as I was invited to attend the film, “Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex and Power in Music Video.
The two lovely ladies, Heidy Gonzalez, Program Administer of MIT’s Program in Women and Gender Studies and Adora Asala, Program Director of QWOC + Boston Friends also attended last night’s screening. We all recognized each other from a past Center or New Worlds (CNW) “Feminism and Desert Workshop: QWOC Week + Boston Friends.” We talked for a short time and I explained I would promote their next film and wanted to volunteer for one of the QWOC + Boston Friends events, as soon as they are out of hiatus.
The film was very powerful and asked many questions about “how male sexual power from music videos that depict scantly dressed woman being victimized by men is used by men for power and control?” Images repeatedly showing men throwing money at them (So is the image here: all the men think these girls are ladies of the evening?)
I could not believe that luncheon meat being threw at them like a “human dart board” and watching and cheering how it sticks to their bikini clothed bodies (Does this seem to imply that these women are treated like just a piece of meat?) Credit cards swiped in places I don’t want to mention, vulgar obscenities spoken to them through a bullhorn 3 feet away. The narrator mentions in the film, “are women portrayed as being just body parts, legs in high heels?” No mention of their intelligence, their warmth, their beauty, how loving and amazing they are, nothing about their feelings” It was difficult to watch, some people in the audience just got up and left shortly after the film started. I wanted to see what solutions if any the film would give, and it didn’t. The film left the imagery to our own imagination and suggested, “Who is watching these films? What audience is this marketed to?”
It was also sad to see how female music artists have gone to way of making sexy, flirty and proactive music videos to re-ignite their careers and make their music more popular with today’s society. Images of Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction”
Scenes of Brittany Spears, who is a role model to hundreds of young girls following the same path of the other sexy female music stars.
Why are they not more male music video makers coming forward to talk about how men should not being sexually abusing women? Are they had been telling the public, “this is okay?”
I am reminded of a book I read in our Code Pink Feminist Book Club last year. The book was called, C_NT by Inga Muscio. The title of the book is amazing and after reading it I was even more amazed at how many young girls go through their first menstrual cycle. The pain, cramping, bloating, and the blood. Why does the blood of a menstruating women make most men afraid? The pain some women go through is described as ”...imagining a man who gets kicked in the groin and that pain increased 100 times…”
In one part of the Muscio book, Inga describes a scene in the sixth grade where all the boys go outside for kick ball while all the girls are given, “the talk.” How young girls become women and repeat a cycle”
(similar ot a lunar calendar) every 28 days. After reading that passage, I often wonder “what if the boys were allowed to stay and hear that speech?” Would they become more compassionate and enduring to what all women go through? Would it help lower the sexual abuse of women more?
Later in the film they show live footage of a mass riot and men ripping the clothes off women, women don’t deserve that kind of sexual abuse. I cannot imagine a large crowd exiting a sporting event and everyone is so excited they start attacking the women in the crowd as they did in the film.
You could say the woman wear clothing that causes men to lose their hormones and attack and abuse them. Some would say, “the woman are asking for it.” Nevertheless, I don’t think whatever a woman wears should be a reason to abuse or attack them, do you? She should be able to purchase any outfit, wear it when she wants to and not fear being attacked.
Some of the statistics I remember in the film are:
1) 90% of woman who are raped on college campuses, know their attacker. The fear of turning your attacker in for some woman must be enormous.
2)1 out of 6 woman will be sexually attacked.
Some of the solutions seem to be educating young men at a very young age to respect woman and the clothing they wear. Even educating the young girls and improving themselves esteem so when they watch these music videos they don’t grow up to be, “Snoop Dog’s women” and just for the excitement to be in one of his music videos wearing nothing but a string bikini.
For more information on future events from MIT’s Women and Gender Studies Program can be found on their web site
For myself, I am invited to join a “male feminist group” that will meet once a week and I plan to bring up these issues. What can men do to lower the sexual abuse that uncaring men inflict on women? This group could not come at a more opportune time and it will help to follow my dream and path towards male feminism and how men can help improve the self esteem and lives of women.
