So, I'm dog sitting for a family and enjoying their cable. After scrolling through all the options I realized there was nothing to watch. I decided to throw on MTV for some top music videos. Video after video my heart was saddened. No wonder our youth are so sexually driven! I know media influences a lot, but I just didn't realize how much it does!
I first caught the end of Katy Perry's, Teenage Dream, where she is singing about a man whom she is in love with. This exciting new relationship makes her feel like a teenager. WELL...while she is feeling 14 again, she is in a hotel room with this man about to have sex with him. There is no hinting around, it is full on close ups of clothes coming off. There is also a "fun" dance scene with a bunch of people jumping around, and a close up of a girl licking a popsicle. Suggestive much? A teen is gonna hear this and [may] subconsciously use this as a measuring stick for their life. Thanks for being a great role model, KP!
After KP, Rihana and Eminem's song, I Love the Way You Lie, came on. (Reality, Rihana just repeats one line a million times.) I don't like Eminem's voice, so I always change the radio when this song came on, but my friends were dialogging about the lyrics and the video so my interest was peaked. This video broke my heart for women. There are women in this world that settle for shitty relationships out of fear of ending a "possible" good relationship. Which, in reality the relationship will never change, but for some reason we women love to "have the benefit of the doubt" for men. I feel like this song and video makes it acceptable to settle for mistreatment from men. It also makes it ok to settle for bad situations.
WOMEN OF THE WORLD.
HAVE STANDARDS AND RESPECT FOR YOURSELVES. YOU ARE WORTH IT!!
YOU ARE INTELLIGENT.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL .
BE YOU. BE ALL YOU.
IF A MAN CAN'T HANDLE THE WHOLE YOU THEN HE ISN'T WORTH YOUR TIME.
DON'T SETTLE!!!
That's not a soap box.
It makes me sad that our world just keeps deteriorating. Thankfully there are a few songs out there that are uplifting to women.
Gotta love a good cavity causing song!
These next two are sung by Ne-Yo. Haven't done my research to see how he actually treats women, but I love that these songs praise independent, successful women.
You may disagree, so good things this is my blog. :)
Remember when John, Sir Paul, Ringo, and George were reviled and despised, sometimes edited and/or not shown on TV variety shows? Ok, I don't remember either because nor was I living, but I know that, plus many more objections against the then current pop uprisings took place. Even poor old Elvis the Pelvis could only be seen on camera from the waist up for his gyrations of said body part. My elders say that the music of their childhood was labeled demonic, amoral, et al. So, while I obviously don't believe sponge-y-minded children should polish their moral compasses based on music lyrics or images (enter from stage left: magazines, TV sitcoms, billboards, etc.), there's still much more light than dark and more good than decline, despite the current batch of questionable icons and "role" models. The very first MTV video I experienced was Madonna's Like a Virgin, and while I was a 5th grader, mesmerized and likely a wee bit uncomfortable in not knowing how to process Madge's message, I turned out ok. (objections to that, not to be voiced) :-)
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