Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Popular Sexually Objectifying Music has been Proven to Cause Men to be More Sexually Aggressive and Permissive


 AC/DC, Rhianna and Trace Atkins are all very popular artists who America has grown to love over the years for their unique musical styles. Very few consider these artists misogamists but when analyzing their lyrics they may feel differently. We should note that males are not the only culprits of this act; female musicians also objectify and demean women in their music. In the photo to the right the listener is viewing a music video featuring a scantily claud female being represented as an object in this video.  Demeaning music is heard by all ages and has many negative effects on our society including increased sexual aggression and permissiveness.    

 Ramifications of Degrading Music Lyrics


           Many are surprised to observe the consequences that degrading music can have on its listeners. When asked the question of whether sexually explicit music has negative effects on its listeners Athena Hiotis music producer and song writer hasgood insight on this topic. 
           A study performed by Dr. Micelle E. Kistler of Washington State University proved that the negative affects this music has on its listeners. These included an increase in sexual aggression towards women, increase in sexual permissiveness, increase in objectification of women and the most shocking effect an an increase in their acceptance of rape. In this study participants were exposed to hip-hop music with either high or low sexual content. One of these tests observed the effects of this music on
 the participant’s acceptance of rape. They were        asked to rank how much they agreed with each statement on a scale of 1-7 where 1 is strongly disagree and 7 is strongly agree. In other words the higher their score the more they agreed with the statements presented.   In other words the higher their score the more they agreed with the statements presented. Statements included “Women who dress provocatively or wear revealing clothing are just asking for trouble” and “If a woman engages in making-out or sexual touching and things get out of hand, it is her own fault if her partner forces sex on her.” Both of these are strong statements on rape and its victims. It’s shocking to know that those who listened to this degrading music were much more inclined to agree with these statements.  The specific results of males who listened to highly sexual music, low sexual music and no music and participated in this test are shown on the right.
            Men who listened to rap music with sexual content were more inclined to objectify women and agree with these tasteless acts included in the statements. The above negative effects are detrimental to our society but objectification of woman in songs continues to be the norm. 

Women Objectify Themselves

           In popular music today women demean themselves by releasing music with objectifying lyrics. An article released in Sage Journals by Theresa White criticizes rap artists Missy Elliot and Nikki Manaj for contributing to their own objectification. Her lyrics speak to this alone. Recently Manaj released a song in which she calls “stupid hoe” and another where she sings “And he telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal. Say he don't like em boney, he want something he can grab” these song title and lyrics degrade women. Although Nicki may claim she is trying to empower women, this use of degrading language just makes it more acceptable for men to use this language.  Another article by Erica Scmidt criticizes Khia for her song My Neck, My Back saying “Khia is objectifying herself to men as she is saying that all women want sex.” With these implications in her lyrics she is giving males the wrong impression and in turn approving of males degrading her. Rhianna is another even more popular artist who would fall into this category. She sings "Strippers goin' up and down that pole and I still got my money” Rhianna is a role model to many but includes these degrading lyrics in her very popular song “Pour it up”. We can only imagine the wide scale effects she must have. 

        Women have started to degrade themselves in the music industry. But many are suggesting the importance of accepting those who feel their brand is to own their sexuality. Often female artists aim to present themselves sexually because they believe they must own their sexuality. Can we really criticize them for this? If we are criticizing them should we be trying to make changes in the music industry placing regulations on what can be presented to the public? When asked if regulations should be placed on lyrics Hiotis gave us some insight on her views.  Many also claim that rap-music artists are the only ones guilty of this task but what few realize is the misogyny of music runs throughout all genres.

Objectification of Women is Prevalent in Very Popular Music Today

       Although degrading lyrics may be obvious in some genres of music such as rap it may be subtler in other music such as pop and rock. It is often hidden in the lyrics of popular catchy songs. Very few would consider AC/DC misogamist. But what many don’t know is his song lyrics can be considered very degrading towards women. Including phrases like “She was a fast machine. She kept her motor clean. She was the best damn woman that I ever seen”. In these lyrics above AC/DC compares a female to a car, which could otherwise be known as objectifying women.
          Another sexually explicit popular song that demonstrates objectification “Whistle” by Flo Rida where is asking a woman to have oral sex with him. He sings “Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby, let me know, I’m gonna show you how to do it and we start real slow”. Many would agree this tune is quite catchy and Flo Rida is very popular among a younger audience where this song is well known. These popular songs are often played frequently on various radio stations and make lasting impressions on our youth.   
        An additional lyric where the misogamy is less obvious is “Steal My Girl” by One Direction. This artist sings that this girl is his possession, and saying people want to steal something that is his or that he in other words owns like one would own an object.
       Other than just the Billboard top 100 another place objectification of women has been very prevalent is country music. Trace Atkins’ song  “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” objectifies women once again by justifying the action of males staring at a woman and accept them as nothing more than sex objects. 


Although there are many negative effects of this type of music we must accept that sexually explicit and objectifying music sells. To address the downside of accepting this music we must be sure educate our youth to separate the words in their music from reality. In addition we also have to teach them of the negative affects listening to this music can cause.

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