There's Something in these Lyrics: Chris Brown, Sexual Scripts, Gendered Relationships, & Sexual Health

Chris Brown's revival of ninety's rap & boyband music video style in his "Liquor"/"Zero" megavideo doesn't just lament the downfall and aftermath of Breezy's failed relationship, it's a veritable gold mine of potentially harmful sexual content and damaging myths just begging to be dug into. The video ultimately reinforces existing heterosexual social scripts, relationship gender norms and sexual health tropes.

The part of the video dedicated to "Liquor" begins with a woman drugging Breezy in order to make him interested in her. It's interesting to think about why she did this when she could have just walked up to Brown and "gamed him up." By having this be the woman's option of choice, the video reinforces Kim et al.'s "Feminine Courting Strategies," which "describe the passive and indirect ways in which women attract or court a male partner" (2007). Kim's heterosexual script does not identify drugging as a strategy, but by doing this, the woman is able to avoid employing a "Masculine Courting Strategy," which would be more active and direct. The argument could also be made that the woman is taking on a stereotypically masculine role by initiating date rape, but considering Brown's pursuant behavior throughout the video, it seems more significant that she specifically avoided initiating conversation to maintain her FCS. The lyrics of the song revolves around the girl's figure, wanting to see her strip, and just wanting to "drink and fuck". These lyrics point toward Kim et al.'s "Sex as Masculinity" script, which says men should be sexual initiators, preoccupied with sex, objectify women and value them primarily for their physical attractiveness. This portrayals of courtship and sexual relationships uphold the sexual double standards and power structures that characterize male-female relations in our society.

The pivot point in the video depicts Breezy coming home to find his presumed ex-girlfriend tossing his clothes off the balcony. Instead of trying to fix the relationship, Brown looks after himself by grabbing a change of clothes and , which aligns closely with Holz, Ivory, Gibson & Ivory's definition of dominant acts in the context of relationships: "dominant acts involved the formation of separations (e.g., decision making without consulting others), narcissistic self-assertion, and self-protection" (2009). The fact that Chris Brown is the one in the dominant position reinforces the idea that this is the role that men should and do take in relationships.

The following song is titled "Zero," which is a significant number to Chris Brown because he says  that's "how many nights I've been thinking of you" as well as "how many fucks I give." This sort of detached attitude toward a breakup is reminiscent of another one of Kim et al.'s heterosexual scripts, this time the one concerning masculine commitment. (2007) This script states that men should avoid commitment and "not take part in relationship maintenance (e.g., resolving a fight, spending time together) and try to evade becoming emotionally involved with their female partners"; it is clear that Breezy is not committed, not interested in maintaining his failing relationship and not particularly emotionally involved. The result of this script's presence in the video is the maintenance of male-dominated relationship power structures.

The video ends with an exchange between Chris Brown and Instagram star and notorious playboy Dan Bilzerian, after he pours an comical amount of condoms onto a convenience store's counter. This may serve as a message in favor of sexual health practices, the condoms seem to be used to comically imply Bilzerian's ability to have sex with a lot of women rather than his concern for his sexual health and that of his partners. This humorous treatment of sexual health is consistent with Hust, Brown & L'Engle's findings: that messages about sexual health are rare and if present, tend to portray sexual health as a humorous or humiliating topic. Failing to take sexual health seriously could result in life-altering consequences for people of all ages.

This video, despite featuring the best dance moves of the last decade, reinforces male relational dominance and makes light of sexual health and date rape. Interpreting these representations as realistic could result in dangerous attitudes and behaviors in audiences.

References

1. Kim, J. L., Sorsoli, C. L., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B. A., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. L. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. Journal of Sex Research, 44(2), 145-157. doi: 10.1080/00224490701263660 
2. Holz Ivory, A., Gibson, R., & Ivory, J. D. (2009). Gendered relationships on television: Portrayals of same-sex and heterosexual couples. Mass Communication & Society, 12(2), 170-192. doi: 10.1080/15205430802169607 
3. Hust, S. J. T., Brown, J. D., & L'Engle, K. L. (2008). Boys will be boys and girls better be prepared: An analysis of the rare sexual health messages in young adolescents' media. Mass Communication & Society, 11(1), 3-23. doi: 10.1080/15205430701668139 

To Do or Not To Do

           In The To Do List Brandy Clark (Aubrey Plaza) decides that before she goes to college she needs to become more sexually experienced. To accomplish this, she makes a “to-do list” of sexual actives to complete throughout the summer. The first aspect I find interesting about this clip is the character’s motivation to become more sexually experienced. After going to her first college party, Brandy finds a boy she is extremely attracted to. However, she believes that he won’t find her desirable unless she is sexually experienced. Brandy claims, “I’m engaging, smart, [and] once I add sexually experienced to the package he’ll totally want me.” Here, she expresses the belief that without being sexually skilled, she is not desirable to an older boy. In this attitude she fits into the stigma script of virginity where her virginity is seen as undesirable (Kelly, 480). This script is further employed by other characters, one of which screams out “get off the stage, virgin” when Brandy rises to make her speech at her high school graduation.

In order to become more desirable to Rusty, Brandy wants to become more sexually experienced. With this desire comes an assumption that this college boy is sexually advanced. However, as the audience sees later in the movie, this is far from the truth. Despite being in college and extremely good-looking, Rusty is unskilled in bed. Brandy falls into the same trap that many young adults do today, she falsely believed that her peers had more sexual experience than they actually did (Chia &Gunther, 302). What I especially enjoy about this movie is the way it explores some of the prevalent beliefs of young adults on sexuality. Through the eyes of Brandy, the audience can see that the complicated world of teenage sex is not always what meets the eye.

The Least Virginy Virgin

Despite being a universal activity, virginity loss is a concept that each person might define a little differently. Among my friend group in high school, we treated it as something that should happen once you have developed a significant bond with another person, someone who would treat you respectfully and sleep only with you. The majority of the male population of my high school treated it more as a life event that should happen as quickly as possible in order to define their manhood and really grow into themselves. This differing schema of the same event caused many tearful mornings among the females who fell victim to this, however stereotypical this picture might look.

The HBO show Girls portrays a variety of sexual narratives and models. Shoshanna is the virgin of a quartet compiled of four very different best friends, all the rest of whom are very sexually active. In Season 1 Episode 4, “Hannah’s Diary,” Shoshanna rekindles a friendship with a childhood acquaintance and immediately sees their night together as an opportunity to lose her bothersome v card. Maura Kelly defines this mindset in her study “Virginity Loss Narratives in “Teen Drama” Television Programs” as following the urgency script, “which defines virginity as a stigma and virginity loss as necessary to maintain social status and affirm gendered identity.” Not only is sex treated as something that Shoshanna must get rid of in order to be sexually attractive, traditional gendered stereotypes are upheld in the interaction between Shoshanna and the boy. Upon being told that she is a virgin, the boy immediately backs off and refuses to keep hooking up, explicitly stating that he doesn’t “do virgins” for the very reason that they become too attached. By saying this, he is supporting the idea of conventional female emotional stereotypes and causing Shoshanna to have to forcibly deny them as something very negative.

    

Although this study supports Shoshanna’s portrayal of the urgency script, she goes against some of Kelly’s theories in her enthusiasm to lose her virginity. The episode never touches on the ““dilemma of desire” that female teenagers face: [defined as] either accept and act on feelings of desire or remain safe from the “personal, physical, social, material, or relational consequences of having that desire.”” Shoshanna displays no concern for judgment over being sexually active, which I might argue is actually a step forward for feminism in that regard. She knows what she wants, even if it might be subconsciously determined by sexist norms, and goes for it. Unfortunately, the cultivated male aversion to attached females gets in her way.

References

Dunham, L. (2012). Hannah’s Diary. HBO. Season 1, Episode 4.

Kelly, M. (2010). Virginity loss narratives in “teen drama” television programs. Journal of Sex Research, 47(5), 479-489. doi: 10.1080/00224490903132044 

Got Milk?

In a world where digital technology such as TV, movies, and music surround us, print media is becoming less and less relevant in today's society.  Nevertheless, magazines are still a very prominent part of our culture that many children and adolescents still enjoy and take part in.  Because of this continuous desire to consume magazines, it is important to study the material that magazines present to adolescents when it comes to topics regarding sex, whether it is present in the articles or in the advertisements.  In one particular magazine advertisement, it is pretty clear what sort of messages are being relayed to America's youth and it is definitely not a positive one.

As you can see, this advertisement is an extremely offensive portait of a woman getting splashed with milk in her eye.  The connotation attatched to it is of a woman performing a sexual act on a man and the subsequent result of being covered on her face by presumably male ejaculate.  The words on top, "GET HER USED TO IT" is implying that woman should be used performing sexual acts for men and accepting their semen wherever the man chooses.  The themes of sexual objectifaction of women, male domination, and female subservience riddle this advertisement.

When female youth see this advertisement in magazines, the message they are receiving is definitely not a good one.  Brown et. al's study on prediciting adolescent sexual behavior based on media consumption (including magazines) indubitbaly relates to this advertisement.  When a female is subject to this type of marketing, they are primed to believe that they too are supposed to act like this.  They too are supposed to be sexually subervient to men.  Especially with a message of "GET HER USED TO IT", female adolescents may believe that his her only type of sexual future.  Brown et. al's study determined that more exposure to media such as this positvely correlates to earlier sexual behavior and activity among female adolescents.  I can not speak for them since I am male, but I can safely assume that, in their footsteps, advertisements like these would prompt me to be more involved in sexual activity at a younger age.  This ad in particular is even more damaging than the sexual media Brown mentions becuase this message is a specifically sexist and discriminatory one to the gender identity and roles of women.  The responses and behaviors by young girls will definitely fluxuate based on the their characteristcs as either disinterested, intrigued, or resistant (Brown et. al, pg. 179).  Those that are intrigued will be most prone to these messages becuase they are fairly interested in what they are consuming.  Resistors make their own decision on what they see and girl that are disinterested rather avoid this media.  Brown was concerned that the media girls consume can become natural to them (pg. 177).  Hopefully magazines and other media sources can be more careful in what they are producing and portraying to America's youth becuase of this cultivation effect.  It can undoubtedly have lasting effects.

Brown, J. D., L'Engle, K. L., Pardun, C. J., Guo, G., Kenneavy, K., & Jackson, C. (2006). Sexy media matter: Exposure to sexual content in music, movies, television, and magazines predicts Black and White adolescents' sexual behavior. Pediatrics, 117(4), 1018-1027. doi: 10.1542/peds.2005-1406

Brown, J. D., White, A. B., & Nikopoulou, L. (1993). Disinterest, intrigue, resistance: Early adolescent girls' use of sexual media content. In B. S. Greenberg, J. D. Brown & N. Buerkel-Rothfuss (Eds.), Media, sex and the adolescent (pp. 177-195). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press

Samantha and Maria's Gendered Relationship

Sex and the City is and always has been a show that is known for its candidness and inclusive nature when it comes to sex.  So, it is no surprise that lesbian and gay situations and characters occur throughout its six seasons.  One of the most notable lesbian “relationships” was Samantha and Maria’s three-episode stint.  Throughout the show, Samantha is portrayed as a carefree, sexual woman who is definitely NOT looking for a relationship.  She embodies independence and sexual confidence, and as a personal fan of the show, I have definitely look up to certain aspects of her character.  Given Samantha’s personality, it came as quite a shock when she committed herself to not only a relationship, but to a woman (as she is constantly talking about how much she loves men and sex with them). 

Initially Samantha is only interested in being friends with Maria, as she really is not a relationship person.  But, when Maria tells her she is not interested in being friends anymore, Samantha decides to go for it.  She quickly becomes intrigued about learning about the female body and her own sexuality.  But, as time progresses we see another side of Maria – the typical “woman” in her comes out. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6blnhIWi58

(Skip to 1:20)

Holz describes in her study that “Throughout history, television has either ignored homosexuality or has portrayed it in a highly stereotypical manner” (Holz, 2009).  In many ways, this episode of Sex and the City fits the mold that Holz describes.  Holz discusses how lesbian women are generally either portrayed as the “butch” stereotype or the “femme.”  In this sense, Samantha and Maria’s relationship does not show stereotypical portrayals of lesbian relationships.  Instead, Samantha takes on the traditional role of the man – remaining unemotional and focused on sex.  Throughout the entirety of their (very short) relationship, Samantha complains about Maria’s desire to do nothing but “lie around, take baths together, and talk about feelings.” 

In many ways this relationship reinforces the stereotypes associated with lesbian relationships.  But it does so in a different way than Holz describes in her study.  Rather than focusing on appearance or “dude”-like qualities of the women (as both are generally pretty “femme”), the two characters are stereotypical in more traditional “heterosexual relationship” sense.  Samantha desires sex and connection in a sexual manner, going out and being social with her friends (i.e., independence), and not talking about her feelings.  On the other hand, Maria embodies some very traditional female stereotypes of women including being very emotional, needy, wanting to talk about feelings, irrational, and viewing sex as a way to build an emotional connection.  These women ultimately do take on gendered roles in their relationship even though they are both feminine women.