This story mentions domestic violence.
World-famous men are making money threatening to beat, stalk, maim, and silence women. And we let them get away with it.
Why? Because all of them made their vile threats in songs. And you can get away with anything as long as there's a sick beat behind it. In our world, making people want to dance is more important than making women feel safe.
Think I'm being dramatic? Let me walk you through it.
Eminem just rapped about wanting to punch singer Lana Del Rey in the face.
In a freestyle rap video released online overnight, Eminem rapped about wanting to punch Lana Del Rey in the face – twice. He likened himself to the infamous American footballer Ray Rice – a man who was caught on tape beating his wife unconscious in an elevator and then forcing her to apologise to save his career.
Redfoo told women to "shut the f**k up" in the 'most sexist song of the year'.
Lyrics to Redfoo's latest song Literally, I can't include the following instructions for young women who refuse to perform pornographic acts at a party:
"You're annoying b*tch because you're talking. Shut the f**k up."
"Girl I', sipping on this drink, trying to see what you got, not hear what you think."
"Shhh… I said jump on the pole; I didn't need your opinion…"
Robin Thicke's problematic message in his song Get Her Back.
Robin Thicke tried to win back his wife with footage of a drowning woman, a battered face, and a series of abusive text messages.
Adam Levine made a sexy short film about a violent stalker.
The film clip for Maroon 5's song Animals is basically a fantasy about a violent, dangerous stalker with a day job as a butcher. A beautiful woman is photographed without her consent, followed, frightened, and then made the object of a violent man's obsession.
Between them, these men are worth more than $200 million. They're some of the highest-paid musicians on the planet and are ritually rewarded for spreading violent messages to their fans.
These songs will be played in clubs, bars, and parties everywhere. They will be hits. And every time some guy sings the lyrics, he makes it a little bit more acceptable to disrespect women. domestic abuse, rape, and intimidation become just a little bit more normal.
Before you say "It's just a song," "It's just a bit of fun," or "STFU Kate, stop being the morality police," please consider this:
We live in a world right now where the global rates of domestic abuse are higher than they have ever been. We live in a country where one woman dies every week at the hands of her partner.
Women are scared to walk down the street because men will yell vulgar things at them. Girls go to parties where they are drugged and gang-raped, only to find footage of their attack all over the internet the next day. Wives and girlfriends are stuck in emotionally and physically abusive relationships, frightened to leave and with nowhere to go.
Women lose jobs, get paid less, end up homeless, get killed, or feel unsafe every day. As a society, we are at a crisis point.
Violence against women, misogyny, street harassment, and sexism are affecting every aspect of our lives. The fact that it's omnipresent in pop culture — that we can't escape it even when we listen to music — is beyond alarming. If art reflects life, a Saturday morning spent watching MTV is enough to unravel the darkest aspects of humanity. It's exhausting, it's suffocating, and it's not right.
But as long as we buy their singles and dance their music, men like Redfoo, Eminem, Robin Thicke and Adam Levine will continue to profit from misogyny.
Do you still want to dance?
Are you disturbed by this trend for violent pop songs?
If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.
Follow Kate Leaver on Facebook or her on Twitter.
Feature Image: YouTube.
Top Comments
Let me start by saying that I totally agree with this article. Misogyny and blatant sexism is something that hurts my soul a little more each day and gets me fuming no matter where I am.
However. ..
What we must not forget as a society, is that sexism goes both ways. Feminism is not just about highlighting and hating on male artists who write and perform songs which degrade women. This is where and why female feminists get a bad name. We MUST recognize inequality on both sides of the spectrum and fight it equally. For example...
has anyone actually stopped and listened to the lyrics of "Bang Bang"? This is a song that I hear every day on the radio at the moment, sung by women, and let me tell you, if it was a man singing it and the situation was reversed, there would be public outcry. I quote:
"No I don't need to hear you talk the talk, just come and show me what your momma gave..." or "If he hangin we bangin".
Is that not frighteningly similar to some of the lyrics in Redfoo's current song "#literallyicant"?
And we definitely don't do ourselves any favours by referring to ourselves as "good girls" or "bad girls". This was something that Robin Thicke was heavily criticized for in "Blurred lines" but I dont see the girls performing "bang bang" getting much negative press for it.
In my opinion, you can't fight fire with fire. Two wrongs don't make a right.
Fight for equality, not gender hating and shaming. That is faaar more important. And ultimately what feminism is about.
Have you even listened to and watched Eminem???? Sit down for a while and do so and I think you will come away with a very different opinion of him. To class him with these other guys is a sad joke!