Women are Robbed of Respect

By: Bre-Ann Werner

 

            Have you ever watched a music video and wondered why the women are always partially or even fully nude? I know I have. This society has painted such a pretty image for the role and reputation of women. Now a days we see women on TV and in music videos with bodies that we would all like to stare at, and ‘talent’ that we would not want to see. Why is that? Why are women always the one exposing themselves and revealing the parts of their body that are meant to be ‘private?’ Why are men not the ones to stand around naked in front of dozens of crew members, and billions upon billions of TV viewers?

            The respect that men have for women is completely diminished in today’s society. People always wonder why women have ‘no respect’ for themselves, when it is the men who provoke behavior like this. Women are always known to be the ones to take off their clothes in front of the camera, so women think nothing of it when they do it because it’s ‘normal.” Everyone knows that it would be completely un normal for men to be nude in front of the camera. Studies show that the 100 top-earning movies of 2008 shows that men had 67% of the speaking roles; women had about 33%.[1] We all get enjoyment out of watching these things, but what happens when someone takes it too far? This past summer artist Robin Thicke created a number one summer hit around the world with “Blurred Lines.” This song was voted number one a countless amount of times because it is trendy, has a good beat, and people can dance/ sing to it. However, has anyone ever really listened to the lyrics enough to understand what they mean?

            In Robin Thicke’s song he addresses a grey/ ‘blurred’ area between consensual sex and assault. [2] Not many people realize this as they are singing and dancing along to this summer hit. The song directly says “I know you want it,” something that many rapists are known to say when they are sexually assaulting their victims. [3] Thicke also addresses the women in his song to be a “good girl.” Addressing a woman as a “good girl” is inferring forceful action on a woman to perform both the good and bad girl roles in sexual behavior against their will in order to satisfy the man.[4] Not only does Thicke completely disrespect all woman around the world with his sexual words, especially the ones that went through experiences like that, he crosses the line when he has naked women in front of the camera in his video for him. This is a prime example to the situation I stated above; how women are known to be the ones taking their clothes off in front of the camera. In Robin Thicke’s video there are several completely naked women dancing along to his provocative lyrics while Thicke himself is dressed in a full suite. When I saw this, I was astonished. I knew that women were always the ones getting nude in front of the camera, but when I saw Thicke in a full suit, I was blown away by the disrespect just coming from the way he presented himself vs the way he presented his women on camera. The woman’s desire plays absolutely no role in this song or music video. This ties into the general topic of how women are completely disrespected when it comes to being viewed and talked about in songs and music videos. Robin Thicke just blew the roof off when he based his entire song off on sexual assault and rape. The more fans of these kinds of artists and producers keep giving them “Top Hits,” this situation will only get worse. The fans of artists and producers like this don’t actually take the time out to read between the lines. If they did, then maybe they wouldn’t provoke such ill-mannered behavior.

 

 

 

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[1] Nanci Hellmich to USA Today online forum, March 22, 2011, Film Study: Men Talk and Woman Show Skin, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/2011-04-21-movies-men-women-roles-speaking-sexy.htm.

[2] Sezin Koehler, "Sociological Images," From the Mouth's of Rapists: The Lyrics of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines (blog), September 17, 2013, http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/17/from-the-mouths-of-rapists-the-lyrics-of-robin-thickes-blurred-lines-and-real-life-rape/.

[3] Sezin Koehler, "Sociological Images," From the Mouth's of Rapists: The Lyrics of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines (blog), September 17, 2013, http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/17/from-the-mouths-of-rapists-the-lyrics-of-robin-thickes-blurred-lines-and-real-life-rape/.

[4] Sezin Koehler, "Sociological Images," From the Mouth's of Rapists: The Lyrics of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines (blog), September 17, 2013, http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/17/from-the-mouths-of-rapists-the-lyrics-of-robin-thickes-blurred-lines-and-real-life-rape/.