Dmx Video- "What They Really Want"-came out 15 years ago (2009)
Lil Kim Video- "How Many Licks?"-came out 14 years ago (2010)
Andrea Brown-Thirston, an African American woman wanted to know how young women were portrayed in music videos. She spent a day watching R&B and Hip Hop videos to see what images were depicted on the screen that young children could possibly come across. The videos that she watched, named above, were portraying young girls in extremely sexual positions, sexual innuendos, and grabbing genitalia.
Andrea wondered what effects that watching videos would have on children. What stereotypes are they promoting? What self-image are young girls going to try to live up to? What lifestyle will they not be able to obtain? What can we do to change the narrative?
Teach the youth to watch media through critical lenses and openly discuss what they see and how it makes them feel. Parents, teachers, and the community should be positive influences for the youth to look up to to combat the negativity that they see in the media.
I watched these videos back in the day when they came out and didn't realize how sexualized they were. I sang along and danced like they weren't degrading women in plain sight. Putting on critical lenses makes you question everything.
Hi Tracy, I agree that we need to look at how women are portrayed in media. As the mother of girls I need to make more of an effort to discuss with them how they see themselves and what the messages are that they receive when watching videos and scrolling on social media.
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