Rape Culture

So we have been studying socialization and one of the agents we concentrated on is media.  As we have discussed, media as a socializing agent can have many negative aspects and side effects.  These undesirable effects of media can definitely influence the culture of a society or even a country.  Maybe even several countries.  When I looked at the lyrics of  the song "Blurred Lines" I could not help but think that this song would be controversial.  Let's take a closer look at a widely unknown culture that is heavily influenced through media and its effect on our culture.

 "A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women." Robine Thicke's huge summer hit, Blurred Lines (it reached #1 in 14 countries), has been widely discussed as an example of rape culture. It is so controversial that at least 5 universities in the United Kingdom have banned the song.  Many of the bans were led by student union groups of the universities.  It is suggested that the song objectifies women-that there "are ‘blurred lines’ when it comes to sexual consent." The problem many people have with the song is that the lyrics are similar to phrases that are used by attackers on potential rape victims.  Check out project unbreakable to see what I mean

For example, the main lyrics  "I know you want it" is a line given to many victims, and implies that women really want sex when they say they do not. There is also a line  "Nothing like your last guy, he too square for you."  A person may dissect that to mean a woman doesn't want the nice, down to earth, sensitive, thoughtful guy who will treat her with respect.  Women would prefer the guy to be forceful, disrespectful, "the bad boy type."

So  Robin Thicke's response to this is that it is a song about his wife and this is an appropriate way some couples  talk  and act within a marriage.  Which many people say that they understand, but then the video he made is meant to be construed how?

 As this video from Dreamworlds 3 illustrates, music videos socialize us into prescribed gender roles regarding sexuality. And in a video where the women are all barely dressed (or nude in the unedited version of the video), and never speak, it is easy to see why women will continue the need to fight the stereotypes and gender bias towards them.  And as far as young boys and men are concerned, the temptation to see women as sex objects who are not gender equals will continue a culture that has made great strides but is far from reaching its goals of gender equality.

 So in retaliation, parodies of the video have come out, including the Law Revue Girls' "Defined Lines" where they respond “Yeah we don’t want it/ It’s chauvinistic/ You’re such a bigot ... You can't just grab me/ That's a sex crime.”  Unfortunately, it will do little to change the damage that a song like "Blurred Lines" has done to women and gender stereotypes.