DUE SATURDAY 4/2 BY NOON
Look up some of the videos discussed in this week’s readings. In two paragraphs, discuss what it means to "flip the scripts" of hetero-masculine sexual dominance? How does this also relate to re-appropriation and counter-appropriation? Who has the power to set the patterns for dominant forms of representation in the music industry and Why? (use “intersectionality” in your analysis)
Next find a couple of videos that demonstrate what you would consider to be empowering to the women (and men) involved in them (as well as those viewing them), especially in relation to what you observed and learned from the film Dreamworlds 3). Provide the name of the videos and in 2 paragraphs explain how female artists are using their messages, language, bodies, etc. toward greater gender empowerment?
In the videos we viewed in class most of them didn’t shock me one bit, just because I have grown up seeing the same concept in every music video I have watched. However the Lil’ Kim and Khia music videos they “flipped the script” in their music video they were the ones who were showing dominance and the ones who were sex driven. In my eyes the videos go against intersectionality, just because in these videos black females are dominating black and white males. There is not just one person who has set the pattern for dominant forms of representation in the music industry; instead it is our society as a whole. We have allowed the context of the music videos to go on for so long, many people often over look what is actually being presented in the videos. It has become the norm to see girls flaunting themselves over guys like crazy sex driven girls. Even though people are starting to realize what is actually being presented in the music videos, trying to change it would be very difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe artist, Pink, her song “Stupid Girls” tells the reality of girls have changed their ways in order to be noticed by boys. One lyric was my favorite “what happened to the dream of a girl president? She’s dancin’ in the video next 50 cent.” That line explains specifically of how society has transformed over the years. The other music video I found that empowered women was “Earl Must Die” by the Dixie Chicks. In this video the girl’s friends who heard she was getting abused take it into their own hands. They were sick of the legal system just sitting around and not taking correct action, so they decided to kill Earl. This shows that women won’t take anything a man does to them.
The videos we saw in class were incredibly demeaning. We see these videos every day and many times I think nothing of it. However, the dreamworld videos really showed how the music industry is truly dominated by men. These videos are made and shown to society as a whole which in turn receives positive feedback in the form of money. WE are the people who are setting the patterns for the dominant forms in the music industry. Intersectionality is present in this conflict of dominance of power in music videos because women of many races and categories are used in the videos as well as many different dimensions of men. There is not one label that can be put on each person or in this case each music video.
ReplyDeleteLil' Kim has tried to "flip the scripts" of the music industry which has alerted people of the immense underlying male dominance. In Christina Aguilera's song " Can't Bring Us Down", they truly fight back against what is the "norm" in the music industry. The first two lines are "So what am I not supposed to have an opinion
Should I be quiet just because I'm a woman." This is what every female empowering person is trying to fight. Pink also has many songs involving female empowerment. Just by her look, there is a sense of a strong woman to fight the norms of society. These songs can inspire women of all races and classes to believe that they are no less than the men in their working environment.
The videos we watched in class were demeaning but nothing new. Unfortunately, the day I was old enough to start watching tv these messages have been drilled in to my mind. It is so sad that these are the messages conveyed to the minds of the young but it is every where we look. To "flip the scripts" of hetero-masculine sexual dominance means to veer off from the norm. In our society, it is normal for men to have the leadership role, being strong, manly, and straight men. If any of these attributes change, they are considered to “flip the script.” The term re-appropriation means to change or switch words to describe something. “Flip the scripts,” relates to re-appropriation and counter-appropriation because they are things that were once out of the norm. The terms that are being switched around were at first very harsh and straight forward but have been made normal terminology that people use without even thinking about what they are saying.
ReplyDeleteAfrican-Americans have the power to set the patterns for dominant forms of representation in the music industry because rap is what is popular today. Intersectionality has to do with race, class and gender causing and reflecting how the other is represented. Many rappers rap about times in their life when oppression has taken place in their own lives, which have encouraged them to get to the spot they are at today. So many times, their race has to do with their social class, which makes them rise to become the rapper, and celebrity they are now. All of these things interrelate making this music popular as an encouragement to the listens whose hope is lost.
In Beyonce’s “Video Phone” music video featuring Lady Gaga, empowerment is very heavily shown. It begins with Beyonce in a very seductive outfit surrounded by 5 men in business suits. Right away, the message being conveyed is that they are successful and she is just an item to them. Throughout the entire video, Beyonce dances in a very sexual manner to attract the viewers and the men are dancing but it’s almost as if they are dancing with authority. They stare at her body as if she is a toy that they control. This shows that women are not in control and will confine to whatever the man figure wants to have or see.
The next video is Miley Cyrus’ “Can’t be Tamed”. She is dressed as a very provocative bird with big feathers locked in a cage at an art exhibit. All of the dancers inside the cage with her are males that stare at her. This video is clearly demonstrating that women are like animals at an art exhibit, that they are only something to be watched. This video is all about outer appearance and the sexual motions Miley demonstrates. The man watching her only cares for her provocativeness and she is only eye candy. This video shows that women are not control in their speech and actions because men are in control of their actions, as if they are locked in a cage at an exhibit.
@Pmdouglas I agree, it isn't just one person who sets the standard for the content shown on tv, music videos, etc. It is the whole society that draws the line of what is acceptable and unfortunately no one steps up to the plate to stop the demeaning messages that are being demonstrated every where we turn. Most of the messages and images we see are demeaning and it's really sad that we are used to them by now. Women shouldn't be just items or a product to mess around with, we're human beings too.
ReplyDeleteThe videos we watched made me realize just how poorly girls are treated and looked at through masculine eyes. Sadly, its been like this since i could remember. But those videos were true, unfortunately. Its disappointing to realize that this is how most girls are looked upon.
ReplyDelete"Flipping the script" is rarely seen in society. Men don't want to give up their dominating role. Males are used to being in charge, and when they're not; they are look at as "sissys" by other dominating men. In some cases though, the scrip is flipped. For example in the music video "Misery" by Maroon 5, the girl has a very visible and obvious dominating role. In the video, she is pushing the man around like a doll... not something you usually see in music videos.
You often see these day, women becoming more and more powerful in music videos. In "Like a Boy;" Ciara takes on the role of the man. Her reason for that is, to show men what they look and act like through womens eyes. She shows and sings about them hangin' out with other girls and being able to do whatever they would like.
The music video "Womanizer;" Brittany Spears is filmed completely naked, while covering herself with just her hands. In the opening scene she is dressed in lingerie while serving breakfast to her half dressed boyfriend. This video demonstrates that women are seen as domestic creatures who are meant to be bossed around by other men.
The vidoes that we watched last class were not to surprising to me. Growing up watching some of these music videos I never thought twice about their meaning. After watching all the videos together and the affects it has on real life I thought about how inappropriate they really are. I relly like the readings about lil kim and Missy Eliot. These women flip the tables and show men that women can be rappers and fight back. They show their masculinaty with vulgar language and talking about men like men talk about women.
ReplyDeleteAnyone has the ability to represent the music industry. The music world is constantly changing for the worst because of the audiences responses and the profit they people make. There needs to be people in the industry who can step up to the plate and change the way things are going. The audience also needs to not incourage the producers and musical rappers.
A music video that empowers womem is "I'm a survivor" by Destinay's Child. The women are showing off how hot they are and how they don't need a man to make them happy. They are doing things together and standing up for themselves. The lyrics are talking about all the typical things that men do that are not ok , but women allow it.
The videos from the readings were not surprising to me because that is they type of media which I have grown up seeing. It is sad that these women allow themselves to be portrayed like this for everyone to see. It is so demeaning for women, and puts men in such a position of power.
ReplyDeleteTo "flip the scripts" refers to when the normal roles have been switched from male to female. This doesn't happen very often in the music video industry. Men are not willing to give up their power, and women seem to be so willing to succumb to taking of the image of being over-powered.
Beyonce's video "Irreplaceable" is empowering to women because it shows her kicking out her boyfriend, and she is the authoritative figure. She is saying how she doesn't need this guy and is very powerful and strong in how she is so confident.
In Lady Gaga's video for "Paparazzi" the empowerment can be seen from both men and women, but in the end all the power is given to women. Obviously a little off-beat since it is Ladt Gaga, the video begins with a girl's (Lady Gaga) boyfriend pushing her off a balcony- giving him the power because he has "destroyed her". But the video ends with Gaga getting revenge on the guy by poisoning him. I thought I would talk about this video because of how the power shifts from the man's hands to the woman's.
Female artists within the music industry often succumb to the pressure to embody a certain kind of sexuality that reinforces and encourages hetero-masculine sexual dominance by focusing solely on womens’ bodies and reducing them to sexual objects. Modern music videos often send out the overt message that treating women like objects is acceptable behavior, when in fact this sort of behavior perpetuates sexual violence and the mistreatment of women in our society.
ReplyDeleteSome female artists have attempted to reclaim their sexuality by “flipping the scripts,” or reversing the roles that we typically see played out in mainstream media; Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliot exemplify this role-reversal in several of their music videos in the way that they appropriate masculine characteristics and attitudes, re-appropriating such negative words from our dominant culture as “bitch.”
The intersectionality of various socially and culturally constructed categories such as gender and race interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels is exemplified in the attempt of artists like Lil’ Kim to counter the images that are perpetuated by mainstream music in order to break free from the generalizations that marginalize and disempower women of color, and as a way to reshape public perception in an effort to introduce the novel idea of being seen as a human being with worth and importance in society. However, some of these attempts have actually reinforced sexism and patriarchy as these women attempt to make a place for themselves in the inherently masculine world of mainstream music. Though these women attempt to refute or embody typical masculine attitudes and traits to reclaim a place for themselves in a male-dominated world, this place is often a dominant one that encourages the objectification of a person as a sex object. This kind of empowerment may place a woman in a position of dominance, but it ultimately encourages the same troubling ideas about sexuality.
Women today inhabit a world in which they are more empowered, but still do not find themselves empowered enough to overcome pre-existing stereotypes that are perpetuated in mainstream media. However, female artists such as Joanna Newsom and Annie Clark promote messages of empowerment in their work by taking the focus away from their bodies and placing the emphasis on the story that they wish to tell in their videos.
Since I grew up watching music videos, I never really noticed how much they influenced our society. They never seemed outrageous or not normal to me, but that’s the prime example of how influencing they are—we don’t see the difference. “Flip the scripts” of hetero-masculine sexual dominance is when a woman tries to show the dominance the male holds and that they are the sex driven ones who view men as sexual objects. Lil Kim and Khia were used as examples of flipping the script in this week’s reading. These women were prime examples of women empowerment through music. Lil Kim re-appropriates phrases that men use that are offensive to women and make them offensive towards men.
ReplyDeleteThe power to set the patterns for dominant forms of representation in the music industry is based on society itself. We are purchasing the music and if it’s music that are demeaning to women, then all we are doing by buying it is supporting it. People need to be made more well aware of what is going on in these videos because it all seems typical music video behavior to most people. Intersectionality suggests that race, gender, sex, and class all intertwine to create discrimination in many forms. Music videos have women fighting to get 5 minutes of fame by lowering themselves.
I think Pink is a really good example of a female artist that shows empowerment for women. “Stupid Girls” video shows Pink making fun of materialistic girls and how hard women try in this society to be perfect.
However, Milkshake by Kelis is really demeaning to women. She allows men to walk all over her and she reveals herself as sex object for men with her lyrics.
@Pmdouglas
ReplyDeleteI agree with this wall post because it is not just one individual affecting the music video industry, but many people as a whole. There hasn't been anyone to stand up and try to put a stop to the nonsense. I also really like the video "Stupid girls" that was chosen. The video mocks all the stupid women acting foolish in music videos these days.
@Lexi Wendt
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Lexi that there videos are not surprising because we have all grown up with these music videos. Women flipping the script is also not normal and surpising to see women like Missy Eliot and Lil Kim. The music video "Irreplaceable" really shows a women stepping up and showing her power.
@Lauren McClusky You are so right when you point out that music videos gives our society the idea that it is acceptable to treat women disrespectfully. Music videos is a major cause of people thinking that it is normal for women to be viewed as sex objects and mistreating them is a normal activity. I really like that you pointed out that even when women flip the script and make males in the position women are normally in is just encouraging the same troubling ideas about sexuality. It ultimately isn’t changing or helping the problem in the long run because discrimination against gender is still occurring whether or not it’s the oppression group performing it doesn’t make it alright to do.
ReplyDelete@Hannah K I like your example of Miley Cyrus’s video “Can’t Be Tamed” because she portrays herself so poorly in this video by being so provocative. She is an example of why teenagers try to look and act the way they do. Miley is only 17 years old and puts herself in this video openly showing her sexuality and that it is ok for men to observe her in those outfits and doing sexual movements proposing sexual ideas.
ReplyDeleteWell the videos we watched in class really made me think about how men see women in our society. Especially when they are listening to lyrics completely dominated by the idea that women are objects to be used and thrown around.
ReplyDeleteLil' Kim, and Khia are considered to “flip the script.” Their lyrics represent women that are never held down sexually, by men. The group Tatu, a lesbian group came out with a song "all the things she said" reminds me of the term re-appropriation, they showed a love between two young females and told of how they were held down, unlike most music of their time. “Flip the scripts,” relates to re-appropriation and counter-appropriation because they both show a change in power or switch of something that was once seen as out of the norm or wrong.
I believe Men have the power to not be seen as dominate and overpowering in their videos. I also believe that women of all different genres of music should start flipping the script. Shinia Twaine is one country star that i can think of that sort of tried to do this, in her song "honey Im home!" she had a hard day at work and wants to have her feet laid up when she gets home, not caring for a man.
When I hit middle school I would try to watch MTV without being caught by parents. All the music videos and “teenage” shows were so attractive to me because I was curious and I had an older sister and I wanted to know more about what they would joke about. So the male dominance in music videos was the norm for me when I was finally the appropriate age to watch those type shows and music videos. “Flipping the scrip” would be a nice change but is hard to come by. Although powerful female rappers have helped to pave the way of female dominance in the music industry, there is still a long way to go before female control is considered the norm. I do not think that one person or a group has the power to decide who is dominant. I think it is a combination of old stereotypes and women who are welling to keep these stereotypes alive. A music video that I found empowering is “I’m a survivor” by Reba McEntire. This song is about a single mom who works two jobs as it says in the lyrics. She talks about loving her children and being strong. This is encouraging because it shows that women can be powerful in their own ways and roles in societies. By being a working and loving mom, she is a positive example and proves that no matter how the cards are stacked against you, women are strong and survivors.
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