Women On Mtv

10 Pages 2481 Words

“As cable television expanded, it brought explicitly sexual depictions to American television” (Coran and Hanks, 1986, p.43) along with MTV. “When MTV started up in 1981, its success was almost instantaneous” (Aufderheide, 1986, p.60). “The most important and pervasive outlet for rock videos is Music Television” (Kalis and Neuendorf, 1989, p.148). Music television (MTV) is a twenty-four hour service devoted to bringing you around the clock music entertainment. MTV is more than just videos, it is also a way of expressing a world with no limitations and little concern to how it may affect its viewing audience. It is home to where the First Amendment and our right to freedom of expression are practiced constantly. What ever happened to equality and women’s rights? It seems as though women have taken a step back to get ahead within the music industry. During the MTV Video Music Awards this past September, singer Britney Spears did a live performance in which she sang her rendition of The Rolling Stones’ hit, “Satisfaction” only to strip down to a barely-there outfit to perform her latest hit. Her outfit at first glance appeared to be non-existent, but a closer look revealed that it was a nude colored (close to sheer) outfit with sparkles all over it. This year’s Video Music Award’s was just one example of many which shows that for women in the music industry, being a sex symbol seems to be one of the only ways to get ahead. Women are routinely cast as sex symbols with men doing sometimes vulgar things to them - and it’s the norm on networks like MTV.
Advertising pertains to MTV, in that, those watching the way women are portrayed in videos may present some question’s in the viewer’s mind as to how women should look or be treated. “Sex sells” is a common advertising strategy. However, in a recent survey conducted by the Advertising Women of New York, results stated that 68% of young girls feel that sexual ...