FEATURE:
Under the Skin
PHOTO CREDIT: Valeriya Sharuk/Pexels
Why Are There Still Expectations and Judgments Against Women of All Ages in Music Regarding Their Appearance and Conduct?
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I came across an article…
IN THIS PHOTO: Pamela Anderson/PHOTO CREDIT: WWD/Pamela Anderson
recently that made me think about the way women are judged in music. When it comes to their looks and bodies, maybe there is not the same level of scrutiny and scorn as there was years and decades ago. I do still feel there is a lot of criticism for women who go makeup-free or are not seen as ‘acting their age’. Whilst, of course, a sexy image can be very empowering for women, I wonder how much the media expects female artists to look like that. To be sexy and glamorous rather than natural. How much guidance and say do they have when it comes to controlling their own narrative?! Certainty, when you look at women over forty or fifty in the industry, there is a whole different level of criticism and expectation. It brings me to an article from The Guardian from earlier this month. Madonna, seemingly always criticised by the media for her actions, looks and body, it shows that women in music are expected to act and be a certain way. When they are provocative, confident or take risks, there does seem to be that sense of outrage. A sexism (and ageism in this case) that you do not get with male artists – not to the same degree anyway. The article also mentions Pamela Anderson. She recently did a photoshoot for PAPER makeup-free. Seen as brave and defiant, is there still this feeling that women should be made-up and look at their very ‘best’?! It should open up a dialogue through music and film regarding standards and clichés about women. Think about the red carpet and the routines and procedures women have to undertake regarding posing. Almost like models! I think there is some of that in music too.
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna during her Celebration Tour/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
Anyway, I shall come to that. First, I want to get to an article where Zoe Williams stated this “A woman in the public eye will be judged by an ever-changing standard: too strident, too provocative, too predatory, too thin, too fat, too muscly and very soon too old. The only dignified answer? Smash the patriarchy”:
“Madonna arrived at the O2 for her Celebration tour last weekend, and “Oh Madge,” the columnist Sarah Vine wondered aloud in the Daily Mail, “isn’t it time you grew up?” Madonna had already answered that, of course, by dressing in a broken mirror catsuit, a cowgirl corset and another corset, and by cavorting with topless dancers. It all amounted to a pretty comprehensive statement of: “Take your idea of what a grownup 65-year-old should wear and how she should comport herself, and shove it.”
If I were Madge, that would be the kernel of my celebration, an entire career lived as the lightning rod of the conundrum of female sexuality. Who gets to decide what it looks like, what is attractive, what is off-putting? Who gets to police what is too much, what is too old, what is too scary, what is too slutty? Is it men, and if so, which men? Just the loudest ones? Is it socially constructed by an unstable but vocal alliance of sexist men and disapproving women? Do feminists get a say, and if so, do we all have to agree first about where we stand on fishnet tights? Where do conical bras fit, in the long pantheon of “shapes you’re apparently pretending your breasts might be”?
Vine’s harshest take on the performance came when Madonna performed Erotica, recreating the notorious masturbation scene, surrounded by boxers (Queensberry rules, not the dogs) and with an alter ego dressed as her younger self. “I think we can all agree,” Vine concluded, that this “takes onanistic self-indulgence to a whole new level.” But do we all agree? Would it have been less self-indulgent not to have had a younger alter ego, or would she then have been pilloried for daring to still onanate, at her age?
At the risk of sounding too Barbie movie, hasn’t that been the ongoing discovery of Madonna’s entire career: that a woman in the public eye will be judged by an ever-changing standard – sometimes too strident, sometimes too provocative, sometimes too predatory, sometimes too thin, sometimes too fat, other times too muscly, very soon too old? It is not possible to meet a patriarchal ideal whose shape keeps shifting, and much of whose power, in fact, lies in its mutability. Quicker and more dignified just to smash the patriarchy, even if Madonna has been working flat out on that for 44 years, and it took us ages to notice, and you still wouldn’t say her mission has been totally accomplished.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the “What’s a woman supposed to look like?” spectrum, Pamela Anderson has kicked off a debate about ageing gracefully by going out and about without makeup. Jamie Lee Curtis called it an act of “courage and rebellion”, which is, OK, true, but also weird: it is objectively peculiar that a woman of 56 would be expected to camouflage in a predetermined way (too much makeup would also represent some obscure social challenge), and not to do that would be considered throwing down a gauntlet. In fact, the only real difference between Anderson and Madge is practical: it must take Pamela much less time to get out of the house. Philosophically, they are saying the same thing, which is: “Take your beauty ideal, and shove it”.
These ideals and expectations. The ever-changing ‘standard’ and lens by which women are viewed and perceived. It is great where women in music, of all ages, can feel comfortable in their own skin. Whether that is by being sexy or glamorous, or by being natural or not feeling the need to, it is, as the article says, “camouflage in a predetermined way”. Even in 2023, there are articles and social media posts where certain women in music are ever seen as too sexy or feminine. Others, if they wear little or no makeup are attacked and subjected to vile insults. If they dress confidently and sexily then they are, again, open to trolling and discrimination. If they are dressed in a more business-like or natural way, that is seen as prudish or too cold. It is clear that they can never win! It is not a measure and ideal set by other women in music. It is a hangover from decades ago. The way the industry in general perceives women. Still so many artists - especially teens and those in their twenties - are promoted based on their looks and physicality. Many artists have a say on this and want to project that image - though there are many who are naturally expected to act a certain way to sell their music. Using beauty and a standard of beauty to get noticed. It is not only Western culture and arts that seem to have a definition of what women should look like. These changing rules of how they should act. What defines sexy or even acceptable. Different cultures have their own ideals and standards.
PHOTO CREDIT: 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐃 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞- 𝐮𝐩 & 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐦𝐞/Pexels
For instance, take K-Pop and J-Pop coming from South Korea and Japan respectively. A lot of great Chinese female artists and female bands are being marketed depending on the male gaze. There are those rebelling and breaking away from that. CHAI’s lead singer Mana was recently featured in the Huffington Post. A discussion around how Kawaii (the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans, and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy, and childlike) a much-needed rebrand. If women in the West are expected to be sexy and alluring in a more mature or adult way, there does seem to be this lingering and unsettling ideal in parts of Asia where young women are supposed to be cute and playful – in a child-like and rather submissive way:
“Mana loves all things colorful and cute — to a certain extent. As she gives me a tour of her bedroom via Zoom, the Tokyo-based singer and lead vocalist of the Japanese pop band CHAI points to a figurine of a character from ’ Haikyuu,’ her favorite animated series, hanging above her electronic keyboard. She then holds up a pink Furby doll in front of her chest. “Isn’t this one so lovely?” she asks.
Mana’s giddy energy almost makes me want to describe her as ”kawaii” — best translated as “cute” — in Japanese. But to Mana and her bandmates, kawaii is a word that is in desperate need of a rebrand.
“The ultimate compliment for a Japanese girl is to be called ‘kawaii,’” Mana tells me. “It’s used to describe girls with big, round eyes, pronounced noses, long silky hair and a smaller frame.”
Through bright pop vocals, unexpected fashion choices and feminist lyrics in English and Japanese, Mana and her bandmates — Yuuki, Kana and Yuna — are attempting to create a more progressive version of “kawaii” that rejects the infantilization of women and instead seeks to celebrate what are traditionally seen as imperfections. They call it “neo-kawaii.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Pop group CHAI are redefining beauty standards through their fashion and music (From left to right: Yuuki (bassist and lyricist), Yuna (drums), Mana (lead vocals and keys) and Kana (guitar)/PHOTO CREDIT: Kana Tarumi
Kawaii’s origins can be traced back to postwar Japan; it was popularized through describing objects that emulate innocent, purity, and hyperfeminine qualities — think anime characters or colorful, bubbly writing styles, which were popularized among Japanese youth in the 1970s. Eventually, kawaii culture permeated the country’s fashion, cosmetics and even food industries, as seen from Lolita fashion aesthetics in Harajuku to colorful, petite food and drink options, mainly targeted towards women. By the late 90s and early 2000s, kawaii would eventually become the country’s ubiquitous (and often painfully unattainable) beauty standard.
Mana tells me that she’s not conventionally perceived as kawaii — yet her wide smile and roaring giggle implies a vibrant confident in her beauty. It’s also evident throughout CHAI’s self-titled fourth album, released last month, which exudes this unmistakably neo-kawaii philosophy. With classic rock-influenced singles like “We The Female!” and “I Can’t Organizeeee,” CHAI’s latest project is an invitation to experience being an empowered, self-possessed neo-kawaii woman.
Mana didn’t get to this place of self-love without an arduous journey because, as in so many Asian cultures, there was a constant Eurocentric beauty standard looming for women. “In high school, I would put on eye-puchi every morning.” Mana says, recalling her teenage life in Nagoya, Japan. “It’s a liquid eyeliner glue that would temporarily transform monolids into double eyelids.”
Face-modifying cosmetics like eye-puchi are commonly found in Japanese convenience stores and pharmacies, and are as accessible as eyeliner or mascara. Its ubiquity is no surprise, as double eyelids are an integral characteristic of the kawaii aesthetic. Japan was the first country to develop the double eyelid surgery as a cosmetic procedure in the late 1800s. Centuries later, the practice remains the country’s most popular procedure.
For Mana and her twin sister Kana (CHAI’s guitarist), music and performance were respites from the all-consuming pressures of Japanese beauty standards because it was an arena for them to rebel against these standards.
CHAI’s neo-kawaii mantra of embracing one’s most authentic self struck a chord with their Japanese fans, which they’ve amassed since their debut in 2016. Jasmine Bruinooge, a 25-year-old half-Japanese woman who grew up in Tokyo, found the band to be refreshing outliers from Japan’s societal attitudes towards women. “[CHAI] is a huge contrast from what I saw on TV when I was younger,” Bruinooge recalls.
In Japanese pop culture, women who fit traditional Japanese standards of kawaii —J-pop idols like Morning Musume and AKB48, for example — are, by and large, depicted as hyperfeminized and desirable. And women who didn’t fit into those characteristics were often treated as purely comedic, undesirable characters to the male gaze, like comedians イモト (Ayako Imoto) or ハリセンボン (Harisenbon)”.
PHOTO CREDIT: RF._.studio/Pexels
It seems like a minefield for all women. If Asian women are labelled a certain way and have to fight against standards that are outdated and somewhat creepy, there are other challenges for Black women. Different ones too for women with fuller figures who want to be confident and show their sexiness – at a time when culture still defines beauty as being slim and, usually, white. I am going to sum up and offer thoughts soon. Music has been hyper-sexualised for years. The objectification that women face. This piece from 2019 asked whether sexualisation in music was liberation or objectification. Definitely, in many music videos from male artists, women are still seen as objects. Very much there to add sex and controversy. A lot of powerful women are using videos to be provocative on their own terms. To show the spectrum of beauty. There is a lot of depth from women in terms of the themes and visuals of their videos. I still think a lot of times it is the industry casting women as sexual and emphasising beauty – rather than a lot of women themselves. There are women striking out and speaking against the combination of sexualisation that still happens in the industry, together with these definitions of how women should behave and look. This article from the Jamaica Star this year featured Shuga. Her single, Strike a Pose, called out social media. How those platforms are holding women to impossible and often sexist standards:
“In 2019, singer and songwriter Shuga launched her Femme Phenomenal foundation which supports women and girls who have experienced abuse.
Though the organisation's activities were hampered during the pandemic, she still continued her advocacy through music. Now her newest single Strike A Pose is tackling how social media is holding women to unnatural beauty standards.
"The song represents for the natural women because when you go into the dancehall space, it is all about the 'dolly' dem and the 'chromazz' dem, the silicone breast and the BBL [Brazilian butt lift] body. But natural women are also in the spaces. However, no song nuh out there weh a represent them. Like when Buju Banton made Browning, he went back and made Love Black Women on the same rhythm because is not only brown women out there, you have black women too and both want to feel respected," she told THE WEEKEND STAR.
Strike A Pose is under Penthouse Records' promotion on the 'Media Dolly' rhythm. Shuga won the Digicel Rising Stars title in 2009, and since then has been making her way in the business with reggae tunes such as Ebony and Dear Mr Government. Often using her talent for social commentary, she said Strike A Pose is also for her.
"When you enter the social media space, it is a little bit tricky with trends and it plays with the psyche. If you don't know what you doing, you turn fool on social media. You want to trend too. And when we think about a young girl coming up now in this type of society, everything that she sees trending makes her feel like 'Okay, I want to do this. But in order to, I have try these things to reach dere so'. So you really have to be strong and not everyone will have the kind of strength," she explained”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Christina Aguilera/PHOTO CREDIT: Zoey Grossman/PAPER
If Madonna, at sixty-five, is still smashing the patriarchy and battling against continued misogyny and offence when it comes to her live shows and looks, look at the other end of the spectrum. How young girls look online and see what beautiful means. What standards there are for beauty in the modern age. More and more told to wear make-up at a very young age. Last year (twenty years after its release), Christina Aguilera released a new music video for her anthem. Beautiful. It was updated to reflect modern beauty standards imposed on girls and young women:
“Christina Aguilera has released a new music video for her iconic song 'Beautiful'.
Twenty years after she debuted the heart-wrenching track that exudes the message of 'love yourself', the pop star is back with a modern version.
While the song has remained unchanged for this new video, Aguilera has exposed today's brutal beauty standards and the way kids are fed an almost unrealistic expectation on what 'beautiful' means.
The video shows an array of young girls with faces full of makeup staring into a ring-light and camera, seemingly trying to look pretty for their social media followers.
Another clip shows a girl put breast cups into her top to try and boost her cleavage.
But it's not just girls and women who are subjected to impossible beauty standards.
The 2022 music video for 'Beautiful' also shows a skinny young boy standing opposite and absolutely jacked bodybuilder lifting weights.
He looks overwhelmed at the idea of trying to become as big as the man he's standing near.
As the song reaches its legendary crescendo, the kids who have been burdened by the concept of being perfect break out of society's moulds and you get to see them frolicking in a park.
They're climbing trees, running through the grass and doing what kids have done for decades.
Christina is clearly taking a dig at social media's influence on a child's mental health and their perception on beauty.
Fans have flocked to the comments section to praise the pop star for sending out an important message.
One wrote: "I’m not a cryer but this had me sobbing thinking about how much my childhood was wasted comparing myself to other kids, magazines, artists, living on my phone. Love yourself people! You are so loved and perfect the way you are. Thanks Christina for this."
Another added: "I find myself listening to this song when I’ve been having bad days and the fact that a woman with a powerful voice like yours and a creative mind to show visuals of issues like this that f up the young lives today is a true artist, a honest artist. I absolutely love you for speaking and showing real issues in the world."
A third said: "Her first video for 'Beautiful' was a big thing back then. I'm happy to see another version of this video that perfectly shows what so called 'beauty standards' people, especially children/young people, are exposed to via social media”.
It is a complex and multi-layered debate. Take a gender-fluid/neutral artist like Sam Smith and how there is judgment against them. Their video for I‘m Not Here to Make Friends was heavily criticised because Smith was sexy and confident. Not obscene or explicit, it showed that there are even standards when you compare slender cis women and non-binary artists who are not super-skinny. A few years back, Tweet discussed how a new breed of female rappers are almost expected to be overly-sexual and are overly-sexualised in order to win. The way they can overtake their male peers. I think raw talent will do that, yet there is some truth in what she said. How many women across Pop, Rap and other genres can make videos where they are not overly-sexual and pushing their bodies and beauty?! For those women who want to project that aspect, there are so many others who feel obliged to do that. It is clear that there needs to challenges on social media that stop video that can influence impressionable young women and children. This earlier indoctrination about beauty ideals. The music industry needs to challenge how it markets women. If we do have women at the top of music winning on their own terms, has this always been the way?!
IN THIS PHOTO: Tweet
So many today have to promote their sexuality in order to get the same attention and focused as many. Some are seen as celebrated purely because of how they look. Although things have improved since the darker days of the '90s and '00s, there is still a long way to go. It takes me back to that article from The Guardian where I started out. How Madonna shows flesh and produces this engaging, sexy and alluring performance and is seen as obscene; subjected to ageism and misogyny. How women who go bare-faced are applauded. Rather than it being seen as acceptable enough to be the norm. It is always that debate and line as to women who want to look and dress how they want and do things on their terms. That can involve dressing sexily and confident in their own skin. Many other women might not want to do this. I still feel there is a perception in the industry and wider society that urges women to configure to their expectations. The standards always shift and mutate, so it is impossible for women at all times! Standards that men do not have to be held to. In music, the older the female artist is, the more obstacles and criticisms they have to face. Trailblazers like Madonna have paved the way for generations of artists to push boundaries and break conventions. It is angering and depressing women are held to different standards as men. How many cannot do right for doing wrong. Judged if they want to be natural and who they really are. Judged if they are sexy and more provocative. On the other hand, the industry still does have this ideal. Not only with how female artists should be represented and act. There are these extra barriers for trans women, women of colour and women are not seen as ‘thin’. This unchanging narrative that is over-sexualised and sexist gets under the skin. It is infuriating. When it comes to how women in music should act, look and conduct their careers, those decisions should entirely be firmly…
IN their hands.