Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
"If you like it and you want it...put a ring on it" ?!
hm-humm. Foh real, Beyonce?? Oh, puleeze, this is a old and misguided a concept as the (albeit way cuter and niavely spunkier, 90's version of new 'feminism') Spice Girl's "girl power". This thrusting black and white video shocking my tv airwaves is not empowering in the least, but only riveting for its sexual provocativeness (and yes, catchy up-tempo), guised as female power but aimed clearly at and for the "male gaze". I sigh.
B (can I call you, "B" Beyonce?), are you trying to sell, I mean, tell me that waaay too high-cut leotards, undulating buttock movements, multiple half-naked limbs and girating thighs sausaged into shimmery tight stockings - aggressively thrust in tandem with a "marry me" anthem - is empowering to me somehow? How so? All I see are a lot of legs and asses practically eye fucking with the camera's lens and accompanying words like "if you like it and you want it, put a ring on it". Not helping is the fact that the song drones on and on in that ever-original way of beating one good riff to death via a musical hazing. Oh dear, oh dear.
What exactly is the "it" you are referring to in this ode to the women's movement? the "it" that he wants/likes? is it your talent? your mind? your philanthropic heart? your multiple million dollar homes..? personality? um, what is this "it"?? 'cause I gotta tell ya, all I see (repeated without end in sight- pardon the pun) is ASS. A whole lot of it.
B. girl, you are selling your ass. For a fucking ring.
Problem #1 your imagery is fucked up. It is the stuff of the juvenile, breast-fixated, hyper-feminizing, Barbie-humping, panty-hose fetishisin', defensively hetero MALE GAZE. Sure, these women look hot...but they also come across as cheap because they are selling everything- at once, and in a BIG WAY (buy 1, get one free, these goods won't keep forever you know)! Displaying all the goods up front (and in the back), presumably aimed to inspire tenting in boys and men's pants throughout the continent. Problem is there is no subtlety, no nuance, no come-hitherness, no...well, sex appeal! Women are flesh robots shaking body parts and not saying much beyond 'asserting' that they need a ring! I think there is some cloudiness as to what is sexy, what it could be, and WHY people are alluring to begin with. But here, what you see...is pretty much what you will 'get'...tonight...if and when you flash her some bling! ;)
Problem #2- what kind of the message is being sent here (esp to the young 'uns - male or female)? If you are really liked by your guy, the only sure way to tell is if he buys or somehow "acquires" some gargantuan rock for your digits. WHAT?? What if you love yourself and are lucky enough to find a cool guy who also loves you, but no rock? This video and the song's (and I use this term loosely "lyrics") would indicate that strutting in high heels singing about deserving a ring from your man is the way to be on top, an alpha female, a winner, the powerful woman! But let's not kid ourselves- it is still the man in control here, he's the one to buy and bestow said ring onto her...if he 'likes' her enough. What about her 'holding out' until she gets that ring then? Is that her taking her power? Nah, it just boils down to sexual blackmail, which is selling the self short again, thus disempowering to women. Hollah!
What if you like the cock but aint getting- or even wanting- any rock?? Are you some kind of 'failed' femininity? Ya almost delivered but stopped just shy of aquiring real success as a truly desirable and desired woman. hm. As a single woman sans rock, paper or scissors, I resent this. I don't feel the least bit failed, unsexy or incapable of inspiring devoted love from a partner. I don't think one ought to be validated by antiquated norms which prescribe a materialist token of 'commitment' like buying an expensive, processed precious metal. Jewerly is nice and I'm a romantic, but this notion of forced consumerism tied to love and/or commitment is absolutelty UN-romantic to me! Because it is expected, it is therefore feigned.
Problem #3- I hate the aggressiveness of this style of 'sexy' dancing. there is nothing sexy or sensual about it at all! is there..?? (crickets) Show them how it's done Shakira (a la "it's in the curve of my hips, the line of my smile..." Phenomenal woman style)! A little hip, a provocative look here, a little shimmy there goes a long way and feels way less forced and desperate than the Britneys or Beyonces violent jutting of hips and legs with sullen faces. Isn't there another way to sell "sexy" other than using hyper-masculinized movements, alpha dog style?? I'm not saying women can't or should not move aggressively but I think this way of sexying it up this way stifling and culturally 'blueprinted' onto us as a kind of sexual-raging-by-the-numbers. Don't we have our OWN voice, physicalities, can't we package our own femininities to reshape our own language of movement, of sensuality..? With such vast complexities and variations within the term 'woman' so is there plenty of space to be explored yet.
Problem #4- the song is catchy to toddlers on YouTube and people who move on auto pilot to a catchy chorus. It's catchy, but where is the art in this song? Any remnant of a song never stood a chance once it gets lost in over-production consisting of the same masturbatory four chords and setting the 'record needle' on repeat for roughly 4 minutes. Was it ever meant to be, well, good? "Not necessarily" you say? Well, hellz bells then, I should write me something! Let's see: "My humps, my humps...my lovely lady lumps..." oh shit, that's been done. DAMN it! (Dear reader, be glad I know when I ought not to pollute the waters of an already-polluted world of musical mediocrety!)
Ladies, sistahs, if you like 'it', that is if you like yourselves, don't buy a line of bull about how showing your boobs for a "Girls Gone Wild" video or shaking your ass cheeks in CU in some hip hop video is an expression of your power. It is only predicated on one aspect of your full range of power: your sexual power. Yes, it is a big issue, but it is not ALL. The downside is this overfocussing on sexuality and prowess can obscure and make obsolete OTHER aspects of feminine power! the mind, the physicality, the learned, the inspired, the emotional, and on and on. These are other components of our 'power' that the MTV generation is not going to be privy to anytime soon. Seems a pity that a dampening of the full experience of female identity is hugely mainstreamed and reifyed through mediums like this to become not only socially accepted and but also expected. ugh.
One last note on this night's late rant...if he does like "it", don't let a silly little ring do the talking, the loving or the very real work that makes for a relationship. The ring aint the thing! that's fairytale stuff. Give me a man who'll give me a kiss and a coffee, then cheerfully do the dishes in the morning (yes, in that order)! Now that I can take to the bank!
If he really wants to please you, he should put a ring on it alright: a well-fitted cock ring. Long-lasting good times abound, am I right? ;) Why not let HIM do some shaking and shimmying and see if I still like him!
tee hee
B (can I call you, "B" Beyonce?), are you trying to sell, I mean, tell me that waaay too high-cut leotards, undulating buttock movements, multiple half-naked limbs and girating thighs sausaged into shimmery tight stockings - aggressively thrust in tandem with a "marry me" anthem - is empowering to me somehow? How so? All I see are a lot of legs and asses practically eye fucking with the camera's lens and accompanying words like "if you like it and you want it, put a ring on it". Not helping is the fact that the song drones on and on in that ever-original way of beating one good riff to death via a musical hazing. Oh dear, oh dear.
What exactly is the "it" you are referring to in this ode to the women's movement? the "it" that he wants/likes? is it your talent? your mind? your philanthropic heart? your multiple million dollar homes..? personality? um, what is this "it"?? 'cause I gotta tell ya, all I see (repeated without end in sight- pardon the pun) is ASS. A whole lot of it.
B. girl, you are selling your ass. For a fucking ring.
Problem #1 your imagery is fucked up. It is the stuff of the juvenile, breast-fixated, hyper-feminizing, Barbie-humping, panty-hose fetishisin', defensively hetero MALE GAZE. Sure, these women look hot...but they also come across as cheap because they are selling everything- at once, and in a BIG WAY (buy 1, get one free, these goods won't keep forever you know)! Displaying all the goods up front (and in the back), presumably aimed to inspire tenting in boys and men's pants throughout the continent. Problem is there is no subtlety, no nuance, no come-hitherness, no...well, sex appeal! Women are flesh robots shaking body parts and not saying much beyond 'asserting' that they need a ring! I think there is some cloudiness as to what is sexy, what it could be, and WHY people are alluring to begin with. But here, what you see...is pretty much what you will 'get'...tonight...if and when you flash her some bling! ;)
Problem #2- what kind of the message is being sent here (esp to the young 'uns - male or female)? If you are really liked by your guy, the only sure way to tell is if he buys or somehow "acquires" some gargantuan rock for your digits. WHAT?? What if you love yourself and are lucky enough to find a cool guy who also loves you, but no rock? This video and the song's (and I use this term loosely "lyrics") would indicate that strutting in high heels singing about deserving a ring from your man is the way to be on top, an alpha female, a winner, the powerful woman! But let's not kid ourselves- it is still the man in control here, he's the one to buy and bestow said ring onto her...if he 'likes' her enough. What about her 'holding out' until she gets that ring then? Is that her taking her power? Nah, it just boils down to sexual blackmail, which is selling the self short again, thus disempowering to women. Hollah!
What if you like the cock but aint getting- or even wanting- any rock?? Are you some kind of 'failed' femininity? Ya almost delivered but stopped just shy of aquiring real success as a truly desirable and desired woman. hm. As a single woman sans rock, paper or scissors, I resent this. I don't feel the least bit failed, unsexy or incapable of inspiring devoted love from a partner. I don't think one ought to be validated by antiquated norms which prescribe a materialist token of 'commitment' like buying an expensive, processed precious metal. Jewerly is nice and I'm a romantic, but this notion of forced consumerism tied to love and/or commitment is absolutelty UN-romantic to me! Because it is expected, it is therefore feigned.
Problem #3- I hate the aggressiveness of this style of 'sexy' dancing. there is nothing sexy or sensual about it at all! is there..?? (crickets) Show them how it's done Shakira (a la "it's in the curve of my hips, the line of my smile..." Phenomenal woman style)! A little hip, a provocative look here, a little shimmy there goes a long way and feels way less forced and desperate than the Britneys or Beyonces violent jutting of hips and legs with sullen faces. Isn't there another way to sell "sexy" other than using hyper-masculinized movements, alpha dog style?? I'm not saying women can't or should not move aggressively but I think this way of sexying it up this way stifling and culturally 'blueprinted' onto us as a kind of sexual-raging-by-the-numbers. Don't we have our OWN voice, physicalities, can't we package our own femininities to reshape our own language of movement, of sensuality..? With such vast complexities and variations within the term 'woman' so is there plenty of space to be explored yet.
Problem #4- the song is catchy to toddlers on YouTube and people who move on auto pilot to a catchy chorus. It's catchy, but where is the art in this song? Any remnant of a song never stood a chance once it gets lost in over-production consisting of the same masturbatory four chords and setting the 'record needle' on repeat for roughly 4 minutes. Was it ever meant to be, well, good? "Not necessarily" you say? Well, hellz bells then, I should write me something! Let's see: "My humps, my humps...my lovely lady lumps..." oh shit, that's been done. DAMN it! (Dear reader, be glad I know when I ought not to pollute the waters of an already-polluted world of musical mediocrety!)
Ladies, sistahs, if you like 'it', that is if you like yourselves, don't buy a line of bull about how showing your boobs for a "Girls Gone Wild" video or shaking your ass cheeks in CU in some hip hop video is an expression of your power. It is only predicated on one aspect of your full range of power: your sexual power. Yes, it is a big issue, but it is not ALL. The downside is this overfocussing on sexuality and prowess can obscure and make obsolete OTHER aspects of feminine power! the mind, the physicality, the learned, the inspired, the emotional, and on and on. These are other components of our 'power' that the MTV generation is not going to be privy to anytime soon. Seems a pity that a dampening of the full experience of female identity is hugely mainstreamed and reifyed through mediums like this to become not only socially accepted and but also expected. ugh.
One last note on this night's late rant...if he does like "it", don't let a silly little ring do the talking, the loving or the very real work that makes for a relationship. The ring aint the thing! that's fairytale stuff. Give me a man who'll give me a kiss and a coffee, then cheerfully do the dishes in the morning (yes, in that order)! Now that I can take to the bank!
If he really wants to please you, he should put a ring on it alright: a well-fitted cock ring. Long-lasting good times abound, am I right? ;) Why not let HIM do some shaking and shimmying and see if I still like him!
tee hee
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