On Boobs: The Trouble with Blurred Lines

I KNOW I KNOW.

Blogging 101: post regularly.

So I'm sorry. Won't happen again.

To apologize, here you go:

Unfortunately there is a problem with these boobs, and that is (a small) part on what stayed my hand from updating the blog. The problem with these boobs isn't the boobs themselves, or the ladies that are attached to them, or in my opinion the music video they are in, but the song the music video is for: Blurred Lines  by Robin Thicke.

Dammit but that's a catchy song, but as the internet quickly pointed out, this song has some pretty serious problems. I'm still not completely sure I've made up my mind about it, but having batted around ideas with enough smart people I can confidently say three things:

To all the people who directed their outrage at the models, you are jerks. JERKS. Who are you to tell any woman what she can and can't do with her body? Shaming beautiful women for appearing naked on camera is just reinforcing the idea that a naked woman is merely an object. The director, Diane Martel, gave an interview after the video came out regarding the controversy, and I think these models did a bang-up job fulfilling her vision:

I wanted to deal with the misogynist, funny lyrics in a way where the girls were going to overpower the men. Look at Emily Ratajkowski’s performance; it’s very, very funny and subtly ridiculing. That’s what is fresh to me. It also forces the men to feel playful and not at all like predators. I directed the girls to look into the camera, this is very intentional and they do it most of the time; they are in the power position. I don’t think the video is sexist. The lyrics are ridiculous, the guys are silly as fuck. That said, I respect women who are watching out for negative images in pop culture and who find the nudity offensive, but I find [the video] meta and playful.

The foot-slap in the face, the lack of eye contact with the men in the video, the subtle eye rolls, all these elements combine to give the women in the video an aura of power and control.

So boo-yah ladies, well done. Please spend as much time naked as you want.

That said I come to my second point: Robin Thicke is a boob. AND NOT THE GOOD KIND.

Having read the interview above, I was prepared to defend the music video until I read this quote from Robin Thicke himself:

We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, "We're the perfect guys to make fun of this." People say, "Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?" I'm like, "Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women."

It really did inspire a moment of pure speechlessness (which for this author is a blessed rarity).  So apparently Robin missed the point on this one. Which, upon giving the lyrics a closer look, is totally understandable because the man wrote a rapey song and didn't notice.

I know coercing a taken woman is not a new thing; it's a theme that's been written and sung about for ages, and at some level I think that's all Robin was shooting for. This does not make the line "I know you want it" that is looped through the whole song any less troubling. A friend of mine put it well when he said that the song removes the woman's agency; she is being propositioned but is never given a rebuttal, and is essentially being told that the singer knows what she wants better than she does. It just smacks too much of the disgusting idea that at some level a woman wants to be raped.

And then that jerkface just straight blows smoke in one of the model's faces during the video. I'm surprised Martel kept that.

I come to my final point: The culture that this was released into negates anything good Martel put into this video.

Briefly put, we weren't ready. This music video relied too heavily on subtle satire to justify itself, and the only thing most people took away from this video was OoooO NAKED LADIES and some bizarre idea that you can argue a woman into bed. Maybe in a few years we can appreciate Martel's intent for this music video, but in the meantime too many idiots (like Robin) just aren't getting it.

Boobs are wonderful. Let's treat them well.

Screw you Robin Thicke.