Even with upbeat rhythms and catchy rhymes, the music we consume oftentimes contains the most direct forms misogyny. Both Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake have taken over the radio with popular songs, yet their degradation of women is really nothing to sing about.

Billboard deemed “Blurred Lines” the song of the summer. Thicke’s song featuring T.I. and Pharell remains at the top of the charts — it also sparked a summer-long debate.

Are the song’s lyrics and music video sexist? The answer is simple: Of course they are.

“Blurred Lines” makes light of sexual consent as the artists sing about “liberating” a good girl by telling her she really “must wanna get nasty.” Lyrics like “I know you want it” disregard the idea that no means no, and encourages the idea that some women who are raped are asking for it.

Unsurprisingly, the song comes with a music video that further degrades women. One of its two versions shows three topless women wearing skin-tone thongs and occasionally shoes, parading around the three fully clothed male singers.

The women are used as sexual objects, reinforcing the privileged status of men. The men have the control, whereas the women are vulnerable and open to exploitation.

“Blurred Lines” promotes rape culture and the video objectifies women, despite weak defenses to prove it doesn’t.

Director Diane Martin acknowledged the misogynistic lyrics in an interview with Grantland.com. She said the video is meant to show the women having control over the men, as their performances are “subtly ridiculing” to the men.

Her attempt to empower females actually degrades them by inferring that this can only be done without clothes on.

In an interview with GQ Magazine, Thicke said he and other artists wanted the video to contain taboos on purpose, including “everything that is completely derogatory towards women.”

Because the three men are happily married with children, Thicke said they were the perfect guys to make fun of these views. He added, “What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman.”

Degrading women simply can’t be ironic. Even if the three men have respected women their whole lives, they don’t get a free pass to exude some newfound misogyny.

Thicke responded to the criticism with, “Right now, with terrorism and poverty and Wall Street and Social Security having problems, nudity should not be the issue.”

Female objectification is actually a huge issue.

Rape and sexual assault are viewed across all parts of our culture as “blurry” concepts, which is clearly harmful. It’s why 54 percent of sexual assaults go unreported and why 97 percent of rapists will never see a day in jail, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

Justin Timberlake’s new song, “Take Back the Night,” isn’t helping either.

The song about dancing, partying and sex, with lyrics like “Tonight’s the night come on surrender, I won’t lead your love astray,” has the same name as the Take Back the Night Foundation.

TBTN holds awareness events and works on initiatives to create safe communities and respectful relationships. It aims to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence.

There have been thousands of TBTN marches and rallies worldwide, many on college campuses, including Syracuse University.

The song takes a phrase that’s a cry for women’s safety and uses it to talk about a woman as a sexual object. Timberlake apologized for his ignorance, but it’s still ridiculous that he and his entire team didn’t know about the foundation, or simply didn’t care.

This insensitivity and lack of caution in the music industry is inexcusable. Many of today’s songs continue to portray men and women in the same old stereotypes that glorify sexism and rape culture.

They may be new hit singles, but sadly, their messages are nothing new.

Laura Cohen is a junior magazine journalism and women’s and gender studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected]. 

Published on August 7, 2013 at 12:41 am