Goods?

Decadence: n, meaning moral degeneration or decay.

I just watched a musical video and I must ask a question that nags me often. Why do we as women allow ourselves to be seen as a collection of body parts? People have risen to fame singing about our sexual body parts…made a fortune from explicitly describing our bodies why we dance and display them barely covered. Why do we present ourselves in this manner?

I doubt that when God created us so beautifully he intended for us to be commodities. A lot of movies show bare breasted women. So much so it has become the norm. Sex sells. I am sure that’s what most people reading are thinking. But if that’s the only reason, then there should be more movies showing the male genitals as well. There should be more music videos showing naked/near-naked men as well. We rarely see that. Why is there a mismatch? Why do we sell out so easily? Why is less price placed on our nudity? Why aren’t more men ‘twerking’ or jiggling body parts (Magic Mike proved they can) in videos? Talk about gender equality.

I pondered and came up with possible explanations. One of them is that women have been considered sex objects from time immemorial. It was their job to entertain men by dancing seductively amongst other things. When you look at it from that angle, it may seem like progress that they can now at least ask for payment for doing so. Hmmn. We have made a lot of progress advocating for gender equality and liberating women. We have come a long way but maybe this belief that we are forms of entertainment is a timeless one.

Another of my ideas is that maybe we believe it is a form of power and relish being able to captivate men by wielding it. A whole industry seems to have sprung forth from this power. The truth is, while I might flinch when I see certain things, the females jiggling away are getting paid. That is their profession. There is a huge market for what they are selling. The more skin they bare, the better the video seems to do.

Another idea is that maybe this decadence itself is as a result of our new found liberation. Women have more freedom today than ever before. We can do anything we want and hold our heads up high. We have broken barriers, penetrated professions that used to be forbidden to us. We now own our bodies and minds like never before. So I guess if we want to clothe or bare our skins, we can very well do so now. It’s totally up to us!!!

Whatever angle we look at it from, this one is totally on us. We can’t blame men for this unfortunately. Not today. Most of these girls are not being forced. In most episodes of Jerry Springer’s show, a girl gets up at some point during the show and voluntarily bares her chest while viewers cheer her on. I haven’t seen any guy take his pants off just for fun.

Anyway, maybe I am just a little too old school. Why shouldn’t a gorgeous body be flaunted…and maybe pay some bills in the process??? Bare as you dare is the new school.

Hmmn. Have a lovely week everyone!!!