Over the Hill??: Christina Aguilera Reflection
If Tedx Talks guest speaker, Kristin Lieb, watched Christina Aguilera’s hit video, “Your Body,” she would most likely argue that the singer had transformed from a girl next door hit maker into a fully blown, “clothing on the floor” songstress. Lines such as, “I am a freak,” and “come love my body,” are incorporated into the track in order to portray Aguilera as sexually mysterious and appealing. Other lyrics like “open that box you don’t need no key” insinuate she is exceedingly promiscuous. Yet, lyrics aside, the video alone oozes sex appeal. Throughout the song, Aguilera is filmed in a bra and tights which provide the viewer with multiple close-ups of the singer’s almost naked body. In one scene, she sits on the lap of a rugged looking man and they kiss passionately while he grabs both her waist and breasts in a sexually provocative manner.
A somewhat forgettable song, the music video still has well over 150 million views. Based off Lieb’s talk, one may assume Aguilera incorporated so many sexual undertones in order to generate buzz for a career that has taken noticeably dipped over the past few years. Some fans such as Venus Oxley comment on the video, “the sexiest body in the world!” Others like B. Hunt also focus on her sex appeal stating, “man she is sexy and improving with age in all areas….” While these comments are indeed flattering, neither mention the songstress’s voice or musical ability in any way. In fact, of the nearly 30 video comments I read, over 25 focused on how “hot,” and “attractive” Aguilera was. Many of the comments were so similar that if I were to copy and paste them onto a simple sheet of paper, and have people read them, many would probably guess that they were associated with a sexy photoshoot, not a Grammy winning musician’s music video.
Another artist seemingly embracing this form of hyper-sexualization is Katy Perry. In her newly released music video, Bon Appetite, Perry is dressed in an all nude skin tight jumpsuit. Throughout the music video, the camera centers in around her almost exposed breasts and behind. To make the video even more sexual, her background dancers place Perry on the floor and begin to rub her upper legs and massage her shoulders as she smiles slyly to the audience. Later, she is placed in a large caldron of boiling water and begins to suggestively lick the drops off her face while making eye contact with the camera. Just like Aguilera’s video, Bon Appetite seems to center around the events in the video instead of the actual song. As a result, Kristin Lieb of Emerson University would also likely refer to Katy Perry as a “clothing on the floor” popstar.
