Pain to Pleasure

While for many 50 Shades of Grey is the first thought that comes to bind when thinking about BDSM, I immediately picture Rihanna's music video to her song S &M. Rihanna is an extremely successful artist who began her career at age 16. She is strong and has been through a lot as she has stated in numerous interviews. Rihanna watched as her father assaulted her mother and further, she experienced it herself. Rihanna was assaulted by Chris Brown when they were dating in 2009. Therefore Rihanna grew up watching abuse and further experienced it herself. Rihanna wrote S&M two years after she was assaulted by Chris Brown. S&M was released in January, 2011. 

Mainstreaming Kink: The Politics of BDSM Representation in U.S. Popular Media offers the acceptance and understanding of BDSM as "understandable only when it is the symptom of a deviant type of person with a sick, damaged core" (Weiss, 2006). Many would use the word "damaged" to describe Rihanna and her past of abuse. In particular, the reading states that this understanding is through pathologizing, as mentioned in reference to the movie Secretary (Weiss, 2006). This is similar when illustrating the use of BDSM in 50 Shades of Grey as Christian Grey also suffered abuse as a child and was deemed to be damaged. The fact that he was damaged is what made his use of BDSM acceptable. Rihanna uses BDSM throughout her music video as she illustrates the lyrics to the viewer. In the very beginning of the music video it states in headlines: Daddy Issues? I believe that this is referring to the fact that her father beat her mother and therefore Rihanna has daddy issues, emphasizing how broken she may be for those that are unaware.

Rihanna's illustration of SM shows that the reading Mainstreaming Kink: The Politics of BDSM Representation in U.S. Popular Media may be true when it speaks about the transformation of BDSM from dangerous and shocking to normal (Weiss, 2006). This is true as well with 50 Shades of Grey, as the novel first came out in 2011, the same year Rihanna's song S&M was released. However, 50 Shades of Grey portrays BDSM with the male as dominant and the female as submissive. In this video it is the other way around. Rihanna is shown to be the dominant one as she gags the reporters and whips them them because she states that she is excited by chains and whips. While in 50 Shades of Grey the girl was the one on the leash, in the music video Rihanna has Perez Hilton, a man, on a leash outdoors. This is where it gets interesting. I had wondered how exactly it may look different if the woman was dominant and the male was submissive. The music video does not treat SM as a joke but it does not treat it as serious either. While Perez Hilton is on the leash he acts like a dog as he pretends to pee on the fire extinguisher and walks on all fours with his tongue out, dressed in bright colors. When the girl is the submissive one as in 50 Shades of Grey, there are no jokes, it is completely serious and not exaggerated. This difference makes me wonder if it is a difference due to the different media types such as a music video versus a movie. Is it a difference due to the genders of who is dominant and submissive? Is it simply a difference in the writer/choreographer of the song/music video and the writer of the movie? These are questions I have that will need to be answered with greater research and possibly more examples of BDSM portrayals in the media. 

Due to the fact that S&M by Rihanna was a popular song that was on the Billboard Hot 100, I questioned the effect that song lyrics could have on behavior. This was a main concern in my head because I believe Rihanna's target audience is primarily girls between that range from their teen years through their twenties. I therefore looked to “Love Will Steer the Stars” and Other Improbable Feats: Media Myths in Popular Love Songs for an answer. However, this reading states that they could not find research regarding a direct link between song lyrics and behavior, in terms of both violence and sexuality (Bader, 2007). While the main portrayals of BDSM seem to show males as dominant and females as submissive, I question whether this song would have a positive or negative effect on listeners regarding violence and sexuality, in particular the use of BDSM. I wonder if more females would believe they should be in charge and ultimately enjoy this sexual violence because Rihanna was and they watched her music video and listened to the lyrics. The listeners, teenagers, are at an extremely vulnerable age because they most likely were not co-viewing this music video with their parents. 

Lastly, I wonder what the findings would be if a study was done concerning the media effects of BDSM on instrumental attitudes towards sex. For example, if after viewing Rihanna's music video S&M, and other similar media examples, if the viewer would view sex as a physical and casual game where the viewer would stress pleasure over affectionate and relational feelings (Valkenburg, 2010). We observed the connection of porn on instrumental attitudes towards sex but I would like to see more specifically BDSM, and the subset SM, and its effects. 

Reference

Bader, A. (2007). "Love will steer the stars" and other improbable feats: Media myths in popular love songs. In M.-L. Galician & D. L. Merskin (Eds.), Critical thinking about sex, love, and romance in the mass media (pp. 141-160). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Guo, W. & Nathanson, A.I. (2011). The effects of parental mediation of sexual content on the sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of afolescents in the US. Journal of Children and Media, 5(4), 358-378. doi: 10.1080/17482798.2011.587141

Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2010). Processes underlying the effects of adolescents' use of sexually explicit Internet material: The role of perceived realism. Communication Research, 37(3), 375-399. doi: 10.1177/0093650210362464

Weiss, M. (2006). Mainstreaming kink: The politics of BDSM representation in U.S. popular media. Journal of Homosexuality, 50(2/3), 103-132. doi: 10.1300/J082v50n02_06