International pop singers like Jennifer lopez, lily Allen and Taylor Swift raise their voice against objectification of women in their latest videos. Music lovers laud the move across the globe. By Iknoor Kaur
Why do men always objectify women in every single music videoIJ Why can’t women objectify the menIJ Why can’t she be surrounded by naked dudes on a bed for no reasonIJ Well, it is not us asking all this, but Jennifer lopez. Her recent music video I luh Ya Papi not only shows off her newfound rapping skills but actually raises a finger against women being objectified in music videos. And Jlo is not the only one who’s campaigning for this cause. lily Allen’s song last year, Hard Out There, struck down on male singers who sexualised women. Though it didn’t go very well with many feminists because of her obvious perversion, it managed to start a conversation, and Jlo’s act managed to keep the talks going. Taylor Swift, too, joined the gang recently with her song Girl At Home. From what it looks like, there is a brigade of international singers in making who are ready to make men realise how it feels like to be objectified and tell the women, who like to do that to themselves, to “calm down” for a while.
In a recent interview with a website journal, lopez said that it was fun to turn the tables but it was even better to watch men react. “The video made people a little uncomfortable on the set. It was funny to see men during the scene where they wash cars. We have seen such scenes a million times with girls where they’re in bathing suits, pouring water on themselves. We even see it in movies. But when we were doing this with men in my video, the crew and the guys who had to do it after one take said, ‘Well I think that’s enough.’ And I said no because if a girl was doing that we’d be shooting for an hour. How absurd it is to do things like that. I asked the guys, ‘You feel absurd right nowIJ YesIJ Good, then we’re doing it right. Now rub your chest on the car and let’s go.’ I just wanted them to see what it feels like. I wasn’t trying to have some big political conversation about it, but I am trying to make people think,” she shared.
In addition to this, there is a campaign called Rewind and Reframe which urges the music industry to stop sexism and racism. Their website lists songs that are offensive according to them along with articles substantiating their claim. Robin Thicke’s Blurred lines tops the list. Following him are Eminem’s Monster, Jay Z’s Drunk In love and Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball. An article under Cyrus’ song states, “Putting yourself out there like that, to be a role model for entire generations of young girls, is not alright.”
The songstress who has been in the news for her twerky acts reacted to this as well. In an interview on the Guardian podcast regarding her role in undermining women, she changed her stance. “I feel like I’m one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women to not be scared of anything. Why, because they’re nakedIJ I mean those girls are beautiful,” she said.
These movements are definitely not going to bring about an overnight change in people’s attitude, but they are clearly attracting attention. After Jlo’s music video was out, Twitter was uproar with comments. One of the followers said, “Applause for @Jlo and her fight against the sexist and unfair objectification of women in videos,” while another added, “Got to give it to Jennifer lopez for turning the tables in her video and objectifying men instead of women.”
Indians, too, have reacted to the initiative by these women. Radhika Suri, a student at Delhi University said that it’s all about the sensuousness in a music video today and most people don’t even realise when they objectify women. “Thus, such videos speak out. They are example of the raising dissentient among women towards this extremely sexist attitude of people,” she added.