For this blog, I took a look at three different music videos. The first video was Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party,” the second video was Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” and the last video was Lil’ Kim’s “How Many Licks.” For class, we are to take a look at how the roles of men and women have changed over the years, and how these music videos are representation of the change.
In the first music video, Gore’s “It’s my Party,” probably better known as “Cry if I want to,” we see Gore fully clothed dancing around and singing a “sad” song with a smile on her face. She was probably told to smile for the cameras knowing the video would end up on TV and sell her more records, but really, it’s a song all about crying, and she has a smile plastered to her face…kind of ironic, I think! Anyway, back to the bigger meaning of the song. So basically this wonder guy Johnny is the man with all the power. He is in charge of which woman to be with. He did not pick Gore, even though he was at her party, but rather, he chose to be with Judy. What a pig! He is at Lesley’s party, and has the audacity to leave with another girl. He even takes it a step further, and makes Judy his girl by giving her his ring (a sign of ownership letting all other males know that she is mine!) and the two walk around Lesley’s party as if they are royalty.
Not only does Johnny have the power to choose what woman he wants to be with at that moment in time, he also has the power to control the emotions of all the women involved. He chose Judy and makes her feel like a queen. He did not choose Lesley and now her party is ruined because she’s crying. This song basically gives the green light for guys to control women. Lesley confirms this idea by singing, “til Johnny’s dancing with me, I’ve got no reason to smile”. She has given him total control of the situation and has determined that her feelings will not change until Johnny picks her. The hook of the song, “I’ll cry if I want to” over and over again also implies that women are weak and emotional. A guy would not cry if a girl did not pick him, but a female will fall into pieces if a guy does not want to be with her. I think it is slightly ironic that this “bubble-gum” pop song (a huge hit still even today) is a celebration of men overpowering women, and it is being sung by a female with smile on her face. If this same situation happened to me, I certainly would not be smiling!
The second music video, Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” gives us a taste of female power over males, but then she feels bad about what she has just done, and asks for forgiveness. In the beginning of the song, Apple sings, “I’ve been careless with a delicate man.” She had the power and the man was weak. But now that the tryst is over, the female feels bad. During the sexual encounter, Fiona felt as if she had the upper hand, but now with deed done, she is asking for forgiveness. In her song she sings, “I’ve done wrong and I want to suffer for my sins.” So while she enjoyed being in the heat of the moment, as soon as it was over, her “female reality button” gets pushed and she’s taking on the blame. Throughout the song there are clips of Fiona lying on nearly naked people, sitting on a male’s lap with his pants unzipped, and her undressing. On the other hand there are clips where she is staring straight into the camera asking to be cleansed of her sins.
The totally ironic concept with this whole music video is, Fiona is not to be blamed at all. We come to find out that it is the man and the audience (us) watching who are the ones to blame! In the video, Fiona portrays a young girl in pigtails, too young to be partaking in her “criminal” acts, and it is the man who has made her into his possession. In the web article by Mark Zeltner, he writes that this video actually plays into the “male rape fantasy…that women entice or "come on" to men and in that way are actually at fault for the man's abuse.” So while Fiona thought she was in control, and she was enjoying the sexual act, only to later feel guilty about the encounter, the man was really to blame all along! Once again, the male is in charge of how the female acts and feels.
The final video by Lil’ Kim, “How Many Licks” is the strongest representation on female power. While her title “How Many Licks” is very tongue and cheek, her lyrics are not. She opens her song by saying “Ah hell I have even f*ucked with different races.” Lil’ Kim then proceeds to run through her “laundry list” of all the men she had been with. She sings about a “white dude” who is so whipped by her that he’ll buy her anything to be with her. Next, is a guy she spanks and is in total control of when in the bedroom with him. The next fella is cheating on his girlfriend to be with Lil’ Kim. Next, is a “Puertorican Papi” who pleasures Lil’ Kim only on the weekends. Last, but certainly not least, is “King Kong” with his “hurricane tongue”…an attribute Lil’ Kim seems to enjoy as much as his huge male body part. Lil’ Kim thinks so highly of her self that she claims many men masturbate to her while in prison and she’s so high class, that her “flavor” comes in flavors! While this is certainly a form of females with power over their sexuality, this is also an example of females objectifying themselves.
In this music video, you see an assembly line and Lil’ Kim dolls being packaged for sale. What does that mean…that all of us women are alike, that we all can be bought, that our sex is for sale??? Kind of funny that a female empowerment song such as “How many licks,” gives the power back to the males. While Lil’ Kim does want to portray power over her sexual conquests, this song does objectify females by showing the assembly line and females ready for sale in the doll packages. There is certainly a double standard between male and females…if a guy has lots of women, then he’s the MAN, but if a female has lots of guys, then she’s a slut. Why is that? I guess we as females have not come all that far since the “It’s my Party” song…the guys still have the power. While a guy will argue the opposite, I propose this question to you…how do we as females gain our power, not feel bad for it, and keep control over our feelings and emotions??? If any one has the answer that both males and females can agree on, you have just become a millionaire!
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