Dreamworlds is an instructional well made documentary which demonstrates the sad true reality of the contemporary music video industry. The message transmitted in the music videos is generally the same: the objectification of woman’s sexuality and the veneration of male dominance and control. Women are reduced to a single identity, a submissive passive sexual being. The movie does not portray a puritanical criticism of exposed sexuality but try to get the audience to meditate on how we as a society, accept the denigration of woman’s dignity by using their bodies to sell anything, including CDs.
The documentary is broken down into three parts that are intimately connected. All parts show the patriarchal cultural views which reduce women to their sexuality. Part one begins by stating that since the beginning of industry in the 80s, music videos present provocative images of woman’s body to attract attention. This is consistent in all genres of music. Hip Hop and Rap show prevalent images of violent male sexual behaviors towards women. In Techniques of Storytelling, women’s bodies appear repeatedly with bands, or as part of the audience, or fulfilling the sexual fantasies of men. In Constructing Femininity, our culture according to the music videos, define woman as a sexual being. Being addicted to sex and submissive to men is what is normal for women. Women will do anything to have sex with whoever is available. They will have sex in public spaces or have group sex. Part two starts with Pornographic Imaginary. Like in pornography movies, footages involving erotic encounters between women and use of violence against them are also present in music videos. Disturbing scenes like men throwing food at women’ bodies are disturbing. In Ways of Looking, the narrator explains that the message of what means to be a woman is how well their body can attract and be wanted by men. Part three talks about female artist being trapped in pornographic world. They realize that you cannot sell CDs unless they appeal to the sexualization and exposure of their bodies. They find themselves being pressure to fall into the same cliché. In Masculinity and Control, in order to have a submissive persona the industry needs dominant figure whose masculinity is define by power and control. Sexual violence is showed with acceptance, normalcy and is celebrated because the women in the videos seem to like it.. What values are these videos teaching the young audience who watch them? Crooks and Baur state that “exposure to sexual to violent pornography may have negative effects on men’s attitude and behaviors towards women”1.
One can argue that the narrator does not convey that woman’s sexuality is harmful and evil. It differs from the religious teaching on non-reproductive sexuality as sinful. The movie presents the belief that all people’ sexuality should be celebrated, enjoyed and satisfied. However, it proclaims that it is unethical to present woman’s sexuality as the only meaning of her existence. The music video industry fails to show the other sides of women (intellectual, professional, social activist, artist) resembling the patriarchal mentally which are transmitted by the main religious authorities that reduce women’s role in society to the fulfillment of her obligations at home as mother and wives. Often, this industry combines pornography images with the stories of the songs just because this is what sells, turning the images very predictable and often the same. It demonstrates social construct of masculinity and femininity reflecting an individualistic approach to sexuality. Gender inequality is public being communicated by defining masculinity as the dominant and powerful sex, just like most religions assert.
Dreamworlds invites us to reflect, rethink, and evaluate our approach towards sexuality and gender equality as a person and as a society. If the media is so influent in our popular culture, it is discouraging to belief that we will have a more equal society. After Dreamworlds I will never watch a music video the same way I used to.
Notes
1- Crooks, Robert, & Baur, Karla, Our Sexuality, Eleventh Edition, (2008), Page 520
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Sexual Ethics and Environmental Ethics
“Going green” has been a major trend in the recent years. We hear about it every day in the media news coverage, religious leaders’ discourses and political campaigns. In the United States, we witness an increasing public consensus in the importance of preservation. There is a general awareness of how we as a society have disregarded Mother Nature in the last centuries due to the exploitation of her resources. When examining environmental ethics concerns, I find it hard to separate them from any other area of ethics. Whether I think about bioethics, political ethics or corporate ethics, there will always be an issue that will directly affect the natural environment. Our attitude and views on contraception and family planning, sex education, sterilization, gender equality will significantly impact our planet. It is in promoting a sustainable global culture that we can begin to change the damage we’ve made and provide the future generation with a healthy and safe place to live.
Overpopulation is in my view, the number one concern shared by sexual ethics and environmental ethics. Our blue planet is not able to sustain and feed a large number of people. The results of overpopulation are catastrophic to the natural environment. The list is long and includes: air and water pollution, resources depletion and degradation, climate change, toxic and nuclear waste, soil erosion, etc. One way to manage high increases in population is promoting a better understanding of family planning and contraception. In the developed world, we have witness a decrease in family size among the majority. Positive results are due to women’s education, their engagement in the work force and the easy availability and distribution of contraceptives methods, even when the Roman Catholic Church still proclaims the denunciation of their usage. However, in the developing world, much has to be done. Women lack basic education and accessibility and information about condoms, birth controls pills and IUD. Developed world programs intended to prevent population explosion and poverty are resented due to the belief that these programs camouflage imperialism and neo-colonialism (1). In other developing countries, where the government imposes programs to control and reduce population via methods of taxation and forced sterilization, the results are ineffective and controversial. In China, many women die from illegal abortions and many infants are killed due to the one-child policy. In India, when Indira Gandhi implemented a program that required sterilization of men after having a second child, many men accused the government of sterilizing people who had no children or were less educated and members of the opposition. That program backfired because it provoked Indian families to object the use of other methods of contraception and family planning (2). According to the United Nations Population Funds, every minute, 380 women become pregnant: half of them did not plan or wish the pregnancy;110 women experience a pregnancy-related complication;100 women have an abortion, of which 40 are unsafe;11 people are newly infected with HIV/AIDS;1 woman dies from a pregnancy-related cause(3).
It is imperative that we demand world leaders to create a comprehensive program to decrease or contain population growth that contain platform of gender equality and education. This program should focus on offering the public with information about their options of contraception reinforcing people’s rights to make their own decisions according with values and traditions of their culture.
References:
1 Christine Gurdof, Body Sex and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics, (1994) The Pilgrim Press: Page 33
2 UCLA Division of Social Science http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/Indira.html
3 United Nations Population Funds, Annual Report, 2000, Reproductive Health: Meeting people’s needs, http://www.unfpa.org/about/report/2000/2ch1pg.htm
Overpopulation is in my view, the number one concern shared by sexual ethics and environmental ethics. Our blue planet is not able to sustain and feed a large number of people. The results of overpopulation are catastrophic to the natural environment. The list is long and includes: air and water pollution, resources depletion and degradation, climate change, toxic and nuclear waste, soil erosion, etc. One way to manage high increases in population is promoting a better understanding of family planning and contraception. In the developed world, we have witness a decrease in family size among the majority. Positive results are due to women’s education, their engagement in the work force and the easy availability and distribution of contraceptives methods, even when the Roman Catholic Church still proclaims the denunciation of their usage. However, in the developing world, much has to be done. Women lack basic education and accessibility and information about condoms, birth controls pills and IUD. Developed world programs intended to prevent population explosion and poverty are resented due to the belief that these programs camouflage imperialism and neo-colonialism (1). In other developing countries, where the government imposes programs to control and reduce population via methods of taxation and forced sterilization, the results are ineffective and controversial. In China, many women die from illegal abortions and many infants are killed due to the one-child policy. In India, when Indira Gandhi implemented a program that required sterilization of men after having a second child, many men accused the government of sterilizing people who had no children or were less educated and members of the opposition. That program backfired because it provoked Indian families to object the use of other methods of contraception and family planning (2). According to the United Nations Population Funds, every minute, 380 women become pregnant: half of them did not plan or wish the pregnancy;110 women experience a pregnancy-related complication;100 women have an abortion, of which 40 are unsafe;11 people are newly infected with HIV/AIDS;1 woman dies from a pregnancy-related cause(3).
It is imperative that we demand world leaders to create a comprehensive program to decrease or contain population growth that contain platform of gender equality and education. This program should focus on offering the public with information about their options of contraception reinforcing people’s rights to make their own decisions according with values and traditions of their culture.
References:
1 Christine Gurdof, Body Sex and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics, (1994) The Pilgrim Press: Page 33
2 UCLA Division of Social Science http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/Indira.html
3 United Nations Population Funds, Annual Report, 2000, Reproductive Health: Meeting people’s needs, http://www.unfpa.org/about/report/2000/2ch1pg.htm
Legitimacy of International Law
I understand International Law as a set of rules that govern relationships and conflicts between states ensuring order and justice. They represent the views of different cultures on how the world should be ordered. These set of rules regulate and somewhat predict the behaviors of states and individuals. In order to be legitimate, they have to be formulated respecting the principle of good faith. Laws that are viewed as representative, inclusive, fair and effective will claim legitimacy and will have a better chance to generate the consensus among states and successful compliance. Legitimacy in International law provides accountability, responsibility and consequences for non-compliances. Because the world evolve and develop in a fast pace, international law has to be able to adapt to changes in a timely manner, otherwise if it gets caught up in bureaucracy, the question of illegitimacy may arise. Liking general consent to legitimacy is erroneous in my view. There is a general agreement that constitutional national law is legitimate regardless the fact that not all citizens abide to national law.
Another point that I would like to make is that the position of government on the legitimacy of international law and on the authority of international organizations influence how its citizens perceive the value of such institutions. The Bush Administration disregard for the opposition of members of the UN Security Council in its proposed use of force and invasion of Iraq and the breach of the Geneva Convention using torture in prisoners of war at Guantanamo, influenced not only how Americans perceived of the effectiveness of diplomacy but also fermented a worldwide question of the efficacy and competence of the UN in moderating conflicts. The Obama Administration has since tried to change American image abroad in how we conduct our foreign affairs. Pres. Obama, in his 2009 speech in Cairo, said “Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible”.
In my view regardless of the inconsistencies of its applications, International law is the path to achieve peaceful relationships and dignity for all human beings.
Another point that I would like to make is that the position of government on the legitimacy of international law and on the authority of international organizations influence how its citizens perceive the value of such institutions. The Bush Administration disregard for the opposition of members of the UN Security Council in its proposed use of force and invasion of Iraq and the breach of the Geneva Convention using torture in prisoners of war at Guantanamo, influenced not only how Americans perceived of the effectiveness of diplomacy but also fermented a worldwide question of the efficacy and competence of the UN in moderating conflicts. The Obama Administration has since tried to change American image abroad in how we conduct our foreign affairs. Pres. Obama, in his 2009 speech in Cairo, said “Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible”.
In my view regardless of the inconsistencies of its applications, International law is the path to achieve peaceful relationships and dignity for all human beings.
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