Lately I have watched numerous videos where female artists are either half-dressed or just simply not dressed at all. For instance, in the video for “Wrecking Ball,” Miley seductively swings on a wrecking ball in nothing but her birthday suit and a pair of boots.
In Rihanna’s “Pour It Up” video, Rihanna sports a pair of cut up shorts that leave very little to the imagination, and the dancers in the videos appear in thongs.
Lady Gaga also never fails to show her body. She is often shown dancing in only a bra and panties. Due to famous celebrities constantly showing their bodies, this leads to an expectation that all females in music videos must be nude in order to achieve similar success in the entertainment industry.
A number of women in Hollywood are using their bodies as a weapon to get further recognition. It appears that exposing their bodies to the public is acceptable. According to thehuffingtonpost.com, Katy Perry explained in a recent interview with NPR, “Like females in pop — everybody’s getting naked. I mean, I’ve been naked before but I don’t feel like I have to always get naked to be noticed. But it’s interesting to see …”
Perry doesn’t deny that she likes pulling out the nude card every once in a while, but she continued to say in the interview, “I’m just saying sometimes it’s nice to play that card, but also it’s nice to play other cards. And I know I have that sexy card in my deck but I don’t always have to use that card.”
Not everyone is interested in constantly seeing a woman’s body in little to no clothing. Perry explained, “I’m not talking about anyone in particular. I’m talking about all of them. I mean, it’s like everybody’s so naked. It’s, like, put it away. We know you’ve got it. I got it too.”
There should be a limit to how much a lady shows herself to the public. After all, we are defined for how we present ourselves. The NPR article continued, “Perry, who once appeared nude in the music video to her hit song ‘California Gurls,’ has appeared comparatively more conservative as of late.” Since Perry has shown her body once and not constantly does show that she takes more pride in showing her talent to the world and not just her physical features.
Some women have received or enhanced their celebrity status through viral “sex-tapes. Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton have done it. These videos make me question whether it takes having to release a sex tape in order for a woman to garner the media or the public’s attention. And if so, why?
There is nothing wrong with a woman being comfortable and confident in her own skin, but for a woman to have to show it to the whole world just to become famous is very degrading. With people allowing women to objectify themselves, the younger generation of girls will start thinking it’s acceptable for them to act that way, too. This, in turn, simply diminishes their value as women and doesn’t allow them to be appreciated for their virtues.
Sheneen Monique, a freshman criminology major, believes the media belittles women as lesser humans than men.
“Women are precious,” Monique said. “More precious than they could ever imagine, but the media has presented women as merely sex objects.”
These words are sad to hear, but when women pose in the nude or constantly show their bodies then it makes it seem like they want to be belittled.
Maybe female celebrities or women who want to get recognition are going by “sex sells,” but this should not be the only option. Women should never have to use their bodies to get acknowledged by the world.
Irene Sidede can be reached atirene.sidede@spartans.ut.edu
