A super obsession within the media is sexuality. Sex is blatantly
expressed through many channels such as TV shows, movies, song lyrics, and
music videos. Only a few decades ago sex was once a secretive topic that was
inappropriate to discuss publicly; now there is no way to avoid it! I have
specifically observed eroticism in today’s popular songs and music videos.
There are a handful of artists out there that are known for their crude and explicit
behavior. Nowadays, the majority of rap and hip hop songs that play on the
radio are so vulgar, half of the words are bleeped out. Needless to say, I
would never want to let my mom borrow my iPod. Rihanna’s 2011 song “S&M”
was under so much fire from critics. The first time I head the song, I was very
surprised it was playing on the radio. To quote some of her lines:
“Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly
good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the
smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me”.
Her music video is exactly what you would
expect to see: people tied up with tape, blindfolds, and whips. The idea of
S&M pretty much freaks me out, as it probably does to many people. However,
this totally abject notion of sexual pleasure from pain seems so dark and
internal, that it arouses some people. This deviant activity has never been a
part of pop culture until now. Artists like Rihanna, Britney Spears, Adam
Lambert, and of course Lady Gaga use whips, chains, and vulgarity in their
music videos to attract attention and sexual excitement in their viewers. Is
pop culture’s goal now to arouse the id in all of us? Is it encouraging our
primal instincts to come out and express themselves? This does not seem like a
healthy trend in our society. Encouraging aggressive sexuality and X-rated
actions to the young viewers who are the primary viewers of mTV, VH1 and other
pop culture TV channels seems like a risky thing to do. It makes that
fundamental conflict between the id and ego, not so much of a struggle. It
empowers the id to satisfy its desires, possibly at the expense of itself and
other people.
This Lady Gaga video link below displays eroticism
and S&M at the 4:00 minute mark. This exhibition may come off and freaky to
some, and exciting to others.
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