Musical tarts are infecting our children
[If I were to write for The Punch, this is what I'd write about.]
As a father of one daughter, and potentially another on the way, I’m concerned about the sexualisation of our youth. Music, movies, TV and celebrities are influencing our youth much more than ever before, with sexually explicit (or at least suggestive) messages.
Take for example the work of recent pop music sensation Lady Gaga. Here’s a line from her top 40 hit “LoveGame”:
I’m educated in sex, yes
and now I want it bad, want it bad
The chorus of that same song goes:
Don’t think too much, just bust that stick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick
I’m sorry, but what a tramp! Sure you could excuse this as using sex to sell records or to distract you from her lack of talent, but when you take into account that this kind of material is being beemed straight into our kids field of view, it’s a lot more serious.
Here’s another example from Gaga’s “Poker Face”:
And baby when it’s love, if it’s not rough it isn’t fun
What message do you think this sends girls and young women?
And there’s more, other masterpieces from this tart include “I Like It Rough”, “Shake Ur Kitty” and “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”. Seriously. I don’t mean to pick on this one individual, she’s nothing unique or original, she’s following in the footsteps of The Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears etc. But this latest example is pushing the boundaries of suggestive and wandering into dangerous territory, in my opinion.
I’m no prude, if you’re into this sort of thing then I’m happy for you, but children shouldn’t be exposed to it. Whether she likes it or not Lady Gaga is a role model for young girls and they will hear these lyrics and see the slutty clothes she wears and think that this is the way they should be talking and behaving. And it’s going to get them into trouble.
Some would argue that everyone has to make up their own mind and choose to follow the lead of “celebrities”. Fair enough, but when you’re young it’s often only once it’s too late that you are able to make up your mind and choose to do the sensible thing. It makes me sick that even one young girl might get into a world of hurt because some no-talent pop star and her idiot record company think they’ll sell a ton of records by lathering on the dirty lyrics. These people are so desperate to be famous they will compromise everything, and jeopardise anyone, to get get it.
Compare this then to another current popular artist, Lilly Allen. Her lyrics are also quite explicit, but the tone is very different. Laden with sarcasm, Allen takes a swipe at modern pop culture with her own form of social commentary. Take this line from her hit single “The Fear”:
I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
Cuz everyone knows thats how you get famous
…
Life’s about film stars and less about mothers
It’s all about fast cars and passing each other
But it doesn’t matter cause I’m packing plastic
and that’s what makes my life so f***ing fantastic
…
And I am a weapon of massive consumption
and it’s not my fault its how I’m program to function
I quite like this song, because by my interpretation this is a much more positive message. It’s not ok to do whatever it takes to be famous, it’s not ok to just spend money and float through life with no purpose. The dry British sarcasm is subtle, but I think (ok, I hope) the audience can pick up on this.
Her latest single “Not Fair” is much more saucy, dealing with inequality within relationships:
There’s just one thing
that’s getting in the way
When we go up to bed
you’re just no good
Its such a shame
I look into your eyes
I want to get to know you
And then you make this noise
and its apparent it’s all overIt’s not fair
And I think you’re really mean
I think you’re really mean
I think you’re really mean
Oh you’re supposed to care
But you never make me scream
You never make me scream
Sure, it might be a bit of fun, but Miss Allen is standing up for the rights of women. The setting for the song is similar to that of Lady Gaga’s songs, young women engaging in sexual activity, but the attitudes of the two are light-years apart.
There’s no point trying to hide from the fact that young adults are going to do what young adults do, and that’s not what I’m suggesting. What I’m suggesting is that A) children shouldn’t be exposed to the same content as adults and young adults, and B) the messages we allow those in the media to send out need to be positive. For girls this means encouraging them to respect themselves and others, and to aspire to more than just buying clothes, flashing their undies and telling the boys they “want it bad”.
Let’s let kids be kids and stop those that would attempt to turn them into adults before they’re ready. I found this initiative recently, whilst reading about an unrelated topic. It’s a blog called Shaping Youth, a “forum about media and marketing’s influence on kids”, that aims to tackle the kinds of issues I raise here. I took some comfort in the knowledge that there are people out there trying to do something about the Lady Gaga’s of this world.
Comments
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you stated here. As a parent, we need to keep an open mind and dialogue with our children but it sends bad messaged. It actually outrages me that record companies and artists prey on our children and have no responsibility for influencing kids negatively. I realize that it’s like a right of passage for teens to rebel and ‘find themselves’ but I think that they keep pushing the bar for every generation. We’re now at a point where some of the music, images and videos (mostly Lady Gaga) verges on soft porn. What’s next? Thanks for posting this. Keep it going!!!! There has to be more concerned parents. If there’s enough, maybe there’s something that can be done, even just more awareness and dialogue like this has to be positive.
I’m glad someone agrees with me :)
Another group similar to Shaping Youth is Kids Free 2B Kids
I stumbled upon this blog post by Elizabeth Thorp which deals with a similar topic: OMG! My Kids Want to Ride Disco Sticks. Interestingly, while many people share Elizabeth’s sentiment, some of the people writing comments feel that parents should just deal with it and not try to stop their kids listening to musical content that is inappropriate. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Shame on all the parents here that agree with this obviously NON kid friendly PARENT?? Give me a break, I’m sick to death of parents blaming the stupid music ( or lack there of) and the nontalented ingnorant people whom have their crap blasted on the TV or radio. If you were spending time with your kids , they would know that the things that are in the pointless lyrics are just that. My kids were smart enough to know that they meant nothing to them. I think it’s pathethic ignorant parents who need to get an education and stop blaming other people.You are the parent, who’s letting your kids listen to this commercial stuff, maybe you should expalin that to your kids, whom you don’t obviously give any credit to for having the sense not to pay attention to it, or how about having soem taste and change the channel. GROW UP and BE THE PARENT, STOP WHINNING.
I do take your point about being able to change the channel and about taking responsibility for educating children regarding what is or isn’t acceptable.
However, our children are not always with us, and it’s in these circumstances that they might be more susceptible to trash like Lady Gaga. And I don’t agree with you that they are “pointless lyrics”, they are setting a bad example of what is acceptable behaviour to young girls, using a medium/system that is very powerful and difficult for parents to compete with (no matter how “kid friendly” they are).
(by the way if you’re going to make such inflammatory remarks at least have the guts to use your real name)
Dear Boots Rule,
I want to say that it is equally as ignorant of you to not look at both sides of the coin. First, I agree that parents should be doing their job to guide and love their children into being healthy and competent. However, the argument here is not whether or not parents are doing their job. It is not if Music is Fun or cool to listen to or not. It is whether MUSIC is doing THEIR job of marketing their music appropriately. Some of the ideas, imagery, and verbage WOULD NOT be for small children and clearly a marketing ploy to be ‘edgey’ on the part of Record Companies. It is to get the kids to want to buy it because it’s ‘cool’. If you cannot see through this, or refuse to accept it, then you are just as ignorant for not realizing it. As a grownup, your job is not to be cool with your kids. At the very least, these artists offer an opportunity to have dialogue with your kids that talk about the messages hidden in the music and videos. By the way, I am a musician as well as a mother of two small girls. I have been a professional performer and I’m considered by many to have musical talent. To suggest that someone is ‘ignorant and talentless’ because they want a higher standard of art in the world is ridiculous and again, ignorant on your part. I appreciate that you enjoy Lady Gaga’s music, however your defense is pointless other than that ‘everyone should just relax’. On the other hand, your argument is that parents should be doing their job because they clearly aren’t. It is because of people like you that don’t contemplate life and serious issues as to why the world is so mixed up. I’m willing to guess that you also spend many hours wondering why ‘we can’t just all get along’ but then go on blogs to make your points about how the world is so ‘constipated’. Thank you, Pat for putting up your VERY relevant ‘point of view.’ It is because of people like Pat that intelligent conversations other than ‘OMG, this artist is sooooo hot,’ can happen. There’s a time and a place for that kind of dialogue and this blog was an opportunity to discuss something deeper, the bigger picture for those parents that think about these things. So again, Thank you, Pat for having the forsight to post it.
[...] on girls’ costumes and tramp vamp cues (been there, done that) BUT the irony in the timing of this post from Australia titled, “Musical Tarts are Infecting Our Children” that referenced us [...]
Interesting Article, Teens analyzing music as Junk Food.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrBHZduLn_pKPfr3aKfYD862XdDwD9CAQNVG1
lol well first off…why the crap are you talking about kids listning to adult music? is your kid a adult? are you one? then monitor what they listen to then lol. i mean really? tell kids to listen to barney and shelter them forever also. make sure they dont have free will and cant think for themselves just my two cents. stop taking art away from people just so you can be happy. live life jeewiz : ). *remembering the south park dayz* yay
Art?! Oh god, YOU should get a life!
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