sexualisation of women in the music industry
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
‘TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE MUSIC INDUSTRY SEXUALISE YOUNG WOMEN?’
Sexualisation is a way that mass media, celebrities or advertising can make young or old people, especially young girls, become more provocative in the way that they speak, dress and behave
(BBC network, 2014). It can also force people to change in character, which is a growing concern. Sexualisation in our society has become extremely prevalent within the younger female gender. Some may dismiss this issue as no more than yet another moral panic situation between sexuality and young girls, but some see this as a serious subject and some of these people are in fact the girls being targeted (Church, 2014). The music industry with their music videos is one of the major influences contributing to the sexualisation of young girls. With the raunchy outfits and extreme sex appeal that music videos are displaying, gives an explanation for the increasingly sexualised behaviour with teen girls. There are many ways in which adolescent girls can be influenced by the sexualisation of the music industry. Ways such as, advertising clothing which is low cut, skimpy and sexually leading, masking young girls in makeup to make them look more attractive, and having a promiscuous outlook to the opposite sex at a young age. The constant contradiction between remaining innocent but looking visually irresistible to young males for young girls is becoming harder on account of the social normalities for youths in this generation. Are we putting too much undue pressure on young girls to look a certain way?
When did this become an issue?
Sexualisation in the music industry has been an issue since the early 1980’s when the television channel MTV was invented, and singers generated film clips to accompany their music (bright blue, 2013). Before music clips, the sexual element of the music was wrapped in the raunchy lyrics. Music videos started in 1981 when the pop hit ‘Physical’ by Olivia
‘TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE MUSIC INDUSTRY SEXUALISE YOUNG WOMEN?’
Sexualisation is a way that mass media, celebrities or advertising can make young or old people, especially young girls, become more provocative in the way that they speak, dress and behave
(BBC network, 2014). It can also force people to change in character, which is a growing concern. Sexualisation in our society has become extremely prevalent within the younger female gender. Some may dismiss this issue as no more than yet another moral panic situation between sexuality and young girls, but some see this as a serious subject and some of these people are in fact the girls being targeted (Church, 2014). The music industry with their music videos is one of the major influences contributing to the sexualisation of young girls. With the raunchy outfits and extreme sex appeal that music videos are displaying, gives an explanation for the increasingly sexualised behaviour with teen girls. There are many ways in which adolescent girls can be influenced by the sexualisation of the music industry. Ways such as, advertising clothing which is low cut, skimpy and sexually leading, masking young girls in makeup to make them look more attractive, and having a promiscuous outlook to the opposite sex at a young age. The constant contradiction between remaining innocent but looking visually irresistible to young males for young girls is becoming harder on account of the social normalities for youths in this generation. Are we putting too much undue pressure on young girls to look a certain way?
When did this become an issue?
Sexualisation in the music industry has been an issue since the early 1980’s when the television channel MTV was invented, and singers generated film clips to accompany their music (bright blue, 2013). Before music clips, the sexual element of the music was wrapped in the raunchy lyrics. Music videos started in 1981 when the pop hit ‘Physical’ by Olivia