The Issue of Sexism in Music Industry

“It is a delicate balance,” Imani Perry states, “but it is important to distinguish between sexual explicitness and internalized sexism. The idea of postfeminist pop culture helpfully indicates be mindful in evaluating improvements in late decades as a democratization of sexual distinguishes and practices, generally less than gender equality. Some believe that the “Postfeminism” movement work to incorporate certain aspects of feminism including the emphasis of particular problems of commodification, individualism , and exclusion. Works to some extent to fuse and incorporate certain aspects of feminism; it additionally works to commodify the concept of feminism through a female figure to empower their consumers.The nature of sexual explicitness can vary within different groups. In the 21st century sexual explicitness can be defined as an act of “degrading themes toward women on mens' attitudes following exposure to video presentations of male-female interactions.” The representation of sex through the media which provoke feeling of concern, anxiety, and aversion on one side, and on the other feelings of liberation, and admiration. Through obsevations of different artists in the music industry their are many ways that they use their image as a way to portry their sexual freedoms, and also sell a sexual fantasy to their audiences. In order to breakdown how sexual explicitnes and sexual objectifacation vary it is important to identify how hip hop today objectify’s women, reconize differnt artist styles of presentation, and understand these subjects correlate.

The question of of sexism as a motive for targeting women for theie sexality in music have come into play when analyzing particlar things in music videos and lyrics. It is clear that male artist in the indusrty are less scrutinized than women when it comes to portaying themselves as sex machines with an unlimited supply of women at their beck and call. For decades the music industry have sexually objectified women by using their visual presentation, but now some may say the roles have been reversed. Female artist tend to misrepresent themselves in their videos. Women are now From the Lyrics to a song, to the way people dance in a music video the portrayal of sex is prominent throughout the R&B genre. These types of trends help feeds into the typical stereotype of women being sex symbols in of to gain media attention, and attract a larger audience. Though the feminist movement is solely for the purpose of female empowerment and self worth, it is becoming more difficult to know the difference between what is considered “self - objectifying” and “respectable” (Perry)

Rihanna has always been known for her licentious characteristics displayed in her lyrics and videos. In 2016 she released a video entitled “Work” featuring Drake. The video takes place in a caribbean style club. Rihanna's fashion in this video was more risque to say the least. In the introduction of the video Rihanna is seen wearing a netted, see through dress with a bikini top and bottoms. Midway through the video the songs setting is switched over to a in a room steeped in anesthetic tones of blue and pink. Rihanna's outfit in this scene consisted of a glittery, see through cropped tank top, with a distressed denim skirt. When this video was released there was a numerous amount of backlash from the public on her outfit choice in the second half of the video. She ignores the unforgiving comments, and says that the way that she dresses and dances should not dictate her moral values, and self worth. We can also look at the dancing style in the video to determine if this song is meant express sexual freedom or obscurity. The scene in the caribbean club displays numerous women, including Rihanna, were scene “whining” or “twerking” on their male dance partners. This in part tell of how the female sexual appeal is put on display for the purpose of male enjoyment, and sexual bliss.Rihanna has always found a way to celebrate her sexuality through he music. Which helps fight against the stigma of women as the male submissive, and can be empowered through her sexulity.

Beyonce is a interesting example of challenging gender stereotypes. In 2008 she released a video entitled “If I Were A Boy”. The plot of the video depicts the misunderstandings between the genders and indict the male side of relationships; and also touches on the subject of infidelity. In the video beyonce takes on the role of the male as her husband prepares breakfast for her before she hurries to meet her partner, the love interest, outside. Her husband worried that she was not home calls her to find out where she was. Avoiding her husband’s phone calls she is seen declining his calls while on a date with her male love interest. Towards the end of the video when the husband confronts her about her affair, the tables are turned and he has now taken on the role of infidelity, stating “ It’s not like I slept with the girl.” This video lays out a clear understanding of gender stereotypes that have been categorized by society. But though Beyonce does have many inspirational, and thought provoking images, she also celebrates her sexuality through her work. In 2014 she released a song entitled “Partition.” The majority of the video took place in a exclusive gentlemen's club and a extravagant mansion . The video begins with the typical sexual fantasy of a rich, bored housewife that tries to seduce her husband while they are eating breakfast. As the video progresses Beyonce is seen in numerous amounts of lingerie thought the video. During the gentleman club scenes, she is seen performing choreographed exotic dances with other female performers. This whole video yet entails how comfortable female artist feel with their sexuality, and their sexual freedom. This type of video is not meant to disvalue her self worth, respect for heself, but is intended to celebrate sextuality in of itself.

After breaking down these two artists approaches it is clear to see that they both in their own ways immit sex positive messages. Both artist carry the same sex appeal within their music including their clothing, lyrics, video ect. The current music culture have picked up on the power of individualism and empowerment among all groups of people, men and women. Artists are now imbeding more intimacy and desire into their work to, to connect more to their audience openly, and consider love and sex as positive things.