Anaconda

Many of todays music video are quite the same, women dancing and showing off their figure in the videos. The music video “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj came out in 2014. In this music video it shows many women in revealing clothing and shaking their hinds quarters. Matter of fact, the open scene of the video starts with two women shaking it. The music video uses the women to appeal to the man's eye in a sexual way, also known as these women are being shown as sex objects. The music video is half visual and half hearing which means that the lyrics of the song are also giving a message to the viewer that they have to be a certain way in order to fit in.

The music video is for everyone to see but everyone knows that the main target for the music video is for men. From the opening couple seconds of the song to the ending moments of the songs it's all directed to appeal to the man's eyes. The director made sure to get women with a pretty face but also good body parts. The women in the video are dressed very similar with their butts hanging out of their shorts and their breasts popping out. These women are all being viewed as sex objects. The women in this video are telling the girls that are watching this to dress and act like this in order to fill needs of a man. On top of that, the actual women in the video dress like so are also being used for men's sexual pleasure. The target audience is the men and the gaze that the men show to women. Everyone in the world can almost say that because of what the women are doing. This is showing that the only way to entertain a man to by having women dress up like that and dance like that. What type of message does this send to the younger girls watching this? This video can connect to the real world because often times in the media women are always being shown as sexy and slim but thick in the right places. This almost impossible figure to get is telling these ladies that to please a man you have to look like that and have that type of body and are willing to show it off.

The music video is half visual and half hearing. If you listen to the lyrics it sends a direct message to women. In the song it says, “ My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun.” This is also sending a direct message straight to the women because its saying that without a body no man will want you. Women have to fill that position of having a nice body or else a man will not want them. Also in the song it reads that, ”F*** them skinny b*****s in the club I wanna see all the big fat a** b*****s in the motherf****** club F*** you if you skinny b*****s. What? Yeah. Ha-ha, ha..” This here is literally calling out skinny women in the world. It's literally saying that if you are skinny, that has to change because the only way you will be accepted is that if you have a thick body in the right places. This connects to today's situation because for so many years women have been trapped in this box where they have to fit this perfect image or they won't be accepted.

To conclude this music video portraits the women as sex objects to the men and the lyrics speak to women that you need to fit into this or you are out. This video is like a two in one effect for visual and hearing.

Different Understanding of Television

      Social norms have been constructed in social media and TV for a long long time. Men and women play a significant part in social norms and how society wants them to be and appear to others. Though men and women play very different roles, both genders have been assigned ideal characteristics that make them a man or a women. This is called a stereotype. These stereotypes are assigned to a person’s nationality, sex, gender and even sexuality. People can be based off these “stereotypes” because it has been portrayed everywhere. The television show Two and a Half Men focuses on the objectification of women and the men’s behavior towards them in order to show that women are sex objects and do not seem to respected unless they are older and less attractive. Only when humans acknowledge and become mindful with the truth, then society can begin to solve the problem of stereotypes being held towards anyone.
       In “‘Camel Filters and Pheromones” (season 1, episode 12), the most important stereotypes being portrayed are the player, the seductress, the old maid and the sex object.  For example, Berta’s granddaughter asked Charlie if he could play the piano which was pretty obvious he could as she was staring at him play but she gets closer enough to the point where she starts asking for one on one lessons but he said no but she still tries to come onto him. She desired to get their attention. Prudence would be stereotyped as the seductress but also the sex object. She enters the show in almost half dressed and she has to clean and while she is cleaning she is wiping the window in the most provocative manner right in front of Alan and Charlie. Her appearance conveys a powerful erotic impact, the camera focuses on her body, mainly when she has a bikini or her other provocative clothing rather than us seeing her face of something. This is a construction of women being objects in men's eyes.  She is being watched and drooled over by Alan’s 10 year old son.  Plus, she was not the brightest person. She is not viewed for her intelligence or her cleverness or any other characteristic, only her body is what matters. Nothing else. Another example is Berta herself. Berta was a single mother but she was a housekeeper for the men of the house. She is a very outspoken, over 30 woman. She was barely put into the show, she had a little part and when they show her, the camera is not focused on her body but what she is saying and even her face. She is very well respected by the men. While the character Charlie is a very sexual, uncommitted man. For example, the reaction from Charlie of when Berta entered the room and. when Prudence entered the room. Charlie was very shocked and he had to maintain his boundaries because she was underage but if she was older, he would have taken the chance. Another example is his neighbor, Rose. She is  very much in love with him and she hopes that they will sleep together again but he all he does is reject her. Charlie uses Rose to make Prudence stop coming on to him, only using her to his advantage and benefit. He slept with her once and after that, he just messes with her emotions and uses her whenever he needs her. He does not care for these women, he just uses them.

In conclusion, this work is just one of the many examples of where you can find stereotypes within media. It can be portrayed in life as well. In my life, my dad always feels as if a man should always care for the woman. He believes that because I am a female, I do not lift heavy objects and I am to cook and clean the house when necessary. While my brother cannot help with his sister’s hair because it affects his sexuality and it is making him not masculine. He is not allowed to let females do heavy labor because it is not meant for a female. Stereotypes are within our nation and more around you then you realize. It is fair for my brother to be put on with so many expectations and pressure just at the age of 13. Honestly, being a son to a father might just be harder to be a daughter to a father. There is more of a expectation to be just like “his old man” and if he does not, there might not be an acceptance. That is what social norms, pressure from society and stereotypes have constructed for people to believe.  It is only when we pay attention it and do not further allow it is when we have end it for good.

Blurred Lines- Clear Lyrics

The song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke has been talked about as one of the most degrading songs of the year. The song describes how the male is in complete control of the woman no matter what she wants. Women become just sex objects. The woman is also shown as submissive because of the way Thicke convinces her she wants it. Finally, in the video, multiple men are shown as players while women parade around as they watch. “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke is a clear representation of contemporary art that represents the still sexist dominant ideology towards women in America today. 

In patriarchal societies, men are known as the superior gender. In the 1950s especially, women were being treated as nothing but housekeepers and sex objects. Today, it is 2016 and for the most part life is very different in terms of equality. Women are getting jobs that they were never able to have, they are able to vote, and they can live a life of their own. Although there are many good outcomes of many feminist movements, there is still discrimination portrayed through social media and society as a whole.

Music has always been something that brings people together, creates strong relationships, and can lift everyone’s mood. The song “Blurred Lines” did just that. It spread throughout the nation and became a catchy tune everyone could get up and dance to. Pop music is known for sounding fun and exciting, making it easy for listeners to get hooked, but then things can turn the other way once you really understand the lyrics. Thicke sings, “Baby, it’s in your nature,/just let me liberate you”.

The context of these lyrics is him mostly likely at a bar or party where a girl is being harassed by another man. He tells her he wants to save her from him and prove he is the better guy. He most likely does this so she will think of him as a tough guy. From this, you may think he is meaning no harm, but then he continues to sing “I know you want it, I know you want it, you’re a good girl.” clearly hinting at sexual acts. This makes him out to be the dominant and her as a submissive because he is telling her what to do and is telling her how he thinks she feels.

As if the song was not enough, there is a video, which magnifies the lyrics and shows them visually. The video consists of multiple men singing and standing there in nice tuxedos while women parade around half naked as objects they can look at. This video clearly objectifies the women as only something nice to look at. The director clearly prefered the male gaze because of the way the men look at the camera. When the women walk by, the men stare and smile and joke to each other as if it was entertainment.

This song and video reflects the patriarchal structure of society by showing men superior from women. This is shown by having the men sing and be the main focus of the song and video, while the women are shown as something hot to look at. The lyrics sung by Robin Thicke are made clear to see the discrimination happening and chauvinism being shown by making it clear the woman does not have a choice in what they do together.