Rihanna, one of pop/hip-hops number one female artists, is ruffling feathers, and not in a good way. Her new single S&M is number three on Billboard Top 100. This single is catchy and upBEAT (pun intended). When I first heard the song I was humming along not know what I was singing about. A popular rhyme in the song made me pause...
"Sticks and stones may break my bones...but chains and whips excite me."
Come again!?!?!
Then i understood...S&M... OMG
S&M also known as Sadomasochism, refers to sexual pleasure of inflicting or receiving pain.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones...but chains and whips excite me."
Come again!?!?!
Then i understood...S&M... OMG
S&M also known as Sadomasochism, refers to sexual pleasure of inflicting or receiving pain.
Masochism refers to someone who enjoys receiving pain and Sadism refers to those who gets pleasure from inflecting pain and/or watching pain inflicted on others.
I am currently reading all about Sadomasochism in Stieg Larsson's trilogy, "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo". If you still aren't sure what S&M is then check out an exert from one of his books and I bet you wont be humming along with Rihanna any more. This is some pretty sick stuff and what is Rihanna doing? The popular teen icon is normalizing this subject. Making the tabooed topic look fun and exciting for teens.
Not only is she promoting sadomasochism, Rihanna is notorious for being a questionable role modle for teens. She and Chris Brown had a falling out, he beat her pretty badly...but if I interpreted her song right, she was probably into it. And then she went back to him, sending the message that it is ok to be in an abusive relationship. Her other popular song she sang with Eminem, "Love the Way you Lie" was again, promoting abusive relationships.
These catchy, number one singles, are being engrained into our societies brains. Rihanna is sending the message that physical abuse is not just a normal thing, but it is sexy and that is what women want. Rihanna is playing into the ideology of patriarch and domination of women. She is feeding into the idea that men have the power and that women like to be controlled.
WRONG! Get a grip girl. Look at what you are doing. You are one of the most powerful women in our society and these are the messages you chose to send to your fans. Way to go.
Rihanna, you are gorgeous and don't you worry, your looks will get you exactly what you want. A sadistic pig of a "man." Your PR is not so PRetty.
Props to you Lesley! I used to really like Rhianna until recently, probably not even having realized her shift in message, like a lot of other people out there.
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right. I'm in a class right now titled Rhetorical Criticism and all I do is be a critic and analyze everything! And for my final paper, I chose this music video and how it portrays societal norms. (Rihanna "walking" Perez Hilton, chained up the press, her kissing the female cop, etc). Its very VERY interesting to analyze!
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