Blow Me… One Last Kiss
Many believe that girl powered anthems, such as P!nk’s “Blow Me One Last Kiss”, support the job of feminists, but contrary to popular belief, they do not. Feminism is about creating a world of equality, while the new “grrrl power” associated with girl powered anthems is about empowering young girls and creating a female dominated world. The purpose of both feminism and grrrl power is to change social boundaries and social norms. Social norms and social boundaries are concepts created by Dustin Kidd in his article “Harry Potter and the Functions of Popular Culture”. With Kidd’s functions in play, one can determine that girl powered anthems and grrrl power do not change social norms towards the equality of society, nor do they challenge the social boundaries between males and females.
Dustin Kidd would characterize girl powered anthems as cultural artifacts that may have an affect on social boundaries and/or social norms. By synthesizing Kidd’s article, cultural artifacts can be defined as “shared symbols of identity” (Kidd 71). Girl powered anthems are cultural artifacts because many people identify with them: young girls, teenagers, women in general, and other followers of pop culture. Kidd’s ideas of social norms and social boundaries can also be applied to girl powered anthems.
Kidd defines social norms as “guides to social behavior, (that) are important in social cohesion” (Kidd 75). Social cohesion is about understaning one’s place in the world. Females believe that their social place is, currently, below that of men. Kidd goes on to summarize social norms as norms that people act on, because that is how the rest of society acts. Girl Powered Anthems and feminism want to change social norms by changing the the “guide to social behavior” (Kidd 75) and therefore social cohesion.
Lastly Kidd creates the idea of social boundaries by saying that how a person acts “will depend on the consumer’s social location and social roles” (Kidd 76). Kidd means that the way someone acts around another person is based on social norms and their relationship with that person. The relationships can be professional, romantic, friendly, or family. Girl powered anthems and feminism want to change social norms and therefore change social boundaries to create a world where men and women are thought of as equals.
Kidd’s concepts of cultural artifacts, social, boundaries, and social norms can be directly applied to grrrl power, girl power anthems, and feminism. Girl powered anthems are an example of the faux-feminist movement called grrrl power. Grrrl power advocates for the empowerment of women through girl powered music videos, clothing that accentuates female’s attributes, and more. Although grrrl power and girl powered anthems are cultural artifacts because many people identify with them, they do little to change social boundaries and social norms.
This point is argued by video blogger 19% in her video entitles “Beyonce’s “Run the World” (Not so Much)”. 19% criticizes Beyonce for “imparting the false belief that they (girls) “Run the World””. She also complains that “a simple survey of reality will reveal that we (girls) don’t run anything and pretending we do, will get us nowhere”. 19% believes that grrl power empowering females is good, but unless it changes the actually social norms and boundaries, it is not worth anything.
An argument similar to 19%’s is made by blogger Samhita on feministing.com. “ Pop culture perceptions of grrl power have become the stand-in for what feminism actually is, obscuring the reality that women are far from running the world” (Samhita 5). Samhita would agree with 19% in that the new grrrl power is hiding the reality that girls are still considered a minority and continue to be absent from leadership positions. Samhita and 19% would rather see an artist work to change social norms and social boundaries towards equality, than just empower women.
Opposing both Samhita and 19% would be blogger Natasha. She might argue that empowering women through pop culture is just as beneficial as changing social norms and boundaries towards grrrl power. This can be seen when Natasha responds to 19% in her article “Why I like My Feminism Gray”, “NineteenPercent thinks Beyonce is a liar because she failed to speak about all of the challenges faced by women. I think Beyonce is an artist doing what artists do…creating her vision of what reality should be” (Natasha 9).Natasha seems to support the new grrrl power and girl powered anthems because she believes that they do just as much work by empowering females as do changing social norms and boundaries.
Girl Powered Anthems are part of a new wave of feminism called “Grrrl Power”. Some argue that this new “Grrrl Power” is a type of faux feminism. In her article, “Behind every Strong Man, there is an even Stronger Beyonce”, blogger Samhita tries to understand the effects of the new “Grrrl Power” versus the effects of feminism. She does this by analyzing Beyonce’s music video, “Girls (Run the World)”. Samhita states in her article that, “Pop culture perceptions of grrl power have become the stand-in for what feminism actually is, obscuring the reality that women are far from running the world, instead we are often forced to make choices that are not really choices but conditions we are managing” (Samhita 5). Samhita argues that Pop Culture has twisted our view of feminism into the new, but not improved, “Grrrl Power”.
P!nk’s music video for “Blow Me One Last Kiss” can be considered a girl powered anthem and part of the new grrrl power because of its supposedly uplifting message for girls and women. The video begins with the main character, P!nk, on a picnic date in a field with one man, but when the man denies her the attention she wants, she storms off. In the process of storming off, P!nk arrives at a new and exciting man with a motorcycle, known as “the painter”. She proceeds to impulsively take off with him. After the motorcycle ride, P!nk is dressed completely in jewels while the painter paints her. When P!nk is tired of the painter, she finds herself at a party, dressed all in black, dancing with her alter ego who is dressed all in white. When the alter ego is proposed to by the man that P!nk began the video with, she seeks revenge. The revenge comes in the form of a man on a flying bicycle dropping a bomb of red dye all over the wedding of the alter ego and P!nk’s original man. The video closes with P!nk falling for yet another man and flying off into the sunset on his bike.
On interpretation of this video is that P!nk is a man-dependent woman that has no independence. This interpretation would most likely be supported by 19% because she similarly criticizes Beyonce’s “Run the World” music video when she argues that Beyonce’s music video distracts girls by “lulling them into a false sense of achievement and distracting them from doing the work it takes to actually run the world”. 19% would argue that in her music video, P!nk, portrays a needy, non independent, girl to “impressionable young women”. Samhita may agree with 19% in that P!nk’s sexiness and dependency on men is part of the new grrrl power because the ideals portrayed in the video are not those that would help girls in reality. In this interpretation, Natasha could take different sides relating to different topics in the video. As for P!nk’s sexiness, as she does in her article, she could claim that P!nk has every right to wear feminine, sexy clothing. She might go on to say that what makes this sexiness wrong is not P!nk’s clothing, but the concept of male gaze. Natasha explains, “male gaze is a term that was first used by feminist scholars to describe how the film industry typically adopts the point of view of heterosexual men by using camera angles and filming techniques that objectify women” (Natasha 3). She also goes on to say that this includes the way men physically look at women, as seen in the scene of the video where the painter is painting P!nk. This first interpretation has different views that can each be supported by a self proclaimed feminist.
Another interpretation of the video is seen if P!nk is assumed to be controlled by her men. At the picnic scene, P!nk begins to walk away, ripping off the many necklaces she was wearing. The necklace imagery represents chains from the first man to control her. She tries to strip herself of these chains, only to fall for another man. The next man, the painter, is shown the scene where P!nk is dressed in jewels. The jewels seem to climb up her neck to form a collar, creating imagery that says P!nk is being controlled by the painter. The last man, on the flying bicycle, is different because P!nk seems to be in a fairytale with a man she is happy with. The end of the video seems to portray P!nk’s liberation from chains, collars, and controlling men.
As before, Samhita, 19%, and Natasha might argue different ways that this video could apply to real world situations. Natasha might support the video because of its happy ending. P!nk has finally liberated herself from the men that victimized her and has found one that makes her happy, just as Natasha freed herself from the “male gaze” and found a found a way to dress that made her comfortable and happy. Samhita might again be on the fence for this video. She could argue that the video supports women in that P!nk liberates herself from two bad relationships to find herself in a happy one. She could also argue that the video does not support the empowerment of women because of P!nk non independence throughout the video. Although she finds herself happy in the end, P!nk does not show any sort of female independence. She continuously bounces from man to man throughout the video. Lastly, like Samhita, 19% could take either side in this interpretation. She might argue that this video advocates for female victims of rape or abuse when P!nk is liberated from her collars and chains at the end of the video. 19% might also side with Samhita in that P!nk is not shown in the video as independent. She is continuously going from one man to the next. Like the first interpretation, the feminists could argue that the video supports the change of social norms surrounding women, or that it sustains the social norms surrounding women.
From the opinions expressed in their blogs, Natasha’s, 19%’s, and Samhita’s opinions can be summarized. Overall, Natasha believes that grrl power is faux-feminism and that Beyonce’s girl empowering songs are good to shake your booty to, but empowering music doesn’t change the real world problems women are facing. While Samhita is on the fence of grrrl power and feminism, 19% is anti-grrrl power and pro feminism. Her strong opinions are expressed when she criticizes Beyonce’s girl powered anthem for falsifying the position of women in society. Lastly, Natasha expresses her opinions in response to 19% saying that Beyonce is a performer and does not need to express herself in a way that is conducive with feminist goals.
With the interpretations of P!nk’s “Blow Me One Last Kiss” and the opinions of the feminists Natasha, 19%, and Samhita, I believe that girl powered anthems are an example of the new grrrl power and that this new grrrl power is about empowering women, but does not work to change Dustin Kidd’s concepts “social norms” and “social boundaries” towards the feminist goal of equality.
