1) For those feminists that believe "Blurred Lines" is objectifying women and is rude, crude, lude, and offensive: you're right.
2) For those feminists that believe "Blurred Lines" is progressive and the reactions have been taken to the extreme and misinterpreted based on the lyrics: you're also right.
Here's the thing: Robin Thicke did in fact talk about how women are in power of their own sexuality. "You're far from plastic," "Let me liberate you," (even though the woman should already be liberated) "That man is not your maker," so on so forth... Those lyrics are pretty evident of his belief that women should not be controlled. In addition, there are tons of women who like to have their hair pulled and be dominated in bed. So who is to say what is "proper" objectification and what is just straight up kinky? Certainly not anyone, since telling people what they can and cannot do sexually goes against all things feminist to begin with. Because hey, after all, Robin Thicke is right: we are animals and it is in our nature.
HOWEVER there is something to be said about the music video that accompanied the music. First of all: the women are on display. Plain and simple. Every single woman in the video (there are three very selectively chosen "diverse" women who happen to miraculously all be the same body type) is naked. Now what about the men? Suits. They're in suits. One suit may be a track suit, yes, but you see no thighs, no abs, nothing. You cannot argue that the song is feminist and yet deny the obvious objectification of the women in the music video. They are LITERALLY WALKING AROUND NAKED FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF THE MEN AND AUDIENCE. THAT is not equality. THAT is not liberation. THAT is a parade of boobs.
Furthermore, those women are treated with disrespect. At around 2:18 in the video Robin actually BLOWS SMOKE into Elle Evans' face and she coughs. SHE COUGHS. AND THEY KEPT IT. That's not funny. That's straight up insulting.
So yes, the girls are bouncing around and it looks like they're having fun so on so forth, it's cute, we're entertained, but there are some serious repercussions to the way that they are traipsing around....mostly that they are naked and the men are not and as a result it sends the message that women are to be the ones oogled while the men are to do the oogling. NOW had the men been the ones strutting around and the women been the ones making the first move like it so suggests in the lyrics "the way you grab me...go ahead get at me," or if both the men and women had been dressed up, OR CRAZY IDEA, the men were ALSO naked, then maybe we could talk about this song being TRULY sexually liberating.
(If we really want to talk about sexism and songs how about we take a look at, say, Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun," huh?)
Which brings us to my next segment: FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYONE AND EVERYONE WITH AN OPINION IS MOSTLY RIGHT.
Feminism is not an all or nothing. If you're a feminist and she's a feminist and he's a feminist and it's a feminist, you are all entitled to have a different opinion. Just because you all call yourselves (or hopefully call yourselves) feminist does not mean you have to agree with what one another says! What it DOES mean is that you should inform yourself to your utmost ability and form fully thought out critical analyses in order to properly discuss these ideas at a later date.
Don't judge a book by it's cover. Watch the whole video, read the whole article, finish the entire segment, and research whatever you missed. You never know what could happen if you quit out early. Like the "Semicolon" song....Lonely Island failed with it's usage, but you never would've known had you changed the song before it ended.
A well-informed and patient person is a wise person.
And that concludes this segment of Feminism: the blurred spectrum.
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