Lifestyles

Men reflect on portrayal of women in the media

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Female rapper Nicki Minaj has gained much attention in recent weeks for her music video Anaconda. While women are expressing their distaste or agreement with the provocative content of the video, men are preparing their petition against the image Minaj is portraying of women.

Minaj composes the Anaconda video of images of women twerking with barely any clothes, suggestions of explicit sexual acts and numerous close-up shots of women’s back ends. Minaj ends the video with her giving a lap dance to another rapper by the name of Drake.

Junior Jacob Hook believes the video is harmful to the mindsets of women.

“I think it’s really sad!” Hook said. “The video really shows where our culture is heading. Many women and young girls think that in order for them to feel beautiful they have to look slutty and act slutty. It’s sad that many women feel like they have to have huge breasts and big booties in order to get any man’s attention, as if that is the only thing that men care about.”

Senior Peter Spaulding said the video startled him the first time he saw it.

“The video is pretty shocking to people of my cultural sensibilities,” Spaulding said. “I thought the fact that the chorus was from the perspective of what I assume was a man was a little disturbing.”

Spaulding felt that Minaj seemed to give voices to the men in the clubs, saying that they only want girls with “big booties” and that anything less is insufficient for optimal sexual intercourse.

“My initial reaction was, ‘wait … no. That can’t be what they’re saying.’ And then it faded a little into ‘well … I guess that’s sort of the way things are,’” Spaulding said.

Spaulding went on to comment on the popular opinion that Minaj’s video supports healthy body image.

“As far as body image goes, the video doesn’t just pressure women into having nice bodies; it pressures them into having ‘little in the middle’ bodies that also have ‘much back,’” Spaulding said.

Owner of allhiphop.com Chuck Creekmur has actively petitioned against the video, going so far as to write a letter to Minaj and to post it on mommynoire.com.

The content of the letter is mainly from his perspective as a father to a little girl. He writes:

“So, when I peeped at the artwork for your latest single, I wasn’t even shocked, I was just disappointed. The song: ‘Anaconda.’ The art: your booty in a thong … The dad guy is not a happy camper, particularly now that his little girl is transitioning into a young lady.”

Creekmur goes on to explain to Minaj the power of the influence she has over young girls.

“I’m sure some will also replicate the ‘Anaconda’ image without thinking about it, too,” Creekmur said. “Your original image already has 256,817 (and counting) likes under the original Instagram picture you posted, so I venture that your average girl could strive to get a couple hundred likes from her friends. Is this the path you want to lead impressionable kids down? Make no mistake about it, you’re a leader now.”

Creekmur concludes his letter by divulging that he purposely “shelters” his daughter from Minaj and other female images like her, instead asking his daughter to study “heroic” women in both the music industry and society.

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