As a child growing up during the late 90s and early 21st century, I believed I was worldly-wise, liberal and open-minded about most things I was presented with. I grew up watching television like Nickelodeon’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Cartoon Network’s Ed, Edd n Eddy and CBBC’s Smart, but it’s the music videos I watched on MTV that stick most prominently in my mind. My child-self would be horrified if she had the chance to watch the videos of 2012. The worst I ever encountered as a pre-teen were Shaggy’s ‘It Wasn’t Me’, Sisqó’s ‘Thong Song’, and t.A.T.u’s ‘All the Things She Said’. At the time I didn’t understand why most of them were rude: I had to ask my older sisters for cultural guidance.
Perhaps I led a very sheltered childhood, but I think the music videos of the 21st century are getting worse. It’s not necessarily that they’re becoming more explicit, it’s simply that what is deemed as socially acceptable seems to have shifted and widened dramatically. I remember being mildly shocked by the lyrics of Bloodhound Gang’s ‘The Bad Touch’ (“Let’s do it like they do on the discovery channel”) but this somewhat subtle reference to sex teemed with the comical monkey costumes somehow managed to cancel each other out in my seven-year-old mind. I think it was with the emergence of more rap (less Beastie Boys and more Akon) that songs and their relating videos became much more explicit. Perhaps if Akon’s video for his 2006 song ‘Smack That’ had involved more monkey costumes and less grinding women it wouldn’t have seemed so bad, but the explicit lyrics (“smack that, ‘til you get sore”) teemed with the video itself just seem inappropriate for day time viewing.
However, it’s not only men who are to blame for creating inappropriate songs and music videos – women have created their fair share too. As if Rihanna’s lyrics to her 2011 song ‘S&M’ weren’t bad enough, the video definitely has the shock factor. The video shows various people sporting ball gags and leads, followed by Rihanna tied up by the wrists and ankles, doing what can only be described as ‘deep-throating’ a banana. Now, am I just being completely naïve, or is this kind of thing wildly unsuitable for young audiences? Although the video was banned in various countries and does have restricted viewing on YouTube, banning things often makes them more desirable to the general public – especially to the young and impressionable. Explicit music videos are shown on various music channels throughout the day, meaning they can be (and are) viewed by people of all ages. When my young cousins come to visit, I consciously don’t have music channels on, as I know that there are videos around which I wouldn’t want them to be exposed to at such a young age.
Although Nicki Minaj may seem tame in comparison to Rihanna, she still has her fair share of explicit lyrics and inappropriate videos. I’ve heard many people express their admiration for Minaj, as she celebrates the female form by prancing around beaches in bikinis, challenging the male dominated world of rap. It’s no secret, however, that she’s had at least one surgical enhancement: do people want to teach the young and innocent that unnatural augmentations are needed to make one comfortable with one’s body? If her lack of clothing wasn’t bad enough, her lyrics make it worse. A few examples of her lyrics include “f*ck who you want and f*ck who you like” and “I’m a bad b*tch, no muzzle”. Although admittedly, these are censored when played on music channels and the radio, anyone could still hear them if they bought her album, searched for her on YouTube or looked up her lyrics.
So maybe you could argue that nakedness is the most natural state possible, and women have every right to show off their bodies in music videos if they so desire. But it’s the normalisation and sexualisation of this nudity on television and how it has become socially acceptable that bothers me. 13 years ago I remember being shocked by Christina Aguilera showing her stomach in her 1999 video for ‘What a Girl Wants’, not to mention her leather pants! Now you can’t turn on 4music without being faced with a girl’s bum cheek, or being bombarded by a suggestive lyric or two. Films, games and even books sometimes carry age ratings, but some music and videos seem to get past this. Although I am glad that songs are being censored, it goes back to my earlier point: if people want to hear the uncensored versions of songs, they will.
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