This week in my Sex and Media class we are exploring the topic, "Pornographic Mainstream Media." An author in particular who displays an abundance of knowledge on the topic is Levande in the article, "Women, Pop music and Pornography" This article discusses the portrayal of women's bodies in mass media, especially as being used as product placement. Levande further discusses the idea of how feminism is being hijacked within the media. Examples of this include the combination of the power of stripping, soft porn, etc. These behaviors and actions exude an attitude of sexuality within the media.
It is also important to mention that the women within the media who are being portrayed as oversexed are created by corporations, not artists. The media artifacts I have chosen are excellent examples of how media corporations have created these sexualized messages. The mainstream media outlets I most often consume include advertisements (print and on television), movies, TV shows and music. Below I have provided examples of what I would consider pornographic artifacts within mainstream media.
As explained by Levande, these finally planned images of media create impressions of what is normal. For example, television, music videos and movies often show portrayals of the act of sex. These sexual acts are often soft porn-like, mystified and accompanied by cheesy romance music. I believe that these sexual acts give viewers the wrong impression of how their own intimate time will be spent.
The photo below is a movie still from Pearl Harbor, a popular romance movie, (which I will admit I watch every time it is on TV.) While this movie spends many scenes covering the historical combat in Hawaii and abroad, it also has a few steamy romance scenes. One in particular features Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett who sneak into an unexpected place to have a little fun between the sheets. This photo is a still from the romance scene which you can watch at the link below. This scene is not only pornographic to an extent but also creates a false impressions of a "normal" act of sex.
OMFG: Oh my fucking God! This second artifact is an advertisement from one of my favorite TV guilty pleasures, Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl first originated as a book series packed with sex, drama and drugs for young tweens. Now as a young adult I still find as much enjoyment in the sexy TV series which I often find myself blushing while watching. The show at most times is incredibly inappropriate for children under the age of 16. The sexual content is incredibly heavy and again, here as shown, the act of sex is dramatized. This show is by far one of the most intense soft porn examples. Almost every episode there is a pornographic scene, if you click the link below you will see just one of the many examples.
Watch a clip from the show here at Youtube The third artifact is one bound to make you giggle in disbelief. Oftentimes when listening to the sexually explicit content of rap music, I find myself shaking my head “no way.” This artifact is the album cover to one of the most perverse, hilarious, pornographic songs I know. This song is titled “Put it in my mouth” by Akinyele. While I could not find a music video, I did find a clip on Youtube which plays the song. The lyrics in the song are pornographic as the artist refers to “pussy” and “dick” multiple times as well as other graphic, disturbing content as a female artist chants in the chorus “put it in my mouth, my motha fuckin’ mouth.” I’m sure it’s not hard for you to guess exactly what body part she is referring to, yes the penis. From a personal and prude perspective, I recognize most content which displays any remarks of “penis” as being pornographic.
The fourth artifact is an advertisement that you can find in numerous magazines. It’s an ad campaign for Gucci with the marked words “guilty.” The ad displays a woman clearly being strained by a man against his body, nude. This is pornographic because of not only the nudity but also the glazed skin, the man displaying sexual behavior by burying his face into her neck. Coincidently Gucci has numerous advertisements that display the same sexual behaviors, some worse than this one.
The fifth artifact is a new commercial featuring Beyonce’s perfume, which recently was banned in the UK. The sexual content is as if the perfume is giving Beyonce orgasms as she continuously has a sexualized gaze and touches herself in perverse ways. You can watch the commercial from the link below, she definitely brings on the heat.
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