Oh my goodness… You’re a pervert!

I was listening to music on Youtube yesterday. It was song from 20 years ago. 2002 when I’d have been 10-11. Kiss kiss by Holly Valance. Normally I listen to music on my phone with my phone in my pocket and headphones on. This time from time to time I’d open my phone and Youtube, and I was shocked to see this woman was naked, (barring some cleverly placed lights) as in full frontal nakedness. How did that add to the song?

You probably don’t see the problem with that. Except 2002 was pre- #metoo so there was a lot less openness in the music industry and film industry about the casual sexualisation of women.

So that poor woman, to make her career probably stood naked dancing in a room in front of anywhere between 5 and 20 men. What does that sound like? Exploitation.

Beyonce, Britney Spears Rihanna. All have appeared naked/topless in their music videos. Yet it adds precisely 0 to the sound quality what they wear. Its so weird that we sexualise these women for the gaze of men yet if you go to their concerts (where they actually make money) its women that make up 90% of the audience. So why bother?

Basically the music industry and the film and TV industry is riddled with perverts. Look at early seasons of Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke was basically abused in front of us. There was no need for the amount of naked scenes she was in. In fact the very first scene was cruel an example of gratuitous nudity that added nothing to the storyline. Especially if you have read the books.

Something that stuck with me. I love sci fi books and fantasy novels. So when I heard Netflix was doing an adaptation of the Witcher, I watched it, that put the Witcher onto my reading list. I was talking to my ex husband about it when we were going through our divorce. He also admitted to watching it. “because there was plenty of tits to keep me happy” I thanked God I was divorcing him because that is perversion. Breasts don’t make a storyline. Quality writing makes a storyline. Dr. Who is his favourite show. 0 breasts. So many good shows have been and gone that don’t need to sexualise women. As a massive Game of Thrones fan I was horrified to see on Youtube the casting of Game of thrones for the actors. For the female actors they were made to do the lines of the sex scenes. So you got Natalie Dormer on a sex scene just to be cast. But she got the role. There would have been up to half a dozen other women who didn’t get the role who were asked to take their clothes off on camera for a group of men. Sound like porn? Probably because it is.

Something I have noticed in Hollywood is that there seems to be a race to the bottom. Rather than not sexualising women. We now just sexualise men. All I need to say are the words “Henry Cavill” and some of the things on the internet are enough to straighten even my afro hair. Not cool. That is legit someone’s son. Someone’s uncle, one day someone’s father/husband and if you don’t want someone saying it about your kid/husband then stop doing it to him.

Essentially, over sexing things cheapens it. It adds nothing and makes us numb to abuse of women. It normalises it. If we normalise sexualising women and abusing 50% of the worlds’ population, we’re going to reap what we sow.

Grace and Courage.

Annetta Mother Smith.