Feminism and the Slutwave Pop Culture
by Nimfa Estrellado
(my column for The Quezon Times)
NO PUN INTENDED
“She got a body like an hour glass, But I can give it to you all the time, She got a booty like a Cadillac, But I can send you into over-drive, Bang bang into the room (I know ya want it), Bang bang all over you (I’ll let ya have it), Wait a minute lemme take you there (ah), Wait a minute till ya (ah), Bang bang there goes your heart (I know ya want it), Back, back seat of my car (I’ll let ya have it), Wait a minute lemme take you there (ah), Wait a minute till ya (ah)”
Sound familiar? Yeah you got it! It is Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj’s “Bang Bang”. Sounds good. I know there are many songs out there like this song too, sounds great but if you would listen closer to the song it contain hidden messages within lyrics and it was really obvious. Unlike before some lyricists utilized metaphors and create imagery. Why is the music today so sexist, visibly vulgar and explicit?
It appears nowadays good shaking booty and performing half naked phenomenal, oversexualized singers and song lyrics that contain sex, drugs and alcohol is what giving the performance to the world.Are these songs a feminist activism, a sort of response to popular rap music which includes disrespectful lyrics about women like as their collector’s item and how they should go about displaying recently discovered achievement? Or are its lyrics just as problematic as it seems? A superficial and false advertisement of women? Maybe “real” music does still exist but this all hip-hop and pop songs with no “real” message is the reason why main-stream music’s going to pieces. Sadly, sex sells in our society, and the media have uncovered this obsession. R'nB and Hip-hop has convinced a large part of society that this is how women should be treated, so this maybe what SLUT-WAVE POP CULTURE is all about. Women want to take the dominant role and command men the respect that they deserve. But this female phenomenal singers seem to fail to achieve their feminist radical goals and objectives in great detail. It lacks appropriate moral values and self-discipline.
“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make them-selves smaller. We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you would threaten the man. Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are.” ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Empowerment among women, development and gender equality isn't about rebellion. Isn't about man-hating or giving free sex to get a guy to like you. Isn’t about being superficial. Isn’t about being cold-hearted, badass b’tch. I am not after perfection or a person who spoils other people’s fun or enjoyment. We should pay much more attention to this generation, the impact of music on today’s youth may destroy their morals, worst, ours. It’s about the children and the next generation of this humanity! Period!
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