Rishi Dave
WGS 2250-83
Prof. Neil
Due Date: 3/9/17
Essay 3
“How do you manage to oppress over 50 percent of this society’s population and not
have a revolution on your hands? Answer: You make it seem “normal”” (1). This seemingly
normal phenomenon of oppressing and objectifying women is a fundamental issue that we are
facing as a nation today. Sexism has become so normal that we have begun to believe that this is
how it has always been and more importantly, this is how it should be (1). Male supremacy and
the parallel negative presentation of women should not be natural, yet they are broadly accepted
in society. These so-called gender roles are determined by society, and compels each gender to
act in a certain manner. But the problem has gotten worse, as reflected by the documentary.
Women are not only discriminated against, but also they are being objectified, and presented in
the most one-dimensional sense.
The documentary vividly portrays the impact that media has had on advancing sexism
and its implication in our societies and our mindsets. For the past many decades, music videos
and advertisement campaigns alike have been using women in order to gain popularity. Women
are being hyper-sexualized and are presented as nothing else. Now, the issue is not that in these
videos, women are expressing their sexual side, the problem is that nothing else about them is
depicted. (2) In music videos regardless of genre, artists are compensating for lack of creativity
with an abundance of female presence. The presence is not the issue but the way they are
presented. They are always shown to be wearing low-cut tops and short skirts or shorts.
Furthermore, they are shot from increasingly provocative angles which focus on only two parts
of their body. (2) Often this has nothing to do with the song or music whatsoever. The popularity
of the music videos is directly proportional to the number of exposed women in the video. This is
insane to think about in my opinion. Women are being used as props in these music videos and
openly objectified, yet we listen to these music videos and sing along. Moving on, another
problem is that the women are depicted as being sex-crazed creatures who simply cannot survive
without the men. They are entirely dependent on the men. (2) It is not uncommon to see the male
artist surrounded by dozens of dancing women, on which he sprays alcohol and touches
inappropriately. What is more baffling being that these women are shown to enjoy this degrading
treatment. This is very concerning to me. Such portrayal puts across a clearly negative image
