Has anyone had the chance to watch the feminist version of
Robin Thicke's song, Blurred lines? If not, (where have you BEEN?!) please go
and look it up now. Or scroll to the bottom of this blog - it'll be there in
all its glory.
The original song, Blurred lines is, while wonderfully
catchy and upbeat, being accused of blurring the lines between consensual sex
and rape which, to be fair, is pretty likely if you've seen the unrated version
of the video. The earlier version of the music video, (the unrated one), was
released in March and featured models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Benhue and
Ella Evans who are all naked, (sorry, they do wear flesh coloured thongs and
high heels), dancing around, flipping their hair and pouting for the camera. Initially,
it was removed from YouTube for violating its terms of service. However, it was
later restored but has been flagged up as 'inappropriate.'
If you've heard the song and seen the video, then you've
probably had the same conversations that I've had about it. Is it sexist or is
it empowering women?
As I've said, the tune is cracking, but the words and deeper
meaning are offensive. To me, the song is pretty much about 'liberating' a good
girl by proving to her that, actually, what she really wants is the wild sex
that she isn't asking for.
 |
| Robin Thicke |
If you're still in any doubt as to whether or not this song
is derogatory against women, Robin Thicke has actually confirmed it. In an
interview with GQ, he said, "We tried to everything that was taboo.
Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory
toward women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we
were like, "We're the perfect guys to make fun of this."'
Wow....
So, as we can see, there's nothing 'blurry' about the male
artist's derogatory intentions, but what about the naked, (sorry, pretty shoes
and thong wearing), models involved in the project? Emily Ratajkowski, the
beautiful brunet, Anne Hathaway lookalike model in the video (who I wouldn't
recommend looking at if you don't want to spark off a spectacular drop in your
self esteem) , dismissed Thicke's comments. In an interview with Esquire, she
said that the models were told to have a 'sort of confidence' and a 'sarcastic
attitude about the whole situation.' According to Ratajkowski, the eye contact
with the camera and the attitude that they expel puts them in a 'position of
power.'
When we think about it, she makes an interesting point
really. Women, (and men alike) have had pressure to look a certain way thrown
at them by the media for years now and, personally, that makes me feel like I
am not able to enjoy the way I look without comparing my body to those images
of women with an hourglass body, blonde hair and big boobs. But women should
be proud of their bodies. According to Ratajkowski, semi-naked female bodies on
television can be empowering.
 |
| Emily Ratajkowski |
What happens when the half naked women on screen in high
heels is being objectified by viewers, but doesn't herself feel objectified?
That's a tricky one, isn't it?
It's feasible that the models in Thicke's video felt
empowered and that their performance could have instilled confidence in many
women, but does that really outweigh the negative impacts? Many people may have
watched the video and seen it as a joke, but what about those who didn't? What
about the people who might have watched the video and took in the idea that
women can be treated like objects, without consent?
Personally, I don't find anything revolutionary about a
video in which men and women partake in time old stereotypes. It's getting
boring now, surely I'm not the only one who thinks that. If you want some rebellion, click the link below and watch the video. Now that's empowerment.
 |
| University of Auckland students remake, 'Defined Lines.' |
The video is, without a doubt, absolutely brilliant. What baffled
me about the whole thing was that it was removed (very briefly) from YouTube
yesterday for unknown reasons. I can't see why the site had any reason to take that
sort of action in regards to the remake, 'Defined lines', because all I can see
when I watch it is a bunch of University of Auckland students having a bit of
fun and putting across a positive message. The video shows how men would react
to being objectified as women are thought to have been in the original. It has
been watched more than 450,000 times since being posted on August 30th and, as
I've said, it's brilliant. Far better, far more positive and far funnier than
the original.
Women can be just as bad as men sometimes, I know that. As
this remake proves, sexism isn't all about the degradation and objectification
of women. It's about society trying to define us based on our gender. Women are
portrayed as overemotional and are objectified. Men are portrayed as unemotional
and sexually obsessed. So when a women grabs some guys arse in a club, it's ok,
because society says that's the kind of things that men like. Right? No. Wrong.
Completely wrong.
Ending sexism isn't about empowering women or empowering
men. It's about giving everyone the right to be who they want to be without the
judgement of society telling them who they should be, how they should act and
how they should look because of what's between (or not between) their legs. Simple.
