hey guys welcome back to my channel i'm
jess meeth and i'm passionate about
dismantling and discussing
pop culture and media today we're
talking about self-objectification
and female empowerment specifically in
the realm of mainstream
music now with the recent viral success
of cardi b's
extremely controversial wap i felt this
topic was relevant
and through three songs that defined my
childhood
i want to share my own journey of
wrestling with the complexities
of female empowerment my struggles
started when i was in elementary school
and they continued into college
i'm now 24 years old and after years of
being desensitized
to self-objectification and its serious
implications
i'm on a mission to awaken my generation
to the issues and how they diminish
female empowerment
throughout the rest of the podcast we
need to reflect on the following
question
how and why do we as a culture consider
and support
self-objectification as female
empowerment
the first song we're about to play and
analyze was released in 2006
and peaked at number 22 on billboard's
hot 100
year-end chart and it's certified double platinum
i was only 10 years old when i
downloaded london bridge off
itunes it wasn't until much later that i
deciphered the double entendres
this smash hit from pop star fergie
isn't about a bridge in london
or the nursery rhyme first the song's
notorious oh snap
o snap is edited for the clean version
and it's repeated a total of nearly 30
times
throughout the three minute 28 second
single just imagine
ourselves as little kids being exposed
to the actual
expletive that much in the music video
for london bridge
you'll catch fergie grinding on a
queen's guard at buckingham palace
strip teasing on a table surrounded by a
crowd of party guests
and putting on a scene in front of
paparazzi she's wearing midriffs
booty shorts and dresses that barely
reach her thighs
one of the album's executive producers
and fellow black eyed peas member
will i am stated that fergie was quote
writing about her personal struggles and
casting her demons away
and feminine power it's her singing for
young girls to be strong
and what they're going through in life
just growing up in this world of
uncertainty
end quote i admire fergie's desire to
empower females especially young girls
but her song london bridge is what
promoted uncertainty
with the oh snap intertwined with almost
all of fergie's parts
ten-year-old me had a light bulb moment
by acting out
fergie gained attention and a lot of it
especially from men but i didn't
understand that it was the wrong kind of
attention
the oh snap was the most captivating and
intriguing aspect
of the song for me i thought that i
would need to act out like fergie to
attract
boys and i thought that attention from
males was the only way for me to feel
empowered as a female
although i never really acted out i
nonetheless
carried a false sense of female
empowerment throughout my childhood
our hearts should break for fergie from
her early days of childhood fame
captured in the tabloids she felt
exploited
but by acting out especially in a
titillating manner
fergie's exploiting herself and this my
friends
is not female empowerment we need to
look
beyond the surface of fergie's life and
overflow her
with compassion and empathy fergie has
had a rough past with substance abuse
causing erratic behavior and constant
hallucinations
at her lowest point fergie dropped to a
staggering 90 pounds
she has described in interviews that she
had hit rock bottom
but in 2002 she recovered from her
crystal meth addiction
fergie has been sober for 18 years and
has come
so far her courage to be transparent and
vulnerable
has been a beacon of hope for others
fighting similar battles
fergie has been through so much and her
victory over drugs
which is no easy feat is how she
exhibits female empowerment
fergie also founded a popular shoe line
the brand fergie footwear has donated
significant funds for charities
fergie's history of philanthropic
efforts and relentless work ethic
as a so-called girl boss is what should
empower females
the second song we're about to play and
analyze was released in 2008 and it has
quite a list of accomplishments it
won a grammy for best dance recording
it peaked at number 2 on billboard's hot
100 year end chart
and it's one of only 34 songs in history
to be certified diamond
mega icon lady gaga has been secretly
trolling us
as it turns out she's not actually
singing poker face
every single time if you listen
carefully pokerface is disguised as
f her face on every second repetition of
the phrase
during the chorus at a wango tango
concert
lady gaga admitted that kiss fm was the
only radio station to correctly censor
it so yes me and my other classmates in
the seventh grade
were jamming out to a song that was in
fact suggestive
and sinister the music video for poker
face
presents lady gaga in various revealing
and racy costumes
she attends a wild party where every man
and every woman
gamble their luck during a game of strip
poker
before any of us judge or cast stones i
went to shed some light on lady gaga and
her backstory
her real name is stefani germanotta
and like fergie she's overcome
a lot of hardship behind lady gaga's
poker face
hides a lot of pain both emotional and
chronic
she developed ptsd after being sexually
assaulted at age
19 and she's been diagnosed with
fibromyalgia syndrome
her daring boldness to defy the status
quo
was ignited from the unpleasant memories
of her peers isolating her
a teenage gaga was teased and ostracized
for being different in school and not
conforming to the mold
but this is what sparked a hot burning
fire
inside of her lady gaga is a prominent
and ubiquitous symbol in the feminist
movement
her dramatic statements have nurtured
a confidence in her fans to stand up
for what they believe in
when it comes to her philosophy to just
own it she is
a force to be reckoned with and she
keeps it real by owning up to her flaws
but it is lady gaga's substance not
style
that i find empowering as a female there
is so much more than meets the eye
and we as a generation must dig deeper
and value lady gaga for the resilient
human person she is not the raunchy
character she portrays
in addition to her radical avant-garde
style
lady gaga is widely known for her social
activism
she founded a non-profit named after her
album
born this way the organization focuses
on improving mental health
eradicating the stigma around it and
preventing bullying and youth
it's committed to making the world a
kinder and braver place
now the disreputable f her face is far
from this
but lady gaga's acceptance speech for
being honored as one of elle's woman in
hollywood
generated a lot of positive buzz it
wasn't just her moving words
it was her aesthetic rather than an
extravagant ball gown
lady gaga was dressed in an oversized
men's inspired suit
with minimal makeup and her hair slicked
back and a simple low bun
after alluding to her sexual assault and
mental health
she declared quote i decided today i
wanted to take the power back
today i wear the pants end quote i
along with many others resonated with
lady gaga
female empowerment is wearing the pants
like
her the third and final song we're about
to play and analyze was released in 2011
it won favorite song at the 38th
people's choice awards
and it peaked at number four on
billboard's hot 100
year-end chart it's certified eight
times platinum
according to artist katy perry the song
lyrically speaks of what she quoted as
falling in love with a foreigner but
through closer examination
e.t seems to be erotically and
voyeuristically driven
about a romantic affair it's centered
around taking sex to a higher level
as in out of sight out of this world
higher
the steamy physical connection is
paralleled to an extraterrestrial
encounter
one that is complete with a handful of
innuendos which are later wrapped by
kanye west
the music video depicts katy perry as an
alien drifting into space
when she kisses a broken robot
resembling a spaceman
he turns into a naked man various clips
of plant reproduction
and animals are also interspersed large
felines hunting flash on
screen as well as an injured deer
limping and two mammals
that i couldn't quite identify humping
each other
my interpretation was sexual dominance
and submission
compared to the original version
featuring perry alone
people felt the song was lacking without
the addition of kanye
but this is how he opens the
introduction i got a dirty mind
i got filthy ways i'm trying to bathe my
ape in your milky way
just a few lines later he boasts about
his male bravado
they calling me an alien a big-headed
astronaut
maybe it's because your boy yeezy gets
ass a lot
and in kanye's final verses he broadcasts
pockets on shrek rockets on deck tell me
what's next
alien sex i'm a disrobe you then i'm a
probe you
see i abducted you so i tell you what to
do
i tell you what to do what to do what to
do
it's so sad that these words which are
borderline masochistic
made the song more entertaining and
enjoyable for listeners
what's equally sad is that they appear
to seduce katie anyway
in the chorus she claims to want to be
your victim
and be ready for abduction female
empowerment
is not giving men transactional sex like
this
perry's other smash hits such as
firework roar
and rise provide more edifying examples
of female empowerment
katy perry has conquered her fair share
of adversity
and that is what enlightened her to
write the songs and
perform them katy has bounced back from
countless rejections
setbacks and failures in her career she
even suffered from depression and
suicidal thoughts
but katy never gave up and that is the
attitude she wants to instill in
others firework roar and rise
inspire her fans especially young girls
to be confident brave and strong and
like fergie and lady gaga
katie is also a dedicated humanitarian
in addition to her fight against animal
cruelty her work toward advocating for
youth
has been one of her most notable
contributions
she was officially named a unicef
goodwill ambassador in 2013.
so my gen z cohorts let's focus on
empowering females
through generosity and service
as evidenced from these three songs
self-objectification
as it's often predicated and framed by
our culture
isn't female empowerment celebrities
shape and influence the public
perception
by the values and beliefs that they
endorse and when female celebrities
choose to self-objectify
it still hurts and harms them as well as
their audience
there is heavy collateral damage that
springs from self-objectification
rather than feeling empowered as a tween
and teen
these songs pitted insecurities that are
still permanently inside of me
years later i became even more confused
and perplexed
when messages about philanthropy social
activism
and humanitarian aid were thrown into
the mix
now i commend how much these women give
back
and that should never be undermined but
the hurt and harm
caused by self-objectification can
suddenly become counteracted
and neutralized and that's a vicious
paradox
when self-objectification is not only
normalized
but celebrated in contexts like
mainstream music
it proves practically impossible to
challenge
this new norm of objectification is
empowerment
bestows the same warped thinking onto
young men and young boys
who come to believe that appreciating
and fortifying females
means clicking the like button on their
provocative and scandalous content
female empowerment is raising the bar
for males to treat women with chivalry
and respect
rather than mere objects of our desires
sex and our sexuality
are beautiful and sacred gifts they are
certainly not
taboo and dirty but the way we as a
culture
approach them needs an extreme makeover
female empowerment
is protecting a woman's sexuality not
showcasing it
we as human beings are crying out for
love
but how can we give and receive it when
we praise self-objectification
to all my fellow females out there we
are incredibly beautiful
and intimately loved for who we are the
problem with self-objectifying our
sexuality
isn't that we reveal too much but that
we reveal too little
too little of our dignity we are worth
more than the sum of our parts
we deserve to be treasured for who we
are and not just for our bodies and sex
alright guys so that wraps up today's
podcast comment down below with your
thoughts and if you have any
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