March 25, 2008
Changing Views on Media Representations
So today I saw a music video and couldn't help but watch it differently after viewing Dreamworld 3 in class two weeks ago. The video consisted of a girl stripping and dancing on a strip pole for three men. The minute her dress dropped to the ground the men had their full attention on the girl. However, the men flexed their muscles the girl swayed towards them and practically gave herself to them. As discussed previously, we can observe this as women having power over men with the use of a strip pole but do we see this in a different light after viewing Dreamworld 3? I didn't know how to exactly think after watching the video. Part of me wanted to see femininity and masculinity both being represented equally but also I wanted to think how badly the girl represented herself. What are everyone else's thoughts on this issue? Do we still see some kind of power women have in stripping or has media pushed it too far?
5 comments:
I don't see stripping as power for women. If anything I feel that it's degrating to the individual and when I see something like that happining I personally feel that there must be something going on with the stripper because I don't see why anyone would WANT to do that to themselves!
You're right, i don't understand why someone would do it either. However, I think women see it as power by gaining men's attention by simply taking off clothing. They get money from the men and therefore are earning something. Do I agree with it, No, but I can't help believe that for some women they see the action as power over men.
There was a study done a few years ago about women sex workers in strip clubs. It found that all women pretty much start out stripping because of the money. In one night, an individual can make up to $2000, and who wouldn't be attracted to that kind of cash? Also, women loved the attention they received from the men who came into the strip clubs. The focus of the study was more the effects stripping has on a woman and her self esteem. The researchers found that strippers experience such dramatic highs and lows. They have huge highs one moment when they receive a huge tip, and a tremendous low the next minute when they are ridiculed or harrassed by a rude customer. The longer a woman remains in the industry, the more her satisfaction with her job decreases.
To me, it seems that the women never really had any power over men to begin with. The men held the power over them by controlling their happiness with a tip or their humiliation with a public insult.
I agree that women really have no power on stage as a stripper. There is a perception that the stripper controls the pace by the selection of music and how fast the clothing comes off, but in reality the money doesn't hit the stage until her clothes do. Also as previously mentioned about the highs and lows, that is very true. In fact, this eventual subtle dependency eventually turns into many of these women using drugs to reach those original highs. The drug dependency furthers the control the men have over these women as they tend to be the suppliers. In addition once the dependency on drugs takes place the strippers will "perform" in other ways to get their fix. They will also be more easily conditioned to go through cosmetic augmentations as well as possibly be used for prostitution by these same men. So while it may seem that women have control over men and taking their money on stage...over time, it's the men pulling the strings on her performance.
I do not see any useful power in stripping myself. I completely agree with “Sally Sue” that stripping is rather degrading for women. However, I could see some women seeing power in stripping because they have some sexual control over the men they are performing for. Strippers hold the power to arouse a male and to get them to empty their pockets. If they perform well they can get the men to come back again. However, I don’t think this power is worth it because the men have little to no respect for the women. They just want to pay them for a good time and leave.
I think in order to have true power you must have true respect first.
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