Task 2.1: Research Into Existing Products - Music Videos

Robin Thicke's song and music video "Blurred Lines", released on March the 26th 2013, has generated controversy due to its rape-y lyrics and demeaning music video. In the video, the men are given all the power and control. The models dance around with vacant expressions. The three fully-clothed men touch and gawk at them in whichever way they choose, without any reaction from the women. As a result, the women seem more like sex dolls for the amusement of the men than actual women. The women are not celebrated for their wit, their intelligence, their creativity, their loving nature, their ability to give life, or even their individual beauties. They are celebrated as sexual objects. Not only are the models stripped of their clothing, they are stripped of their voices, stripped of their individualism, stripped of everything.



There was outrage in the media about this song, including newspapers such as The Guardian. 

This article includes that 20 university student unions have banned the song.
"It promotes a very worrying attitude towards sex and consent," explained Kirsty Haigh, Edinborough University Student's Association vice-president of services. "This is about ensuring that everyone is fully aware that you need enthusiastic consent before sex. The song says: 'You know you want it.' Well, you can't know they want it unless they tell you they want it."

Furthermore Annie Lennox calls for videos to be regulated in the same way as films. "I'm all for freedom of expression," she began ominously, "but this is clearly one step beyond, and it's clearly into the realm of porn. How do you stop your kids being exposed to it?"

The article includes this image of demonstrators on a "slutwalk march" in September 2013 showing their hatred and disgust for the song and even Robin Thicke himself.






Another article was written by Arts.Mic about the video: 

"Robin Thicke's new song 'Blurred Lines' has generated controversy due to its rape-y lyrics and demeaning music video. Women all over the country have been up in arms over the objectifying nature of the song." "Melinda Hughes, a girl power comedienne from LA, has created a parody video sharing feminist responses to Thicke's controversial song."  

Although there were many negative responses to the video, there was also some positive ones from people who like the video:

The reason why there are mixed opinions on this song and video may be due to people having different perspectives on the nature of it. For some people, mainly women and feminists this video is based around degrading women and making them look powerless where as for others it just another song about sex, which there is a lot of in society today. People who have grown up in today's society may be desensitised to this kind of nature of music videos and watching them doesn't really affect them.