This week we chose two music videos to analyze and relate them to the Introduction to Women’s Studies course readings. I chose “Disturbia” by Rihanna and “Fly on the Wall” by Miley Cyrus. These two music videos are meant to appeal to very different types of audiences. Although Rihanna uses overt sexualization to get viewers’ attention while Miley is more subtle, both videos are a disservice to the perception of female sexuality because of how they are portrayed in the media.
In Rihanna’s music video of her song “Disturbia,” there are images of Rihanna behind a cage, wearing a collar, and wearing a feathered headdress. The creators of the music video specifically chose those images to emphasize the animalistic nature of “crazy” Rihanna. She’s an animal that needs to be caged because she is so dangerous. The exoticism of women of color reinforces the idea of white women as the beauty ideal because it makes non-white women animals; they’re less than human. It gives men and even other women society’s permission to objectify them in the real world. In Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye a youn
g, black girl named Claudia explains her disdain for Shirley Temple when she says, “…I had felt a stranger, more frightening thing than hatred for all the Shirley Temples of the world. It had begun with Christmas and the gift of dolls. The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll” (19-20). Rihanna, a pop-icon of this time period, serves the same purpose as Shirley Temple and Barbie of their initial time period because they all did/do continue the notion that white is normal; one must idealize and exemplify “whiteness” and trivialize any other race or ethnicity. This thought is seconded by Anastasia Higginbotham in her essay Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and Lose Your Self-Esteem when she writes, “Granted, there is that one light-skinned black girl in every fashion layout. But she’s just as thin as the white girl standing next to her, and that white girl is always there—like a chaperone. Like it’s the white girl’s responsibility to keep the black girl in line, make sure she doesn’t mingle with other black folks, start a riot or something” (88-89). Although Rihanna is the alpha female in her music video, this concept is illustrated when there are images of her caressing a white, male mannequin. The fact those images comprise one of few visual sequences of her being civilized reinforces that black women are meant to be taken by white men, controlled and civilized under their watchful gaze.
g, black girl named Claudia explains her disdain for Shirley Temple when she says, “…I had felt a stranger, more frightening thing than hatred for all the Shirley Temples of the world. It had begun with Christmas and the gift of dolls. The big, the special, the loving gift was always a big, blue-eyed Baby Doll” (19-20). Rihanna, a pop-icon of this time period, serves the same purpose as Shirley Temple and Barbie of their initial time period because they all did/do continue the notion that white is normal; one must idealize and exemplify “whiteness” and trivialize any other race or ethnicity. This thought is seconded by Anastasia Higginbotham in her essay Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and Lose Your Self-Esteem when she writes, “Granted, there is that one light-skinned black girl in every fashion layout. But she’s just as thin as the white girl standing next to her, and that white girl is always there—like a chaperone. Like it’s the white girl’s responsibility to keep the black girl in line, make sure she doesn’t mingle with other black folks, start a riot or something” (88-89). Although Rihanna is the alpha female in her music video, this concept is illustrated when there are images of her caressing a white, male mannequin. The fact those images comprise one of few visual sequences of her being civilized reinforces that black women are meant to be taken by white men, controlled and civilized under their watchful gaze. In Miley Cyrus’ music video of her song “Fly on the Wall,” there are shots in which she is singing in front of a black sports car. Why a black sports car? It has very little appeal to the tween girls who idolize her. The sports car is meant to please a male audience. Arguably, the video sets it up that women are similar to cars. You lust after the flashy, sporty ones that you can drive around the block a few times and show off, but you buy the dependable, sensible car that gets you from point A to point B in the fastest and most comfortable way possible. Despite the fact she’s singing about a doubtful, if not all out controlling, boyfriend, Miley’s facial expressions depict her as ecstatic rather than disgusted or fearful. She’s sending a message that a boy with trust issues is irritating and bothersome, but not wrong. He just has a quirk that could easily be solved if only employed “a little communication.” This is similar to the one described by Higginbotham when sh
e writes, “Girls are bombarded with messages about the thrill of catching boys, so why is it shocking when a girl’s pursuit includes a little creative compromise, like forgiving her boyfriend for lying about the party, drinking when he tells her to drink, and being too drunk to care (or too drunk to resist) when he and his friends fuck her?” (88). Miley’s music video trivializes a serious problem. She gives her viewers mixed messages when in the second verse she sings, “If you were my boyfriend, I’d be true to you/If I make a promise, I’m comin’ through/Don’t you wish that you could/See me every second of the day/That way you would have no doubt/That baby I would never stray.” In this contradictory message, she assures us that she would be faithful but the boy in question might want to make sure for himself anyway. This supports the perception that women are untrustworthy and calculating. The attraction of this contradiction that Miley and other Disney superstars offer is their naïveté coupled with sexuality. Although they are not extremely sexual, these teeny-bopper stars are the embodiment of the virgin/whore dichotomy. Cyrus’ sexually enticing dancing and facial expression coupled with her clean “message” is an example of intersectional oppression, a seemingly harmless “invisible wire” that is part of a larger confining instrument (Frye 8).
e writes, “Girls are bombarded with messages about the thrill of catching boys, so why is it shocking when a girl’s pursuit includes a little creative compromise, like forgiving her boyfriend for lying about the party, drinking when he tells her to drink, and being too drunk to care (or too drunk to resist) when he and his friends fuck her?” (88). Miley’s music video trivializes a serious problem. She gives her viewers mixed messages when in the second verse she sings, “If you were my boyfriend, I’d be true to you/If I make a promise, I’m comin’ through/Don’t you wish that you could/See me every second of the day/That way you would have no doubt/That baby I would never stray.” In this contradictory message, she assures us that she would be faithful but the boy in question might want to make sure for himself anyway. This supports the perception that women are untrustworthy and calculating. The attraction of this contradiction that Miley and other Disney superstars offer is their naïveté coupled with sexuality. Although they are not extremely sexual, these teeny-bopper stars are the embodiment of the virgin/whore dichotomy. Cyrus’ sexually enticing dancing and facial expression coupled with her clean “message” is an example of intersectional oppression, a seemingly harmless “invisible wire” that is part of a larger confining instrument (Frye 8).Both examples of popular culture media illustrate the many ways in which women are not empowered in their surroundings. The vulnerability of women is sexy to men, which is extremely scary. Although a mentally crazed Rihanna and a paparazzi-hunted Miley do not seem to equate with rape, the fact that their vulnerability turn men on, and we market that fact, is extremely frightening. This tells us that female sexuality is being terribly misconstrued from what it was meant to be. This is the very thing I Wanna Be Like Britney is trying to communicate to the world. We want female sexuality to be normalized and for women to be able to identify the master’s tool that is marketing campaigns that allure us with sexual images.
~Katie Frye
Music Videos:
"Disturbia" by Rihanna http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6zdhHLvT7k
"Fly on the Wall" by Miley Cyrus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RSlhNJFohI
This is such an amazing project and a smart blog! I have never thought about these videos like this. What class is this? I want to take it!!!
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