Music Videos came about in the sass’s when the TV station MAT came about. Women play a huge role In these music videos to help them look visually appealing and to help songs that normally wouldn’t sell to sell and get ratings. In these videos woman were depicted and stereotyped to look a certain way. Are the women that are being presented In these videos affecting young girls’ self-esteem? And how can the imaging in these videos be changed to help the young girls who watch it? Music videos came to popularity in the sass’s with such television stations as MAT,
BET, and VHF. The aim of these music videos is to market and promote different artists through the use of visual appeals. Gangster rap, a submerge Hip-Hop music, presents violence, homophobia, and sexism in its lyrical content. This type of music presents the youth with an ideal identity, one that is consumed with money, cars, drugs, and multiple women performing sexual favors. Gangster rap videos usually focus on the buttocks, hips, and breast of women, (specifically black women). These videos depict black women as: hyperplasia, money-hungry, sex objects.
The success f these music videos relies on the Imaging of these women In these videos and their use of their sexual appeal to sell the song. Music videos portray woman In a positive and negative light and these portrayals of woman could essentially play a role In a young girl’s self-esteem. People within the music video industry as well as the viewers have differing opinions as to why they do not like the social standard for music videos. In Ill Wane’s music video for “Love Me”, the woman are shown half naked playing on swings and are in what appears to be dominates outfits.
Illuminative). These type of imaging are the ones in which people who argue that music videos are detrimental are strictly talking about. The standard for majority of music videos are that of the Ill Wayne music video and these types of videos have been said to be detrimental to young woman’s self-esteem because of the visual messages It presents to young girls. “But Its Impact Is exceedingly worse for Black children, particularly for young Black girls whose self-worth and self-esteem are frequently being shaped by these unrealistic and harmful Images of Black womanhood” (Hikes).
These images of black womanhood are an unrealistic view of what true womanhood should be about and the woman in these videos do not even portray the characters they play in these music videos in reality. The images in these videos often lead to the girls in the video being type castes. According to Make Fits, the videos have “define[d] black female talent as “who’s” to be consumed, both in front of and behind the camera (Fits 221). If these type of imaging demonstrate this attitude within the rap music video itself the imaging could possibly have an even worse effect on the young girls who watch it.
Even the producers of these videos do not agree with the images being presented In these videos. The producers In these videos do not agree with the images because they are formulaic and don’t let them take creative risks (Flats 223). So these formulaic videos force the producers to have to exploit women, which Is not there goal. Artists also have a similar Issue as that of the producer. The artist wants to be able to stay true to themselves but they also wants is based on what the companies feel will get more ratings. Parents blame the media that they are shown for the cause of low self-esteem. According to the
Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, one father stated because they are bombarded with so many media messages so much that their physical attributes are seen to be the key factor in determining if she will have low self-esteem or not (Gangster). The messages created in media are not purposeful but they seem to have a correlation. Physiologist have found a correlation between rap music videos and non-black viewers. They found that “exposure to consistent messages over time influences individuals to perceive the world in a certain manner”. The type of exposure is detrimental to how the viewer sees themselves and how they see the world around them.
Other physiologists have found that rap music videos also have an effect on their black viewers. “African American adolescents are regularly exposed to music videos that portray negative,stereotypical images of African American women”(Davies 1 158). These different groups even though they have different sides to the argument as to why they are detrimental to self-esteem all have one key factor and that music videos effect young girls. While there are some that feel that music videos are having a detrimental effect, there are some who feel that the video has little to no effects at all on young women.
According to one director’s assistant she thinks that videos are empowering because they harness their sexuality (Fit 221). This point is a good one because it shows the over socialized manner in these videos seem to have a reverse effect on some young woman and proves that the said issue is but only an issue in the mind of certain people. Even the women within these videos feel that what they are doing is helping them and not hindering them. One of the females within a video said “that she did not feel that “her experience as a video girl had hindered her ability to get other Jobs”(Fits 221).
The opinion of this one woman alone shows and makes one question if there are any detrimental effects at all with music videos. The argument for most of the people within the music industry itself is that they are helping these young women and that they are not shaping young woman’s self- esteem at all. Music videos are a “legitimate route” for women seeking a career in entertainment, and provides avenues for a woman who would not typically receive representation from a modeling agency because of her curvy body type and because she Wasn’t viewed as beautiful by mainstream media” (Fits 223).
They feel that they are helping young woman’s self-esteem because they are giving many young woman an opportunity that they would not normally get because they are not typically the natural beauty that the world presents. The label feels that a formulaic video is the best route to go because it not only helps the rappers image but it also helps the girls within the video. The label uses the formulaic video because it is unconsciously what the viewers want to see and this is the only way they feel that gets them to sell the most albums (Fits 223). Physiologists feel that negative imaging have no effects on
African American children. The reason being that physiologist feel this way is because “research on media effects and African American audiences suggest that negative portrayals do not lower self-esteem” (Conrad 139). These finding seem to prove what each of these stakeholder are saying which is that there is not a significant affect when it comes to rap music videos and young girls self-esteem. Both self- esteem or why they feel that they do not effect young. The people on the side of that music videos are a problem and they are effecting your girls self-esteem offer elution in regards to trying to help young girls self-esteem.
In order to help boost young girls self-esteem is a campaign that they created sometime in 2005 called Take Back the Music. “The yearlong effort includes monthly articles, town hall meetings and telephone, e-mail and letter campaigns to record company executives to fight the negative imagery’ (Demanding). The campaign has helped to get people aware and talk about the imaging that is presented in today’s rap music video. Young females have found other ways to cope with the imaging the rap music videos present. Schools have also taken the initiative to try and help this said problem of young girls self-esteem.
One school nurse named Kay Merrimack and Donna Kelsey ,guidance counselor, created a program called the Girls Only Leadership Development program (GOLD), which was created for eight-grader. In this program they do team leadership and building projects (Gangster). These types of programs have had a high turnout rate and have helped to boost many young girl’s self-esteem. Another solution to alleged problem is to stop watching these rap music videos altogether. If woman loud stop watching these type of videos these type of videos would no longer be shown (Columbus Dispatch).
The different solutions presented are all legitimate ways into helping the self-esteem of young woman around the world. Despite all the facts on both side that are being presented, it is still unclear as to if rap music videos have a true effect on young woman’s self-esteem. Allowing videos to present a more positive message and allowing them to present females in a more positive way would be the ultimate solution so that each side can get what they want. But ultimately it is p to the females in these videos and the parents of these children to stop these images from being filmed and from being shown to the youth.