Blog 2
Prompt 1: My cultural artifact is Robin Thicke music video Blurred Lines, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU. Through the music video the woman are half naked and there dancing while getting stared at by the male singers. Not only were the images of the woman showing that a woman is only useful for looks, but the lyrics were portraying the same. Using the lyrics “I know you want it” was very passive toward the woman especially because they were half naked dancing in front of the singers. Also, the lyrics “You’re far from plastic, talk about getting blasted.” Was showing gender representations that a woman should not get anything done to their bodies because being plastic is not attractive to other men.
Prompt 2: Highly known pop artist, Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell created these images. The funky beat of the song itself gets audience attention and also the woman through the music video. When looking at the music video others might not see the gender representation being portrayed because most rap and pop music videos have woman seen in this way, so it is nothing new. A value that was important to these artists was “you’re far from plastic” because it was consistently repeated it seemed important for them to share that women’s bodies are better without being altered. This type of message of how a women’s body should be and how it should stay “thick” and natural is sent through all rap and pop music because that is what men want out of a woman.
Hi Faith! I agree with you! The song gives unrealistic expectations of women and how they should act. They want a "natural" women with specific body traits. That seems a bit ironic. Also, there's a specific line about women "being animals. It's in your nature. Just let me liberate you." It just enhances the idea about how society see's women, more as objects and at the men's disposition.
ReplyDeleteFaith, I agree with you and Leticia about the unrealistic expectations and portrayal of women. To add onto the comment about irony and women's body, it's crazy how they want women to be as thick as possible without any enhancements and shun girls who are "small." When the song first came out on the radio, it seemed catchy but as I heard it more and more and actually watched the video I was pretty confused and disgusted.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way after watching the video lol. The chorus is basically saying the women walking past him can't help but want sex with him. Analyzing music videos with cultural criticism has really changed how I interpret them.
ReplyDeleteHi Faith, when the I first heard the song Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke and T.I., I didn't really pay close attention to the lyrics and just got caught up in the melody of it, however after I took the time to listen to it and realized that it is degrading. It places a huge emphasis on the expectation of a woman's body, I agree when you say they expect all for all women's bodies to be perfectly sculpted but without any plastic surgery. Many of young girls listen to Robin Thicke's and T.I.'s music and I feel therefore are pressured by artists who sing these kind of lyrics to do everything they can to achieve this look that men want.
ReplyDeleteHi Faith! I like that you picked this music video. I agree with everything that you said. They make it seem like they want a natural looking girl like in the videos but in reality most girls do not look like that, making them want to get work done to actually look like them. They say "you're far from plastic" showing that girls without surgery are the best but then they also show beautiful airbrushed and skinny girls and that makes most girls feel insecure also
ReplyDeleteIt is truly wrong how a song like this one can be so popular and so main stream yet so sexist and demeaning towards women. This song was huge and I imagine half of the people who liked it did not understand or even know what the lyrics actually were. This kind of language in popular music makes it ok and normal for men to treat women inferior when really this is wrong.
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