A feminist according to Sellnow (2017) is "anyone whose beliefs and actions challenge hegemony by respecting and valuing women." I have had a lot of thoughts racing through my head stemming from the content of this week's module. I am not sure that I can neatly tie them up in a tv show, movie, or even song lyrics.
In the assigned video, Dreamworlds 3, I was saddened by the collection of video clips from music videos, video games, commercials, and movies. The video was impactful. It left me wondering why women would be willing to create these scenes of violence for movies or music videos. Or why do intelligent women choose to dress in a way that puts an emphasis on their anatomy and not their intellect?
One of my favorite musical artists is Sinead O'Connor. In her biography, she explains why she shaved her head. It was a defiant reaction to a music executive's suggestion for her to grow her hair out. He also suggested that she use makeup and wear short skirts with high heels. Sinead shaved her head the next day. Her reason was that she did not want her sexuality to be used to sell her work to the masses.
In 2013, Miley Cyrus compared her new music video "Wrecking Ball" to O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to You" video. That is a funny comparison by Cyrus. O’Connor is fully clothed through the whole video, Cyrus is not. In a letter posted on her website, O'Connor offered Cyrus the following sage advice…..
"Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely not in any way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent."
O'Connor's letter to Cyrus exemplifies third wave feminism as she attempts to teach Cyrus of the music industry's oppression of women. Cyrus is just one of many female artists who uses her sexuality to promote her work. Many female musicians have been sans clothing in their own videos. They have taken a cue from male artists, inserting half clothed or nude women in music videos.
O’Connor was calling out the music industry for its system of exploitation and inequity to women. Do you think that Sinead O’Connor was demonizing Cyrus for promoting masculine hegemony by using her sexuality in her video? Or was she trying to empower her?
I too like the music of Sinead O'Conner. I always felt like she was going out of her way to break the norm. My wife shaved her head many years ago for a similar reason as Sinead O'Conner. She said she felt so frustrated by the "norm" about how women should wear their hair. This ideology opened my eyes to how engrained it is for hair when multiple women asked me if my wife was sick or had cancer. Miley Cyrus on the other hand seems to thrive on the "shock value" to gain attention. I think people like Sinead O'Conner go a longer way to break stereotyes.
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