Blurred Lines Answer Videos: More Gender Exploitation or Helpful Social Commentary?

This post is actually inspired by a Facebook conversation that my friend started earlier this week. I have seen lots of chatter about Robin Thicke’s latest song, Blurred Lines. People have questioned if it has themes of rape or if it downplays the importance of consent. I am not going to argue that point, because frankly the song is called blurred lines and talks about having sex with drunk/high women who may not have said yes due to their pure ways. (I mean really.) I am honestly more interested in the debate around the video, which is linked below. In the unrated version, you will see women parading around scantily clad and without tops on. At one point, a woman is holding a sheep and another one meows. There is also a scene where you just see a woman’s feet. I am not totally clear as to why any of this is happening. At the very least, the video is uninspired. At the worst, it is exploitative.

Now, Mod Carousel, a boylesque troupe out of Seattle has created an answer video with women singing the exact same song with scantily clad men dancing. The link to their video is below. When I first saw it, I thought, “Fuck yes. Good for you and your gender swapping.” Then I took a few more moments to ponder, and here’s the thing. I don’t know how effective it is to swap one kind of gender exploitation for another. I mean sure superficially I can appreciate some gender commentary wrapped in a nicely produced video. However, why do we have to be exploited at all? It’s a music video for crying out loud! Let’s get clever.

I will say that I think J Mary Burnet and Kaleigh Trace’s video, “Ask First,” is the best response to the Blurred Lines video. It sends a clear message about consent in a fun, sexy way without the exploitation. Plus, there is a line in the song that says, “If you grab me, I will get nasty. I’ll break your fucking knee,” which is hilarious.

  

What do y’all think? Was Blurred Lines problematic for you? Did the answer videos help address the issues or expand them?

-          Lauren, pop music social commentator