Quote:
Originally Posted by Lateralus
I find that many of her videos tend to sexualise topics like rape and anorexia. [...] I do find the sexualisation of anorexia and rape in her videos (see: Bad Romance) to be a little unsettling.
Also, I'd just like to point out that most modern studies of children have failed to show that they will be more violent after watching violent TV. The bobo doll studies which were executed decades ago were very flawed, and more recent studies into children/ violence/ the media have shown that children will not typically be violent after interacting with violent media formats unless they already had some kind of underlying issue relating to violence and to their need to act violent.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lateralus
it kind-of sexualises anorexia which is a part of my problem with it. As for the 'rape', I'm talking about how in the Bad 'Romance' video she is grabbed by those women and is forcefully drugged (sexualisation of lesbian rape) and then put on auction for a bunch of men. I know she uses this scene purposefully to send out a message about gender and control, just thought I'd mention it.
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Hi Lateralus,
I agree with you that Lady Gaga is trying to send out a message about gender and control with her videos. I watched "Bad Romance" and see that both this video and "Paparazzi" show women victims getting revenge by killing the male perpetrators, who are shown as people who demean women by looking at them only as sex objects. Not only is there violence against women, but also men! She does seem to be reflecting the real world: revenge murders and domestic violence relationships are horrendously common. Her music is actually more thought-provoking than I originally thought!
I think Lady Gaga is choosing to reflect violence not to encourage it but to make a statement...and sell music and an image (that is sexualized, like you say). The issue of violence is such an important topic that I don't fault her in any way for her methods of addressing the issue...but I still do wonder about unintended consequences.
Thanks for the info you shared on the the relationship between media violence and societal violence. I based my question, which was whether vivid visual images of violence inspire violence in children and the adults they become, on studies like Huesman
et al. (2003)
Developmental Psychology, 39:201-221 (
http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/dev392201.pdf). This 15-year longitudinal study concluded "children's viewing of violent TV shows, their identification with aggressive same-sex TV characters, and their perceptions that TV violence is realistic are all linked to later aggression as young adults, for both males and females."
Furthermore, "these findings were found to hold true for any child from any family,
regardless of the child's initial aggression levels, their intellectual capabilities, their social status as measured by their parents' education or occupation,
their parents' aggressiveness, or the mother's and father's parenting style." (
Childhood Exposure to Media Violence Predicts Young Adult Aggressive Behavior)
I don't know much about research on violence and media, and will plan to look up the bobo doll studies you mention were flawed, since I'm not familiar with the bobo doll studies (or what a bobo doll
is...though now I'm picturing boo boo!). Studies like Huesman
et al. make me nervous...and glad that I have worked to prevent my child from seeing images of human aggression, although we talk about violence and war so that he *knows* what happens but doesn't have the vivid images alive in his head.
I am curious what men tend to feel about Lady Gaga's videos and music, since "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance" show men in such a horrid light.