Staff Writer
British singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist, Annie Lennox, has expressed her dismay over “overtly sexualised performances and videos”. While she did not state any names there is no question as to what performances and videos Lennox refers to in her Facebook post, allowing readers to make their own inferences from her comments and subject matter, but stating that “you know the ones I’m talking about”.
The post calls into question the “peddling [of] highly styled pornography with musical accompaniment” to impressionable young girls who are already bombarded with “sexualised imagery”. A few videos come to mind, with the two most recent being Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” and the “Pour It Up” video by Rihanna that even fans have deemed “vile”. Both videos have garnered criticism for the young stars, with Cyrus swinging from a wrecking ball naked and licking a sledgehammer suggestively and Rihanna pole-dancing wearing next to nothing.
The former Eurythmics singer, who believes in the freedom of speech and expression, asserts that “the market forces don’t give a toss about the notion of boundaries” and that “as long as there’s booty to make money out of, it will be bought and sold.” Lennox goes on to say that “it’s depressing to see how these performers are so eager to push this new level of low. Their assumption seems to be that misogyny – utilised and displayed through oneself – is totally fine, as long as you are the one creating it. As if it’s all justified by how many millions of dollars and U tube hits you get from behaving like pimp and prostitute at the same time. It’s a glorified and monetized form of self harm.”
The sentiment seems to echo Sinead O’Connor’s in her open letter to Miley Cyrus.
In a more recent Facebook post by the British singer, Lennox reflects upon her comments stating her realisation of the “controversy and divisiveness” courted by the subject matter she addressed in her earlier post. Offering her thoughts on sexuality and sensuality in performances as not being “wrong” since it is inherently a “profound part of life”, however, she reiterates the idea of an artist’s actions and the effect they have on “impressionable young fans”. She harks back to the need for boundaries being put in place so as to not aid in the “normalisation” of explicit sex in underage entertainment. Speaking as a parent, Lennox puts the question forward of whether it is “appropriate for seven year olds to be thrusting their pelvises like pole dancers”, and for her the answer is no.
What are your thoughts? Should artists allow more thought into who could potentially be viewing their videos and impose an age restriction on them? This becomes increasingly hard to accomplish as the internet provides access to a lot of content younger viewers should not have access to. And yet, does an artist need to be overtly sexual in order to make music? Annie Lennox’s criticism echoes many veteran stars comments on the state of today’s music industry and the notion of stars seemingly pimping themselves out and allowing themselves to be pimped. Interestingly enough, the 1983 Eurythmics song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” comes to mind:
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused
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