Sexuality in music videos
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Sexuality in music videos has been evident since the 1980s.
1980s
On August 1, 1981,
Music videos released in the 1980s typically depicted women as alluring objects. Aligning with typical stereotypes, women were portrayed as attractive, yet submissive. Although women's talents may be acknowledged, their skill never surpassed the male's; this concept is evident in AC/DC's video for "
In a 1987 study, thirty hours of MTV content was analyzed. The results suggested: 57% of music videos displayed women being objectified, 17% showed women's talents being accounted for yet her sexual role was highlighted, 14% did not align with typical stereotypes and 12% acknowledged women's independence.[2] In addition to these results, touching was displayed in over 50% of music videos and women were often seen in seductive clothing.[2]
1990s
Music remained an essential part of the cultural evolution of the 1990s. The music scene transitioned into a darker and more provocative sound with the rise of the genres of
. While the acclaimed artists and genres of the time differed from the previous decade, the visual depictions of this music and how they were delivered to the public remained the same. MTV continued to be socially relevant. Airing music videos continued youth culture's exposure to varied visual experiences. As music videos grew in popularity and cultural prominence, researchers began to look at the link between gender identities and mass media platforms. Several studies have been conducted regarding gender portrayals in music videos of the 1990s.In early 1990, MTV created a program standards department which aimed to reject music videos featuring extremely graphic and explicit content. It sought to prohibit any signs of female nudity and violence directed toward female figures. For example, MTV rejected
Other studies analyzed 123 music videos from varying genres that aired in the summer of 1995. 44.7% of the videos failed to feature a female in a central role, while 31.7% of the videos portrayed women as conventional, meaning they served either as objects or sensory props to romantic male desire.[5] However, the overtly sexual nature of women in these videos was not the only thing analyzed. Gender displays in the form of nonverbal sexual cues were also considered, proving women could also be depicted as more subliminally sexual than men. For example, in the videos only 1.24% of men touched their hair compared to 38.35% of females.[6] Additionally, only 26.80% of males danced suggestively in their videos compared to 74% of females. The study examines the distinction between the prominence and depiction of male and female gender portrayals within the music videos of the 1990s.
2000s
Music remained integral to cultural life in the 2000s, even though not many new genres were created during this time other than a few indie-related and electronic genres. Teen Pop had a heavy influence over the 90s and into the first part of the decade. Artists like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, NSYNC and Backstreet Boys were extremely popular in the early 2000s. By the mid-2000s, Contemporary R&B had become the most popular genre with artists like Usher at the forefront.
A 2008 study by Jacob Turner hypothesized that African American genres of music—hip-hop, rhythm and blues—would feature the most sexual content in their music videos while white genres—Country and Rock—would feature less. The study found that 73% of all music videos had some sort of sexual content. The study also found that 90.09% of mixed Hip-Hop and R&B music videos contained sexual content, followed by Hip-Hop with 79.7% and R&B with 76.9%. The genres that contained the least amount of sexual content on their music videos were Rock with 40% and Country with 37%. The study also looked into how African American and white wallpaper characters were dressed in music videos. It found African American wallpaper characters were three times more likely to dress provocatively than white wallpaper characters. The study also found that while African Americans were not underrepresented in music videos, it proposes this is because videos featuring African Americans contained significantly more sexual content than videos that featured whites.[7] In 2004, many family groups and politicians lobbied unsuccessfully to ban Eric Prydz's "Call on Me" video for containing women dancing in a sexually suggestive way.
In 2005, the music video of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", which featured Jessica Simpson in character as Daisy Duke, was controversial for featuring Simpson in "revealing" outfits and washing the General Lee car in her bikini.[8]
Role of social media platforms
In the 2000s, social media platforms such as
In particular, YouTube was a major contributor to this trend. The platform, launched in early 2005, grew rapidly—with its videos amassing one billion daily videos by October 2009[9] and became the largest video sharing site on the internet. Although YouTube's success in the 2000s was relatively limited compared to its explosive growth in the 2010s, it was nevertheless one of the most popular sites on the internet. Naturally, it became a hub for music videos as many content creators and fans flocked to the site to post content. The easy accessibility of various music videos, some charged with sexual themes, began to increase the perception of its normality.
2010s
Into the 2010s, artists continued to garner headlines for provocative content in their music videos. For example,
Recent research has looked into the effects music videos that sexually objectify women have on women's body image perceptions. A study of college students found that young women with low self-esteem were more likely to view their body in a negative light after exposure to a sexually-objectifying music video. The same study found exposure to sexually objectifying music videos lessened the extremes of young women's concepts of an
Some scholars have noted that sexualized content in music videos rarely depicts non-heterosexuality. Frederik Dhaenens has pointed out that when music videos feature gay content, it often involves a "heteronormative shaping of gay and lesbian identities", citing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Same Love" as an example.[15] Carly Rae Jepsen's music video "Call Me Maybe" demonstrates the heteronormativity in music videos. Its scenes portray stereotypical heterosexual figures who reiterate heterosexuality.[15] The music video focuses around heterosexuality by using homosexuality to bring attention to the video. Music videos like Disclosure's "Latch" and Citizens!' "True Romance" emphasize homosexuality on a small-scale. It is presented in small amounts to include sexual diversity and attraction.[15] The artists' music videos depict heterosexuality but also include homosexuality to embrace social change.
Expansion of social media
YouTube continued to grow in the 2010s after a successful half-decade since its launch in the 2000s. Sexual themes were explored in videos that grew to enormous popularity on YouTube. Meghan Trainor's 2014 single "All About That Bass" is one example of this trend, although a milder one, as the sexual themes were very subtle. Nevertheless, the video amassed over 2.3 billion views on YouTube as of November 2019.[16] Also in the 2010s came the rise of music streaming platforms such as Spotify, which reached 248 million active users by October 2019.[17] The site is possibly creating a countermovement to the increased acceptance furthered by YouTube's growth by de-emphasizing the video itself in favor of the sound.
Depictions of race
Studies have shown music videos featuring African American characters tend to feature significantly more depictions of sexual acts than videos featuring white characters.
Asian artists, like BoA, have been accused of presenting Western stereotypes of Asian female sexuality in their music videos in an attempt to gain popularity in the United States. Japan's Koda Kumi and AKB48 also present sexuality in their music videos. Male K-pop star Rain's music video for his song "Rainism" has been credited with helping to refute stereotypes of Asian men as effeminate and weak depicting an Asian man in various sexual situations, primarily with white women.[21]
In the article "Sex and the Spectacles of Music Videos: An Examination of the Portrayal of Race and Sexuality in Music Videos", Jacob Turner studies the sexual behavior portrayed in music videos by two races. His study argued that African American women were more likely to portray sexual content than white women in music videos that were televised in the United States. This included both the use of provocative clothing and sexual acts in the videos, which ultimately showed how gender roles and race play a part in the amount of sexual content in music videos.[22] In Erika VanDyke's article "Race, Body, and sexuality in music videos", she argues that men appear more often in music videos than women. Men are usually portrayed as "powerful" and "aggressive" characters. Consequently, women occupy stereotypically female roles in these music videos and are usually seen as passive and are objectified in this manner.[20]
See also
- Sexualization and sexual exploitation in K-pop
- Censorship of music
- BDSM in culture and media
- Exploitation of women in mass media
- Misogyny in rap music
- Nudity in music videos
- Sexism in heavy metal music
- Sexual objectification
- Sexploitation film
References
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- ^ Journalism Quarterly, 64(4), 750-941.
- ^ .
- ^ S2CID 143350486. Retrieved 14 November 2019 – via Taylor & Francis.
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- ^ Turner, Jacob (22 May 2008). "Hegemony, Hedonism, and Hip-Hop: An Examination of the Portrayal of Race and Sexuality in Music Videos". Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ Walls, Jeannette (27 July 2005). "Has Sienna Miller found love in Bloom?". Today.com. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ^ "Youtube Statistics – 2 Billion Views Per Day [Infographic]". clearcutmedia.com. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ "Rihanna's 'S&M' Video Restricted By YouTube, Banned In 11 Countries". MTV News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
- ^ "Rihanna's 'S&M' Video Director Responds To Controversy". MTV News. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
- ^ "Ariana Grande's Super Racy 'Everyday' Video Will Totally Make You Blush". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
- PMID 22960001.
- S2CID 151835862.)
{{cite journal}}
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- ^ "Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (Official Music Video)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ DaSilva, Matthew (28 October 2019). "Spotify is still the king of music streaming—for now". qz.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ S2CID 146277708.
- S2CID 144902122.
- ^ a b VanDyke, Erika (2011). "Race, Body, and Sexuality in Music Videos". Honors Projects. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- .
- S2CID 144902122.