Blurred Lines: Women, Music & Money
Beautiful women, it has been said, conjure two reactions from men and women, respectively: the desire to be with her, or the desire to be her. But the truth is that the second is merely a derivative of the first. The ubiquity and power of male gaze – the way that men look at women as objects – mean that attractive women are imbued with social and economic capital, thus making physical, men-directed beauty a desirable goal for women. As Andi Zeisler describes in Feminism and Pop Culture, “Many girls and women grow up seeing images of girls and women the way men do.. [and consequently] a significant chunk of the advertising industry has always been devoted to reaching women, and in most cases its messages have instructed women to be on guard, lest they compromise their most important quality: their looks.” (2008, pp. 15-16).
Thus, male gaze and objectification is not only an issue of the human condition, but also a question of enormous economic proportions. Industries ranging from fashion to music to cars generate substantial profit through the desirable brand associations purchased by women’s bodies and faces. As a case study, I offer my analysis of two different music videos – “Flashing Lights” (Kanye West & Dwele, 2009) and “Blurred Lines” (Robin Thicke, T.I. & Pharrell, 2013) – as snapshots of this phenomenon. Both “Flashing Lights” and “Blurred Lines” feature extended and suggestive shots of female models in lingerie to promote the music of male artists, but diverge in their storylines and other elements.
In “Flashing Lights,” Playboy model Rita G. drives out to the desert to prepare for and then carry out the murder of Kanye, who is tied up in the trunk of her car. Although the murder takes place at night and in the desert, Rita drops her fur coat into a fire at the beginning and spends the rest of the video in lingerie. The video is also shot entirely in slow motion, creating a seductive effect.
Even though Rita is the one with presumed autonomy here, the way she is dressed and the way the video is shot still cater to the male gaze here. In line with Zeisler’s theory, the lens of the male gaze is endemic, transforming any activity a woman might be engaged in – even serious activities, such as murder – into something sexy and attractive to men.
Of course, this catering was purposeful. Kanye understood his audience, and Rita’s engagement in the video ultimately served to promote the song “Flashing Lights” (for which two other music videos, also featuring female models, were produced) as well as Kanye’s brand (Rodriguez, 2008). To this end, “Flashing Lights” charted on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, and the music video received accolades from Rolling Stone (“Readers’ Rock List”, 2008), Pitchfork (“Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s”, 2009), and Slant Magazine (“The 50 Best Music Videos of the Aughts, 2010).
The music industry is not only complicit in this monolithic form of representation but indeed, an empire built around it. It is a hostile place for women-as-people but, at the same time, benefits immensely from women-as-objects: lyrics hammer to death the desirable physical characteristics of women, popular music videos capitalize on shooting women in seductive ways, and sexual misconduct by industry power players throughout the music production process is normalized and swept under the rug. Numerous female artists – including Lady Gaga, Tina Turner, and Mariah Carey – have experienced sexual harrassment, violence, and assault by men in the music industry as they navigated their careers, with many only gaining the confidence to speak out about their experiences until much later, when they had achieved sufficient success and thus out-of-reach from career-ending retaliation (Robinson, 2020).
“Blurred Lines” captures an acute rendering of this hostile environment. The lyrics of the song (example: the refrain “I know you want it” repeated 18 times throughout) sound like a sexual harrassment anthem. For four and a half minutes, Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell (fully dressed) dance and goof around with a group of female models, including an almost completely naked Emily Ratajowski, while they sing and act out innuendo-laced lyrics. Several scenes start centered on the face of one of the male singers, before zooming out to reveal a female model next to him – underscoring the fact that she is merely an accessory in the bigger picture.
In response to overwhelmingly negative critical reception, Thicke replied in an interview with GQ: “Women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are always gonna want to follow them around.” (Phili, 2013). Although Thicke contends that the song and video are intended to be playful – caricaturing and making fun of the male gaze – the joke falls flat in the face of reality.
The lyrics and actions in the song and video are strongly reminiscent of real-life sexual harrassment and assault, and their playful portrayal suggest that this kind of objectification and harassment is okay, rather than something problematic. It is this exact attitude that has sheltered sexual misconduct in the music industry for so long, undermining attempts by women to speak out and sustaining the status quo (Robinson, 2020).
For too long, the music industry has magnified the male gaze at its worst, objectifying and sexualizing women at every stage of music production. As a result, this cycle has handicapped female artists while, by contrast, allowing male artists to capitalize on female sex appeal to drive sales. However, I believe there is hope for the future. Assertion of power and independence by female artists is not new, but recent unprecedented success in doing so is (Hopper, 2019). Under the leadership of fearless female artists, a new music industry is being created – one without blurred lines.
References
Hopper, Jessica (February 6, 2019). “Pazz & Jop: So, Are Women Here Yet?”. VIllage Voice. Retrieved from: https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/02/06/pazz-jop-so-are-women-here-yet/
Phili, Stelios. (May 6, 2013). “Robin Thicke on That Banned Video, Collaborating with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar, and His New Film.” GQ. Retrieved from: https://www.gq.com/story/robin-thicke-interview-blurred-lines-music-video-collaborating-with-2-chainz-and-kendrick-lamar-mercy
"Readers' Rock List: The 20 Best Music Videos of 2008" (2008). Rolling Stone. Retrieved from: https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/25280754/readers_rock_list_the_20_best_music_videos_of_2008/6?action=rate#rate
Robinson, Lisa (2020). “Abuse” in Nobody ever asked me about the girls: Women, music and fame.
Rodriguez, Jayson (2008). "Kanye West's Latest Video Vixen Defends 'Flashing Lights' Clip: 'It's Whatever You Want It To Be'". MTV. Retrieved from: https://www.mtv.com/news/rpibtf/kanye-wests-latest-video-vixen-defends-flashing-lights-clip-its-whatever-you-want-it-to-be
"The Billboard Hot 100 – Flashing Lights" (2008). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved from: https://archive.today/20130118074804/http://www.billboardmagazine.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi%3D379%26cfgn%3DSingles%26cfn%3DThe%2BBillboard%2BHot%2B100%26ci%3D3091171%26cdi%3D9655571%26cid%3D02%252F02%252F2008&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1670230514355020&usg=AOvVaw31uk0P4OyNLGAfKWHph-Tu
"The Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s" (2009) Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media Inc. Retrieved from: https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7695-the-top-50-music-videos-of-the-2000s/
"The 50 Best Music Videos of the Aughts" (2010). Slant Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.slantmagazine.com/category/music/best-of-the-aughts-music-videos/
Thicke, Robin (2013). “Blurred Lines.” YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU
West, Kanye (2008). “Flashing Lights.” YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ila-hAUXR5U
Zeisler, Andi (2008). Feminism and pop culture. New York, NY: Seal Press. pp. 1-21.
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