Mass Media: Objectifying Women

Mass Media: Objectifying Women
There is clear objectification of women in the mass media of today. In music it is not different. One of the most vivid case is Nelly’s “Tip Drill” music video. I was shocked by both the men and the women in the video the first time I saw it.   I took a close look at how the women are portrayed in the video and also how women reacted, specifically the young women at Spelman College in Atlanta.
The song is titled “Tip Drill” which is a title that has negative connotations to begin with. Calling a person a tip drill is saying a girl who is promiscuous and has a nice body but doesn’t have a pretty face. In the song Nelly says, “It must be yo ass ‘cause it ain’t yo face.” To say this to women is equivalent to saying, “I am horny and you are my last resort.”   This doesn’t scratch the surface on saying women are just objects that are for male sexual pleasure.
Nelly’s image is a tough guy who wears a football jersey and talks about his promiscuity.   It is just how Katz describes masculinity, “Only showing yourself in a way culture has described as manly.” Nelly is the center of attention, he is shown wearing football jerseys, a sport noted in society for being tough, he has large amounts of jewelry noting his wealth, etc. He does not depict violence but he does depict objectification of the females in his music video.
The women of this video are all very scantily clad if wearing anything at all. They are all dancing in a way that accentuates and moves their behind. The women are shown grinding their rear on the males in the video. As well as allowing the males to touch, grab, squeeze, smack, lick their behinds. This is an unacceptable way to touch a women and the men are not concerned with touching these women whom they don’t know in such an unacceptable way.   This is clearly portraying women as objects. Throughout the video money is showered on the women, as to say “thank you for your services.” Not only the showering of money but...