Sexism and pop (or why sex and relationships education should be compulsory)

The world is a different place when I was growing up and listening to freshly pressed pop music. I’m a Smiths fan; Morrissey’s song titles and lyrics about women were benign, funny, and often liberating: Some Girls are Bigger Than Others, a bucktoothed girl in Luxembourg; You’re the One for Me, Fatty. Even the classic Eurovision Bucks Fizz skirt-whipping-off routine looks twee in today’s terms.  Now it seems unless a pop star is either singing about rape surrounded by semi nude women, OR  starkers on a pseudo construction site, they can’t expect to get to number one in the charts.

The debate around the depiction and representation of women the media has never been more pronounced- or necessary. Lose the Lads Mags, Everyday Sexism and No More Page 3 campaigns have had enormous support and a number of (small) victories. But no matter how hard we work, there seems to be a daily onslaught of new wars to be fought.

Pop music and videos are the new battleground. Recently Charlotte Church, Annie Lennox and Sinead O’Connor have voiced their concerns – and shared their firsthand knowledge – about sexism in the media and music industry. It seems timely that a desperately needed campaign has just launched.

Rewindreframe is led by young women from Imkaan, End Violence Against Women and OBJECT. They are calling for hosting platforms such as YouTube and Vevo to stop hosting racist and sexist music videos; the music industry to stop making music videos which represent women as sex objects and push racist stereotypes.  They also want the Government to have age ratings for music videos and respectful relationships and media literacy to be taught in schools.

It’s a tall order.  Taking on the terrible twins of music and media  requires the fortitude of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros, not to mention a roaring pride of lionesses (and lions).

The Children’s Commissioner published a worrying report earlier this year stating there is a high correlation between exposure to pornography and negative attitudes and behavior in children. By the time young girls and boys get to school they’ve already had access to a wallpaper of pornographic images on mainstream, pre-watershed TV. As Robin Thicke so ineloquently sings, the lines are blurred. And it’s not just porn that’s damaging children.  At least we know what that looks like, and we can turn off the TV and do something less boring instead.

Sexism can also come in sweetly wrapped packages. Disney recently provoked criticism when its head animator Lino diSalvo said animating female characters is “really, really difficult, because they have to go through these range of emotions”. Cue another cookie cutter expressionless Princess peddling the same old story.  It’s easier.  And perpetuates a particularly insidious form of sexism that embeds in girls’ brains from a very young age.

There are clear links between media messages and women feeling dehumanized which links to justifying objectification and violence.  Figures from the organization End Violence Against Women state that 1 in 3 girls experience unwanted sexual touching in school, and 1 in 3 teenage girls experience sexual violence from a partner.

Labour’s pledge to make sex and relationships education compulsory in order to teach young people about sexual consent and respectful relationships is not just admirable, it’s essential to the future wellbeing of the nation – girls and boys, men and women. Together with the pledge to create a Commission on Violence Against Women and Girls and our newly dedicated shadow minister for Women and Equalities post, Labour is making a serious commitment to challenging sexism and changing not just hearts and minds, but policy too.

Rewind&Reframe and Pop & Politics are holding a debate on music videos: Blurred Lines or old-fashioned sexism? Tackling sexism and racism in music videos 5-7pm, Monday 11th November