“Rihanna is channeling her inner stripper in videos and on Instagram, Britney Spears is whipping women on leashes. Nicki Minaj is braless and spilling out of her revealing jacket on the Ellen DeGeneres show”. USA Today, Friday the 26. So begins an article with the headline Selling Sex, Has showbiz gone too far? The aforementioned article was laden with opinions by a myriad of individuals in the media and psychology. The article ended with a statement by Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, who said “you think this is bad, wait till 10 years from now”. Now I never heard of “Babyface”, but that doesn’t mean anything , because I am not familiar with a lot of today’s pop icons. I have seen the women that were mentioned in the article since I do try to keep up with the culture to a certain degree simply because of what I do for a living which is write and talk about stress management.
If selling records and movies is becoming more and more predicated on wearing less and less clothing, will the need to wear anything at all be the norm in ten years? Perhaps when everyone appears naked we will reach saturation levels with nudity. I frankly have already become tired of what is fast becoming a global strip club of vocalists. It does not include all singers and movie stars. Adele seems to have won several Grammies while singing totally dressed. And I know there are others. Imagine just using your voice to lure people into buying your records instead of your body parts?
Since exposing more and more flesh seems to sell, why aren’t other marketers jumping on board? How about Burger King or McDonald’s featuring one of their employees eating a burger in a thong while doing the bumps and grinds ? How about Apple doing a commercial with the Chippendale using a smart phone to cover their privates while they dance around an Apple Store? Sounds ludicrous but it could come to that.
Believe me I am not a prude! But leaving something to the imagination is certainly a little bit more interesting? Where’s the mystique? Are these artists survival aligned with how far they can push the envelope? Does talent mean anything? But perhaps the most important issue is that young women are getting the message that sexuality is a commodity. Being sexy is fun, but when boobs start to take precedent over brains we are not only losing our perspective but we are also accepting the dumbing down of talent!