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mmoa_writes at 02:26pm on 28/01/2011 under bbc3, documentaries, feminism, nel hadayat, television, womanism, women's issues
mmoa_writes at 02:26pm on 28/01/2011 under bbc3, documentaries, feminism, nel hadayat, television, womanism, women's issuesMusic, Money and Hip Hop Honeys was a look into the world of the infamous 'video chick' so common across the UK and US hip hop scenes. Overall, I found it well presented with Hedayat's informal method of interviewing played to it's strength. She managed to ask probing questions in a way the interviewee wouldn't find too rude whilst still challenging their ideas and allowing hers to be challenged at the same time. Her silences, though, were just as golden as her interviews, and I can't wait until she presents another documentary. Considering the dearth of intelligent young women on TV these days, I found her to be a breath of fresh air.
The content of the actual documentary I found to be incredibly depressing. At first, I thought it would just be yet another debate about yet another aspect of the 'glamour' industry (ie glamour modelling, lap dancing etc etc all not quite hard enough to make the soft porn category), where all we'd get would be the usual debate about whether it's exploitation of women or not. This was because I'd made the first - hideously, almost hillariously old-fashioned and erroneous - assumption that the curvaceous, oil splattered and usually g-stringed young women in the music videos were actually paid.
Now it may well be that most of the video girls we get to see close ups of in the music video are really like 'Miss Tashi-J' and get paid and promoted, but it transpired that, in the UK at least, the vast majority of young women who turn up for these videos aren't paid at all. Again, perhaps the majority don't expect to be, but there was at least one example of false advertising that was confessed to at some point in the documentary, where the young women had finished shooting, asked to be paid, and were fobbed off or lied to by the 'agent' or 'director'. The point in case were a pair of incredibly outre lads who came out with some of the most outrageous stuff but at least were being honest. They knew that with the promise of money, they could get a certain type of prospective video girl to do anything and they weren't shy about that fact at all. At times they even seemed ashamed - as did a few other guys when they were forced to lay the facts out straight and explain without euphemism or analogy, the brutal truth that having lots of girls in the music video attracts more viewings, even if the majority of those viewing are 'sad youngsters' and 'pervs' (their words, not mine).
Watching the documentary, I also began to realise that if I hear the word 'empowering' again, I will... become even more ranty than I usually do (?).
It was a word I kept on hearing over and over again with no qualification or explanation. If doing something makes you feel good about yourself, I suppose that does mean you're empowered. It's just a strange word to use - or at least one that deserves some musing upon - when you're the one on the receiving end of the favour, be it sexual approval or (and if there's anything that will betray my socialist roots...!) monetary reward (what most normal people would call 'wages'. I did warn you). I think I just don't consider 'empowerment' to be synonymous with 'feeling good about yourself' and in the murky world of the glamour industry, maybe I just think it's best to take a cynical look at things.
Or maybe I just don't get the concept of service. I guess I'm selfish that way. Maybe it is a bit puritanical to chide someone for feeling good about themselves because they know at least one person out there wants - on the most primeval level - to make babies with them. Clearly I've yet to strike the balance between my inner Miss Prism and the Dita von Teese within.
One thing that struck me as very interesting was the difference between the UK and the US hip-hop scenes. There was somethin very grimy and genuinely exploitative about the UK scene whereas in the US, although it seemed the videos were far more explicit and the 'video chicks' willing to be more risque, they were often treated with more respect. They were often paid and the chance of stardom, though slim as ever, was not as illusory as the chance in the UK scene. Still, the evolution of the so-called 'lead girl' in the hip hop music video was discussed and even declared problematic by the very women who worked as casters within the industry. But what was to be done about it? That was never discussed (or at least, shown).
I think I'd've preferred them not thinking there was anything wrong about it at all, arrogant as that sounds.
Other things were picked up on. The stringent definitions of beauty to which the 'video chick' must conform (light skinned black/latina/insert ethnicity here but must be light skinned) compared to those the performing artist must adhere to (what definitions?) was adequately dissected by Hip-Hop ambassador, Toni Blackman; the effects that ever more explicit music videos have on relations between the genders was examined, first from a more academic feminist perspective and then in a brief survey of ordinary young people*; the lack of respect for the women who work within the industry was also revealed via an interview with one glamour model who was sexually assaulted by a fake video director/caster on a 'shoot' but found the charges could not be pressed due to lack of evidence and various interviews with the male casters and stars (primarily in the UK scene. The US caster managed to be altogether more charming and make almost convincing apologetics. Perhaps it was the designer clothes) who advertise and hire young women for their videos.
Through following the stories of four women who already work in the industry, we also got to see the highs and lows such as being rejected for being too dark - in one case - despite having travelled across the Atlantic for her big break; one considering surgery worth more than her degree in order to get any bookings (still unsuccessful as far as we know) in spite of already having spent thousands on plastic surgery; the most successful seemed to have sold herself out for a shot at the big time (earlier in the documentary she'd swore she would never go as low as 'some girls' do, and yet in her last video was pretty much doing all the same things that 'some girls' do).
It was depressing. I hated the fact there was no accountability anywhere, if only because then it would make the debate so much easier - the usual one of personal choice vs exploitation blah blah etc etc. Deep down I suspect there's nothing to get worried about; most of the young women we see on the hip hop channels are probably there for the fun of it. They found an ad, rather wanted a free day/night of dancing with free drinks, maybe a chance to meet a favourite music artist and off they went.
I think it was just hearing the way the young men spoke about the women they exploit that makes me (still) feel rather sad. Both sexes were depicted as playing some game with each other, but the playing field seems pretty well skewed to me.
*And yes, these things do have an effect on us. You could hear the anger of the young women as they talked about guys who think they'll grind up against them in the dance club like 'them video girls do' and also the frustration of the young men, knowing full well that in reality, most women aren't going to worship your crotch because you point it out to them, but still acting in that stupid bravado way because that's the way they're supposed to act even though they know they shouldn't.
Random A/N: on a very superficial positive side, I finally found out the name of this amazing tune I am hooked on:
The content of the actual documentary I found to be incredibly depressing. At first, I thought it would just be yet another debate about yet another aspect of the 'glamour' industry (ie glamour modelling, lap dancing etc etc all not quite hard enough to make the soft porn category), where all we'd get would be the usual debate about whether it's exploitation of women or not. This was because I'd made the first - hideously, almost hillariously old-fashioned and erroneous - assumption that the curvaceous, oil splattered and usually g-stringed young women in the music videos were actually paid.
Now it may well be that most of the video girls we get to see close ups of in the music video are really like 'Miss Tashi-J' and get paid and promoted, but it transpired that, in the UK at least, the vast majority of young women who turn up for these videos aren't paid at all. Again, perhaps the majority don't expect to be, but there was at least one example of false advertising that was confessed to at some point in the documentary, where the young women had finished shooting, asked to be paid, and were fobbed off or lied to by the 'agent' or 'director'. The point in case were a pair of incredibly outre lads who came out with some of the most outrageous stuff but at least were being honest. They knew that with the promise of money, they could get a certain type of prospective video girl to do anything and they weren't shy about that fact at all. At times they even seemed ashamed - as did a few other guys when they were forced to lay the facts out straight and explain without euphemism or analogy, the brutal truth that having lots of girls in the music video attracts more viewings, even if the majority of those viewing are 'sad youngsters' and 'pervs' (their words, not mine).
Watching the documentary, I also began to realise that if I hear the word 'empowering' again, I will... become even more ranty than I usually do (?).
It was a word I kept on hearing over and over again with no qualification or explanation. If doing something makes you feel good about yourself, I suppose that does mean you're empowered. It's just a strange word to use - or at least one that deserves some musing upon - when you're the one on the receiving end of the favour, be it sexual approval or (and if there's anything that will betray my socialist roots...!) monetary reward (what most normal people would call 'wages'. I did warn you). I think I just don't consider 'empowerment' to be synonymous with 'feeling good about yourself' and in the murky world of the glamour industry, maybe I just think it's best to take a cynical look at things.
Or maybe I just don't get the concept of service. I guess I'm selfish that way. Maybe it is a bit puritanical to chide someone for feeling good about themselves because they know at least one person out there wants - on the most primeval level - to make babies with them. Clearly I've yet to strike the balance between my inner Miss Prism and the Dita von Teese within.
One thing that struck me as very interesting was the difference between the UK and the US hip-hop scenes. There was somethin very grimy and genuinely exploitative about the UK scene whereas in the US, although it seemed the videos were far more explicit and the 'video chicks' willing to be more risque, they were often treated with more respect. They were often paid and the chance of stardom, though slim as ever, was not as illusory as the chance in the UK scene. Still, the evolution of the so-called 'lead girl' in the hip hop music video was discussed and even declared problematic by the very women who worked as casters within the industry. But what was to be done about it? That was never discussed (or at least, shown).
I think I'd've preferred them not thinking there was anything wrong about it at all, arrogant as that sounds.
Other things were picked up on. The stringent definitions of beauty to which the 'video chick' must conform (light skinned black/latina/insert ethnicity here but must be light skinned) compared to those the performing artist must adhere to (what definitions?) was adequately dissected by Hip-Hop ambassador, Toni Blackman; the effects that ever more explicit music videos have on relations between the genders was examined, first from a more academic feminist perspective and then in a brief survey of ordinary young people*; the lack of respect for the women who work within the industry was also revealed via an interview with one glamour model who was sexually assaulted by a fake video director/caster on a 'shoot' but found the charges could not be pressed due to lack of evidence and various interviews with the male casters and stars (primarily in the UK scene. The US caster managed to be altogether more charming and make almost convincing apologetics. Perhaps it was the designer clothes) who advertise and hire young women for their videos.
Through following the stories of four women who already work in the industry, we also got to see the highs and lows such as being rejected for being too dark - in one case - despite having travelled across the Atlantic for her big break; one considering surgery worth more than her degree in order to get any bookings (still unsuccessful as far as we know) in spite of already having spent thousands on plastic surgery; the most successful seemed to have sold herself out for a shot at the big time (earlier in the documentary she'd swore she would never go as low as 'some girls' do, and yet in her last video was pretty much doing all the same things that 'some girls' do).
It was depressing. I hated the fact there was no accountability anywhere, if only because then it would make the debate so much easier - the usual one of personal choice vs exploitation blah blah etc etc. Deep down I suspect there's nothing to get worried about; most of the young women we see on the hip hop channels are probably there for the fun of it. They found an ad, rather wanted a free day/night of dancing with free drinks, maybe a chance to meet a favourite music artist and off they went.
I think it was just hearing the way the young men spoke about the women they exploit that makes me (still) feel rather sad. Both sexes were depicted as playing some game with each other, but the playing field seems pretty well skewed to me.
*And yes, these things do have an effect on us. You could hear the anger of the young women as they talked about guys who think they'll grind up against them in the dance club like 'them video girls do' and also the frustration of the young men, knowing full well that in reality, most women aren't going to worship your crotch because you point it out to them, but still acting in that stupid bravado way because that's the way they're supposed to act even though they know they shouldn't.
Random A/N: on a very superficial positive side, I finally found out the name of this amazing tune I am hooked on: