Gabrielle Rose
September 12, 2014
English 110
One More Girl Power Anthem
Today it seems as though girl power anthems are a dominant way of so on so “empowering women”. Girl empowerment videos have taken the world by storm and are in no time soon coming to an end. In fact, the girl power anthems are so prominent in todays pop culture society, they seem to have the power to master and create the “social norms” for girls all around the world. As sociologist Dustin Kidd argues, the matrix of the pop culture world and girl empowerment videos with their seductive and self defining motives have easily become possibly the “chief space” in which social norms are negotiated and transmitted through-out society. Girl anthem videos can be seen as important dynamics in the creation of social boundaries. The anthems deliver the same messages that repeatedly establish and create what is socially acceptable and expected of women in todays society. From clothing to behavior, all it takes is one watch of the video to easily understand the messages that these artist are trying to relay through their videos and lyrics. One particular song by artist P!NK captures the qualities of what it takes to create a pop culture approved empowering and lyrically advanced video for girls everywhere.
A dreamlike, whimsical, picnic in the middle of a soft, isolated field with a gorgeous man; every girl can appreciate this opening to P!NK’S “Blow Me” video. The music is soft as she starts to sing and until the listener starts to really listen to the lyrics, it is to believe this song is a beautiful love song; that is until P!NK refers to her love as reaching for something that is unable to reach, “I’ve been crying, I’ve been crying, I’ve been dying over you tie a knot in the rope, tryin’ to hold, tryin’ to hold, but there’s nothing to grasp so I let go.” That is when the video itself changes; her beloved, handsome man destroys the innocence of not only the video but P!NK herself by answering a phone call. By doing so, P!NK reacts in the only way possible, by throwing red wine on him. Destroying the white clothing and innocence of their relationship with red war paint, she storms off, striping away of her long elegant white gown into a more formfitting body suit.
P!NK’S reaction to her man not giving her his all, undivided attention is what she is submitting to the pop culture world as a social norm. She is standing her ground for not dealing with being with someone who doesn’t give her his all and she is ready to show him what he is missing. By P!NK leaving him and stripping away of her clothing she is letting it be known to girls everywhere that it is okay to change after a break up; I mean your last man didn’t like you the way you were so why stay that way? Go put on a tighter, shorter dress, a new pair of heels, a fresh hair cut and find yourself another man just like P!NK does.
P!NK’s new man is a splash of color and she shows no hesitation. Her new man is a mysterious, motorcycle rider with long flawy hair and a tough black leather jacket but P!NK shows no fear as she hops right on the back of his bike. He takes her away to a mystical mansion where she changes into a men’s like black suit, signifying her taking charge of this relationship as she does not want to get hurt again with her new “rebound” man. P!NK seems to be ready and in power as she parades around in her tailored suit; that is until she believes she is being proposed to by her old boyfriend when in fact it is not for her. This only sets her off, proving once again that boys can not be trusted.
In this episode of the video, P!NK starts off with giving girls the idea of a rebound boy. After being hurt by her old man the only thing to do is find an new man right away, I mean all the hottest celebrities do it so no one can judge you for jumping into things, right? After sometime with this new mysterious man though, she is hurt once again which revs up the engine for her next socially acceptable thing to do after a breakup: sabotage.
Everything is white; the dresses, the tux and decorations as P!NK sits at the back of the wedding dressed in black from head to toe, as if she is at a funeral, while she watches her old boyfriend marry a new girl. The lyrics during this part of the video seem to be spoken right to the groom as P!NK repeats “you will pay for your sins” as red paint falls from the sky, drenching the perfect white wedding in a powerful, red downpour. With the guests and bride in despair, P!NK finds comfort in dancing in the red sabotage while once again stripping of her clothing into another bodysuit, this time however a black one. Leaving everything behind her, P!NK once again flees the scene in the arms of a new boy and flies off into the distance.
What happens when a girl is cheated on or not given the full attention of her man? Revenge. With the constant let down from boys, one seems to have to always redeem themselves by wearing tighter clothing or less clothing and finding a new man as soon as possible, at least according to this video. Revenge is perceived as what seems to be a confident booster in the pop culture world. Every time P!NK leaves a man, a new one is always there for her willing and ready. This gives girls the idea that after one boy the only way to move on and make your old boy miss you is to find a new one as soon as possible. The pop culture world is advertising that it is socially acceptable to change for a boy. In fact, because of videos such as P!N’s most girls see nothing wrong with it, I mean if she can change her look and find a new boy right away why can’t girls everywhere do that?
Sabotage and revenge are the two social normalities that P!NK is illustrating in her “Blow Me” video. When a man disappoints you or lets you down in anyway, sabotage is the only answer that is socially acceptable in the pop culture world. Payback shows that you are just as powerful as the man who originally hurt you; it also shows how immature you are but that is easily looked past in this society. Because no one judges P!NK for her actions in this video it seems as though it is the right thing to do and young impressionable girls feed into that.
Through girl empowerment videos such as P!NK’s “Blow Me” video, social normalities are produced and fed into the pop culture world. Because of the vast majority of society that buys into whatever the pop culture world sells, social normalities can easily be created by celebrities and their actions. Girl power anthems are just one example of how social normalities can easily be created and respected through out the world. Girls know how to act and what to wear because it is presented to them on a silver platter in these videos and pop culture; they offer a complex system of identity creation and separation. These social norms create a kind of social tolerance and what is accepted in society.
