Girl Groups,Models Sex and Political Warfare The Art of the Lapdance
So I'm watching MTV, it happens every once in a while they still play videos, I kinda wanna know what kids are listening to these days, maybe learn a new slang word, cause I'm still using fresh and funky, usually in that comination as in I'm in a funky fresh mood today, which sounds weird in 2006 but in 1990 I was coolness. So while watching said channel, I saw a girl group, not just any girl group, but the Pussycat Dolls. All I can say is meow. So my whole thing is this, wow, man are they hot. OK now newsflash there, and I haven't been under a rock, I know what the Pussycat Dolls are burlesque at its best, talk about retro. Anyways.....I started thinking about other girl groups and aside from the Motown days of the Supremes and such, we need to fast forward to the Spice Girls. Remember them? They all had personalities, we all knew their names, kinda. Destiny's Child, the ever revolving door of members, I was taking bets for how long it would be before Beyonce jumped ship. But the Pussycat Dolls are a great insight into the evolving societal attitudes into female empowerment. Don't cha think? OK bad pun. Moving on....
The Dolls are beautiful, sexy, talented....not Sarah McLachlan, singer songwriter talent, but for pop music, pretty damn good, better than the pop produced by The Simpson Clan. But the ever changing world of feminism, has turned on its dime. Somewhere between Jewel and The Dolls, sexuality equals feminism. OK, I can see the arguement here, a woman taking control of her sexuality is being independent, bucking society's prudish views of chastity. But isn't playing up the sexuality just another form of putting the woman down? I mean, as long as men or society still view as sexual objects and still objectify the sexuality of a woman as something as we can take advantage of, then isn't the end result of all this just influencing young girls who will also see this as empowerment and then you know, start bar dancing and such? I don't know maybe this whole situationis more complex and involves more than just girl groups and MTV, but isn't it safe to assume that young impressionable minds are influnced by the media just as much as their enivronment at home and school. I can understand if this were the 50's and tv was a new medium, but in this day and age of technological wonder, the tv, internet and everything else plays a bigger role than 50 years ago, shouldn't we at least not discount the fact that this happens? In any case, this isn't about how bad the Pussycat Dolls are to society which they aren't and personally I think we need more Dolls, but the the bigger issue is responsibility on all levels, from the media, to parents to schools. We live in a world now where we avoid debate, wanna teach evolution ok, teach intelligent design at least get the kids minds working. Are we developing a culture of conformity where we avoid debate and promote political correctness at any cost? While political correctness was a good thing in the 90's it took a decade for me to realize that political correctness is condesending. At least when we were openly hostile to one another we debated issues, today we hide behind smiles and hypocrisy, for fear of being labeled racist, agist, anti-semite, zenophobe and et al. In the end we are judged based on not what we say but what we think and feel. HIstory will not remember the immigration bills or the abortion bans, history will remember the arguements, they will quote nameless faceless people but the sentiment is there. Not for many people remember what Nathan Hale looked like or even who he is, but everyone remembers, "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country." Nice sentiment no?
This arguement will be waged, I hope for years to come, but sadly we live in a model-esque world. And by that I mean superficial, artificial and unremakrable world. We are we actually celebrating models? Caus ethey have a talent? Did they cure a disease? Are they creating music? books? poetry? Or are we celebrating them for looking nice, looking nice in lingerie, next to a car? I mean really what are we saying? Here's a sadder note, society is so dumb right now, we buy into it, yeah thats right, drink this beer, drive this car, use this body spray and chicks will dig you. Ladies you have no to blame but yourselves, explain to me why, when women have a 5 point majority in the US women still don't control the political agenda? Could it be, and I'm just throwing this out there, but could it be that women care more about landing Mr. Right or the right fall makeup for you than say abortion rights, healthcare? Just me but if women have a 5 percent majority over men and can swing elections, shouldn't we have had a female president? So with this "model" mentality of superficality, we shouldn't be surprised that with each passing generation its getting shallow No longer are we producing Mozarts or Eiensteins or Shakespeares, instead we have Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson and Aston Kucher, there is no justice in the world. Its sad when Jessica Simpson is more well known than the people who broke the human genome, its sad when we basically gave up the idea of not only setting the bar high and then setting it higher, instead we give points to those who just try and never succeed. Not everyone should play in the game coach, no what I'm saying?
So this all started with Pussycat Dolls and my continuing war with celebrities with no real talent and it ends with this....if we don't care about what entertains us, then in the end we don't care where society evolves too. Everyone sees the conservative zealots yet no one says anything about theliberal zealots who turn everything into a crime. I swear if another tree-huggin' granola eating birkenstock freak with a soul patch tell me I'm being insensitive to the plight of the indeginous people of America I'm gonna puke up my Starbucks latte. And if another flag waving Bible thumping I'm an American redneck tells me how sex on tv is bad for America I'm gonna throw the Constitution with a highlight of the First Amendment at his head. Wanna be a real American? Why not stick up for everyone's right to speak, even to people whose words make you mad and whose ideas contradict your own, stand up for their right as well. Thats what freedom is all about, you would argue for the right for everyone not just for people who agree with you. Then we start a real debate about issues. Then we can start discussing war, economics, healthcare and the Pussycat Dolls. You can't blame everyone and leave yourself out, its not their fault why Bush is in office again, its not Bush's fault for taking America to war after 9/11 its our fault for not saying.."Wait, is this even right?" Its our fault for speaking a good game but then not show up on election day. The lapdance isn't the problem, the problem is that in a country as wealthy and advanced as ours, why do people still have to do lapdances to make a good life.
The Dolls are beautiful, sexy, talented....not Sarah McLachlan, singer songwriter talent, but for pop music, pretty damn good, better than the pop produced by The Simpson Clan. But the ever changing world of feminism, has turned on its dime. Somewhere between Jewel and The Dolls, sexuality equals feminism. OK, I can see the arguement here, a woman taking control of her sexuality is being independent, bucking society's prudish views of chastity. But isn't playing up the sexuality just another form of putting the woman down? I mean, as long as men or society still view as sexual objects and still objectify the sexuality of a woman as something as we can take advantage of, then isn't the end result of all this just influencing young girls who will also see this as empowerment and then you know, start bar dancing and such? I don't know maybe this whole situationis more complex and involves more than just girl groups and MTV, but isn't it safe to assume that young impressionable minds are influnced by the media just as much as their enivronment at home and school. I can understand if this were the 50's and tv was a new medium, but in this day and age of technological wonder, the tv, internet and everything else plays a bigger role than 50 years ago, shouldn't we at least not discount the fact that this happens? In any case, this isn't about how bad the Pussycat Dolls are to society which they aren't and personally I think we need more Dolls, but the the bigger issue is responsibility on all levels, from the media, to parents to schools. We live in a world now where we avoid debate, wanna teach evolution ok, teach intelligent design at least get the kids minds working. Are we developing a culture of conformity where we avoid debate and promote political correctness at any cost? While political correctness was a good thing in the 90's it took a decade for me to realize that political correctness is condesending. At least when we were openly hostile to one another we debated issues, today we hide behind smiles and hypocrisy, for fear of being labeled racist, agist, anti-semite, zenophobe and et al. In the end we are judged based on not what we say but what we think and feel. HIstory will not remember the immigration bills or the abortion bans, history will remember the arguements, they will quote nameless faceless people but the sentiment is there. Not for many people remember what Nathan Hale looked like or even who he is, but everyone remembers, "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country." Nice sentiment no?
This arguement will be waged, I hope for years to come, but sadly we live in a model-esque world. And by that I mean superficial, artificial and unremakrable world. We are we actually celebrating models? Caus ethey have a talent? Did they cure a disease? Are they creating music? books? poetry? Or are we celebrating them for looking nice, looking nice in lingerie, next to a car? I mean really what are we saying? Here's a sadder note, society is so dumb right now, we buy into it, yeah thats right, drink this beer, drive this car, use this body spray and chicks will dig you. Ladies you have no to blame but yourselves, explain to me why, when women have a 5 point majority in the US women still don't control the political agenda? Could it be, and I'm just throwing this out there, but could it be that women care more about landing Mr. Right or the right fall makeup for you than say abortion rights, healthcare? Just me but if women have a 5 percent majority over men and can swing elections, shouldn't we have had a female president? So with this "model" mentality of superficality, we shouldn't be surprised that with each passing generation its getting shallow No longer are we producing Mozarts or Eiensteins or Shakespeares, instead we have Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson and Aston Kucher, there is no justice in the world. Its sad when Jessica Simpson is more well known than the people who broke the human genome, its sad when we basically gave up the idea of not only setting the bar high and then setting it higher, instead we give points to those who just try and never succeed. Not everyone should play in the game coach, no what I'm saying?
So this all started with Pussycat Dolls and my continuing war with celebrities with no real talent and it ends with this....if we don't care about what entertains us, then in the end we don't care where society evolves too. Everyone sees the conservative zealots yet no one says anything about theliberal zealots who turn everything into a crime. I swear if another tree-huggin' granola eating birkenstock freak with a soul patch tell me I'm being insensitive to the plight of the indeginous people of America I'm gonna puke up my Starbucks latte. And if another flag waving Bible thumping I'm an American redneck tells me how sex on tv is bad for America I'm gonna throw the Constitution with a highlight of the First Amendment at his head. Wanna be a real American? Why not stick up for everyone's right to speak, even to people whose words make you mad and whose ideas contradict your own, stand up for their right as well. Thats what freedom is all about, you would argue for the right for everyone not just for people who agree with you. Then we start a real debate about issues. Then we can start discussing war, economics, healthcare and the Pussycat Dolls. You can't blame everyone and leave yourself out, its not their fault why Bush is in office again, its not Bush's fault for taking America to war after 9/11 its our fault for not saying.."Wait, is this even right?" Its our fault for speaking a good game but then not show up on election day. The lapdance isn't the problem, the problem is that in a country as wealthy and advanced as ours, why do people still have to do lapdances to make a good life.
posted by V.Daniel | 5:32 PM
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