The Pop Star

She’s everywhere. She’s on your TV, she’s on youtube, she’s your cell phone background, she’s your poster on the wall. In today’s celebrity obsessed world, the “pop star” sits on a goddess-worthy pedestal. Men (boys) want her and women (girls) idolize her. There is nothing wrong with a young girl succeeding in the music business, but there is certainly something wrong with the way these girls are achieving their success. In our world sex sells everything, it drives our economy. I’ve even seen sexy toilet paper commercials  (kudos America.) The same rings true with our music industry. For these “artists”, beautiful lyrics and breathtaking melodies will not bring them to the top of the charts, fewer clothes will.  In order for a young woman to be successful in the music business she has to sell her product with her body. And unfortunately, with time, this has caused sheer talent to hit the backburner. It’s more important for the “singer” to be sexy than to actually be able to sing.

   But most profoundly, this sex drenched music business is having severe repercussions with today’s youth. The young and impressionable look up to these glossy, airbrushed “musicians”, they want to be just like them. But in this “raunch culture” that doesn’t mean they aspire to be singers one day, it means they want to be able to use their sexuality for power as well.

   In 1983 MTV was born. Gone forever was the anonymity of the musicians we heard on the radio. Through MTV we got to see music on the television everyday and be fully immersed in these people’s worlds. But with time and with the rise of raunch culture came a shift in the music videos, a shift that has altered the way contemporary America views music today. Since the public was now able to see these singers as well as hear them, suddenly it mattered how these people looked. The focus of the music videos was shifted from the substance; plot, set, message, and onto the stars bodies and gyrating hips. Since the dawn of MTV the videos have become comparable to soft-core porn. The pop stars in these videos, along with their army of backup dancers, are no longer artists, but instead they’re eye-candy. They are scantily clad, adorning heavy make-up, suggestive dance moves and provocative eye glances. Their looks are what is making their songs popular; they might as well be gyrating to white noise.

  The Internet is bursting with examples of this phenomenon but I chose to focus on Britney Spears’ hit single “I’m a Slave for You”. In the video displayed below, one can see raunch culture at its finest.

Firstly, her wardrobe; Brit is clad in a “shirt” that is nothing more than a bra, accented by jeans that appear to have been painted on and then accessorized with a hot pink thong worn above her pants. And if this isn’t enough, her sweaty backup dancers are constantly licking her face and rubbing her exposed body. In an effort to not come across as uber-conservative, let me emphasize that my issue is not with the fact that she is dressed provocatively. What’s troubling is the fact that she receives copious amounts of notoriety for only this. Britney has achieved immense fame, power and success, but she is talent-less. The public is obsessed with her because she is sexy, not because she has skills worth praising. I’d be interested in seeing a version of this video with out the added auto-tune and without the impeccable, sweaty, half-clothed bodies. How much airtime would this version receive?

  But the real issue lies in the message being delivered to the youth who watch these videos. The content of these lyrics are in defense of her sexuality, and in essence, raunch culture as a whole. She claims within the song that she’s not a little girl anymore and she wants to come into this world and be a woman. This video is supposed to display how much of a woman she is. So lets review, according to Brit’s song in order to be a woman I must:

1. Have impeccable abs and bare my midriff as often as possible
2. Shake my pelvis in the general direction of all males in the room
3. Make grunty-moaning noises and try to pass them off as “singing”
4. Once I’ve accomplished all above tasks people will want to lick my face

This message is intoxicating to young girls.  They see how the world is obsessed with

Britney and they desire that attention for themselves. So they mimic her wardrobe and her dance moves, they starve themselves to achieve her body, and they engage in the sexual activity present in the videos. 

   The raunch culture of Pop stars has altered what is desirable

for young women. They see celebrities like Jessica Simpson and Leighton Meester and they want what they have. But Ms. Simpson and Ms. Meester do not have talent, they have boobs and legs. This unfortunately sends a few profoundly negative messages. Firstly, if you’re blessed enough to have similarly desirable looks then there is no need for you to strive for anything more in your life. Sexy = Success so don’t you worry about that chemistry exam. Secondly, if you are one of the many, many young girls who are not a spitting image of Britney Spears, you are of no value within our culture, you will not succeed. This message is enhanced by the media’s cruel treatment of singers who do not fit in with the “Britney’s” of the business. For example, the first American Idol Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly, who is actually blessed with a beautiful singing voice, is attacked daily in the news-media for her appearance. She may be able to hit those high notes but until she wears a size 24, we should point and laugh. Or look at Jessica Simpson 5 years ago versus the Jessica Simpson of today. In recent years she’s gained weight and has since fallen off the radar of desirability. She certainly didn’t lose any singing ability, (since there wasn’t any to lose…) so all that appears to matter to us is whether or not she looks good in a bikini. Raunch culture is unforgiving, it leaves no room for flaws and this is instilling unrealistic and misguided goals for young girls.

    Ariel Levy’s main issue is that for women, success and power is deeply embedded in their sexuality. This is displayed by the public’s treatment of these “Pop stars”. Celebrities are American royalty. They’re who we look up to, who we aspire to be. We cant continue having these women be the role models for young girls. But all the blame does not lie with the Pop stars. The public fuels this trend, we continue watching, buying and listening, and the cycle continues. So what do we do next? Well for starters, download some better music.