Lily Allen’s new single is out, and along with some pretty steamy content the video has made front page news. The music video “Hard out Here” which was released earlier this week, takes a feminist stance on how women are often portrayed as sex symbols and furthermore the stereotypical image of women presented in the show business.
The video is meant to represent the objectification of women in our modern day society, and there has been much debate on Lily’s backup dancers who are all dark skinned, coaxing people into thinking that the video connotes racism and a lack of integrity by using these dancers. It is true that the majority of the dancers are of ethnic origin, however had Lily only employed “white” dancers, she would equally have been labelled as being racist. Basically a no win-win situation for the singer.
The first thought which might enter many a head is that our society has become so overly objective and superficial that these things even have to be discussed and that our reality has been blurred with the images we are fed by the media. In my opinion the video in no way degenerates women, quite the opposite. It shows the pressure under which women suffer in a male-dominant society, and the expectation that they will conform to a woman’s role. At the beginning Allen states all the things that we hold true of the way women are portrayed and viewed through the media: “You better be rich or real good at cooking, and you should probably lose some weight coz we can’t see your bones”. Tragic, as these things have become norms in our society.
Lily is criticised for having “let herself go” after being pregnant twice but she not only makes the whole situation highly entertaining but also proves to us that she stands above the idle chit chat. It has been deemed a brilliant video, making fun of all the typical stereotypes in today’s pop culture and various artists that represent that art, such as Miley Cyrus’s love of twerking.
Although many of her loyal fans applaud Allen on her honesty though coupled with crude representations, a large majority have labelled her as being racist and demoralising. The frequently mentioned: “It’s hard out here for a bitch”, envelopes the fact that society demands more and more of women, and that a lot of women are demoralised by the image of women circulated by the media. Life appears to have become increasingly challenging for women, and it could be argued that the critiques over this video show that a percentage of people have misunderstood it and do not see it as a reflection of our society.
Once more the media stands accused of making a mountain out of a molehill, and this can be compared to the situation in which Jo Swinson (junior equalities Minister),7 months pregnant, recently found herself. Having stood at PMQs session for half an hour without being offered a seat by the Tory, Conservative and Liberal Democrats sitting nearby, the media dragged out an entire debate,and the Minister claimed to have been misquoted. It became apparent that the people involved saw the topic as a trivial matter that had been heightened and sensationalised by means of the media.
I think perhaps Lily Allen should be applauded for what she appears to be trying to say.
Submitted by Rachel Henderson
