Mariah Carey - WTAF?

[NotGoodNotBad]

Video for You're Beautiful.

Saw this last night on American Idol, prefaced by Mariah saying that she does what she wants in her videos, not what the record company says - well, when you're so rich and famous, I guess you do. Her songs aren't my cup of tea, so I don't know what she usually does. But this is what she came up with?

Total male fantasy stuff - fully dressed man (who I've never heard of), and skimpily dressed woman. Macho props (motorbike and flash car). Worst of all, lots of simpering from Mariah, who is in her 40's and not much younger than me albeit rather more attractive, but seems to think she's a silly teenager. The reason I mention her age is not because I think she's mutton-dressed-as-lamb or anything, just that I'd have thought she'd have had a bit more going on in her head, and would find this demeaning. Now we all know that rich or famous or powerful women are not necessarily feminists (Thatcher for a start), but really? Why, just why?

OK, so I'm no singer, and will never be making a video, but it would be a cold day in hell before I appeared in something like this.

Am I making something out of nothing? I guess I'll get a load of answers saying that feminism means doing what you like which I will ignore. But am I overthinking this? What do you think?

[MiniTheMinx]

I tried to watch it, the music is shit, had to turn it off but the car was nice!

It's soft porn isn't it. Bad music is sold on the back of misogyny. Is it lazy or a well executed way of shaping peoples thoughts and behaviour.

It doesn't worry me that Mariah may have little going on between her ears but I do feel insulted regularly, the music and entertainment industry in general is a distraction and means of pacifying people.

[LynetteScavo]

"I'd have thought she'd have had a bit more going on in her head,"

We are talking about Maiah Carey here.

[StealthOfficialCrispTester]

Maybe what's going on in her head is selling her music?
Not seen it and it sounds vile. But it's cool to be OK with soft porn these days isn't it?

[TeiTetua]

Are pornified performances by women artists shaping people's thoughts, or catering to them? It seems to me that the performers and the audience are in full agreement about this. Recently both Beyonce and Rihanna have been mentioned in similar ways here.

Say what you like about Margaret Thatcher, at least she never did that.

[NotGoodNotBad]

Tei, now I'm imagining Margaret Thatcher doing that...

[Italiangreyhound]

What a load of absolute tosh! (The video I mean), the motorbike bit makes me think of 'Readers' wives'.

[thezebrawearspurple]

God that was shit. Mariah always looks like she's mentally not 'all there', too many drugs perhaps. Her attempts at sexiness fail, too fake and not with it at all.

[chipmonkey]

[cornypedicure]

the simpering in the yellow dress

[HeartsTrumpDiamonds]

Oh God, we had to turn Idol off so that the DD's wouldn't see it. Totally soft porn. She has another video from several years back, can't remember the song but the video was full of her washing a car in extremely skimpy cutoffs and a tank top, no bra, foam everywhere, you get the idea - it is disgusting to watch. She's not an entirely stupid woman - not overly articulate on Idol, but not stupid - so she must know what she is doing, appealing to male sexuality like that and sublimating any worth of herself as a woman that is not tied to her looks / sexuality.

I hate that my DDs are growing up in a world where these types of women are their role models. I guess it's my incredibly hard job as their mum to make sure that they are exposed to the "right" kind of women as well - the ones who use their brains and feelings to make the world a better place.

[NotGoodNotBad]

It's very frustrating as well, since she (and Beyonce and Rihanna come to that) are talented singers - why can't they just sing, why do they have to act sexy?

[ubik]

poor Mariah

[HoneyDragon]

The woman puts make up on her dog to make it look prettier. Her dog.

[FrankSpenser]

Ha! Does anyone remember the comedy sketch:

"...Don't look at meee! I'm so shy! .."



"..I said...flutters eyelashes and simpers...don't look at mee...Why do you loook?....pushes tits out...I see you looking at meeee..I'm just a shy and innocent girl.. ."



"Whhaaat?...." Simper simper

[EldritchCleavage]

Worst part is the yellow dress bit. Lots of vids do this kind of prance about in front of the bloke thing, so now performing like a stripper/lap dancer for your man is being normalised. Bleurgh.