video in order to make it look good. To think, they cast these women based on their looks because they want their product to turn out to be what they want it to be. The male is shown as the dominant figure, he has the power of the women and she is just standing there and looking good in the video while the focus is really on the male and the song. The women are shown as appeal to the audience, but why does it have to be shown in such explicit ways? If anything Nelly’s video made me want to look away, I have seen this image too many times in multiple music videos. It is disgusting to think that someone comes up with this idea and puts it out for the world to see. It also amazes me that girls signed up for those positions, and some of them do look very young to be portraying the behavior they do in these videos. The portrayal of women as objects in music videos still continues, and it is shown in all types of genres, whether it’s rock, country, or rap, women are still seen in skimpy outfits dancing around for the appeal of the men. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is an image that will change, it was introduced to society so early on that it has just continued and is seen as normal, some videos much worse than others, but still displaying these images. It does bother me that women are shown as an object in male videos, never in a powerful position, but this is what the artist sees as okay.  Luckily there are those female artists that still speak for us and show women in powerful positions, they’re able to still get the message in that we aren’t objects, and we have power. Objectifying women was clearly displayed in these two videos we saw earlier this week and it was shocking to see just how explicit they are allowed to get in the video. Women are not an object, they are people, and don’t deserve to be shown under the dominance of a male and how he wants to show them.