Mackenzie Robinson Jessica Schley English 1102 April 21st, 2014

Glamorization of Sexual Violence in the Media

Every time you move tomorrow, I want you to be reminded that Ive been here. Only me. You are mine. If one were to read this they might see this as romantic; however, it is far from the typical dreamy and extravagant relationship. In almost any form of todays media, male dominance in a relationship is something that has become extremely popular. Violence against women in pop culture is becoming more accepted in todays society because it is highly sexualized. Sex is used to camouflage the violence so that when the viewer is watching or reading, they are somewhat distracted and ignore the violence. Gender roles plays an important part in the media and normalizing sexual violence with how men are portrayed as dominant and independent while women are seen as submissive and are objectified. These gender roles that our society has created, glamorizes dysfunctional relationships and has established a rape culture where sexual violence and rape is overlooked. The popularity of sexual violence is rising in the media and is subconsciously affecting young adults. With 65 million copies sold, 50 Shades of Grey by E.L James was and still is one of the most favored books among teens and young women today. On the outside, the book is a romantic love story, but on the inside, the book is filled with many different issues. The man in the book, Christian Grey, is completely in control of

Anastasia, who voluntarily allows Christian to dominate her. Throughout this book, sex is seen as a casual act while also something that is directed. Christian makes Anastasia sign a contract that claims her as his submissive and that she has to do whatever he says and if she doesnt, she will be punished. Christian uses chains and ropes and other unnecessary props on Anastasia followed by spanking or whipping her. However, Anastasia falls in love with Christian and even though of his bad habits, she keeps going back to him. With this book in thousands of teenage girls and young womens hands, they begin to believe that this is the ideal relationship. A concerned parent exclaimed, Christian uses an interlocking pattern of emotional abuse strategiesstalking, intimidation, isolation, and humiliation knowing that her daughter has read this book and is absorbing these mixed messages. Christian Grey is attractive, rich, and charismatic which helps the reader fall in love with his character regardless of his violent tendencies. Sexual violence in the media isnt becoming popular because of the violence: the popularity is happening because of the sex. Sex has become something that is expected in almost any form of media today. Not only is it expected, but it has also turned into something that is ordinary; rather than something that is supposed to be sacred and valued. For teenagers and young adults, the main reason they listen to a song, or watch a TV show, or pick up a book to read, is mainly because they see someone else doing it. With 50 Shades of Grey being advertised almost everywhere, girls as young as 15 years old are going to want to read it. In any form of media, the man almost always is the dominant and controlling one while the woman is submissive and helpless. In this Dolce & Gabbana ad from 2007, which is supposed to be promoting the companys clothing, is really

subconsciously promoting violence against women. As you can see in this ad, four men stand around another man who is hovering over a woman, holding her down.

DOLCE & GABBANA ad from 2007. This ad suggests rape and sexual violence, but is overlooked by the attractive models and high fashion clothing being advertised.

You can see that the male is typically the powerful one while the women is either the one in distress or harm. Lady Gaga is one of the most famous pop music artists in todays music industry; however, many pop music artists today, like Lady Gaga, encourage sexual violence within their music unintentionally. Paparazzi, by Lady Gaga, came out in 2009 and was supposed to be about the struggling of stars trying to balance fame, love and success. When listening to the song, there seems to be no evidence of any sexual violence, until the music video was made. The music video starts off by Lady Gaga and a man kissing and as soon as he sees the paparazzi, he pushes Gaga off of the balcony, killing her. Throughout the music video there are several shots of women who are dressed in little clothing, with their eyes staring off in the distance with their bodies limp and almost seeming broken. This

demonstrates that the women are helpless and submissive while even though the man is the one who pushed Lady Gaga off the balcony, he is still the superior one. The glamorization of dysfunctional relationships is becoming more and more evident in different types of media today. In many cases, sex is used to cover up the flaws and make it seem like an adequate relationship. Not only is sex normalized and expected in the media, but it is also used as a solution to any problem. In many relationships in the media, a sex scene will follow a fight or an argument in order to make everything all right. Eminem and Rihannas, Love the Way You Lie, came out in 2010 and is a perfect example of how the music industry glamorizes sexual violence. In the song, the man and the women are in a fight, while the man (Eminem) exclaims If she ever tries to f****** leave again, Im gunna tie her to the bed and set this house on fire followed by the woman (Rihanna) saying Just gunna stand there and watch me burn, but thats alright because I like the way it hurts. Even though the man is threatening to kill his girlfriend, she remains to stay with him. In the music video, after the man tries to punch his girlfriend, she begins kissing him and then they have sex. This teaches young adults, especially young women, that even though your partner is abusive and hurtful, you should still stay with him and please him. Rape culture can be defined as Normalizing, trivializing and eroticizing male violence against women and blaming victims for their own abuse. With songs, TV shows, books, and other forms of media consisting of sexual violence against women, it slowly but surely becomes accepted in society, which has unfortunately led to our rape culture. Songs like Blurred Lines and She Aint Even Know It by Robin Thicke and Rick Ross are prime examples of how the media is influencing and

feeding into this rape culture. The song, Blurred Lines, says throughout the song Thats why Im gon take a good girl, I know you want it which implies that he is taking an innocent girl, who doesnt want to have sex, but is trying to convince her otherwise. The term blurred lines refers to the fine line between consensual sex and rape. Rick Rosss newest hit, She Aint Even Know It lyrics contain many verses that you could say condone rape. When Ross says Put molly in her champagne, She aint even know it, I took her home and I enjoyed that, She aint even know it. These lyrics are extremely disturbing because when you hear the song, you arent necessarily listening to what the words are and what they mean. Many teenagers who listen to these songs listen to them because they are catchy and popular. However, when you have many young adults singing these songs, the meanings to the lyrics become normalized and turned into a casual thing. I dont think I ever realized how much of an impact pop culture and the media has on our society and ourselves as individuals. It is important to remember that what we see or hear in pop culture in the media isnt comparable to reality nor is it right. Teenagers and young adults are the main target audience for pop culture; this is dangerous because kids as young as 13 are being bombarded with images and words that will slowly but surely affect them as they grow up. After analyzing all different forms of media and how they display sexual violence to be glamorous and normal, I now know why our rape culture exists; our media is consumed with images, videos, and words that degrade women but are camouflaged into being something that is accepted.