reflect on 9 essays !

Reiser 6

Gregory Reiser

Prof. Harrison

Queer Studies 115

14 October 2014

Smack My Stereotypes Up

Many people have undoubtedly seen music videos online in which men go out to a bar or a club to pop pills and practically inhale liquor like it is their sole purpose in life with strippers or other attractive, scantily-clad women surrounding them. Typically, these images are seen in rap videos, electronic music videos, and sometimes heavy rock music videos. This stereotypical menagerie is even seen in The Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up,” and is flaunted almost arrogantly to whomever watches. However, one thing is different in this stereotypical scenario: it is not a man that partakes in these actions. This music video explores and provides a counter-example to stereotyped gender roles in music videos by presenting a female character in the stereotyped role of an abusive, aggressive male.

Stereotypes are very commonplace in music videos, especially with the typical male behavioral pattern. According to the widely-recognized and widely-accepted stereotype, men in music videos are usually seen harassing or objectifying women and somehow being rewarded for this act with sex. They are often violent as well, with “some level of violence” showing up in over “half of… television shows and movies most popular among adolescent boys” (Mediate). It is no surprise that, with this knowledge, such a stereotype is generally accepted amongst males, especially when they are marketed towards such a group of viewers as adolescents. This common idea does not stop at violence, though, and also includes constant substance abuse at an almost casual level, which is displayed throughout “Smack My Bitch Up” almost in its entirety. Following the depiction of drugs is the assumption of being a sexual deviant, with the conceived notion that men exist solely to attempt to court with the opposite gender, which is also a common theme in the music video. While these ideas are well-known, they are certainly not the only ideas, and the male stereotype is not the only common stereotype.

Females have their own stereotypes in music videos as well. While the male is very domineering and aggressive, the woman typically plays a more submissive, supportive role. In music videos across the board, women are often seen as the objectified sexual desire of men as opposed to the pursuer of said sexual desire. Women are labeled with this stereotype so often that they “are rarely portrayed in viable nontraditional roles” (Seidman). Unfortunately, the female stereotype has been so far rooted into the traditional formula of music videos that there is rarely a video in which female characters forgo this stereotype, unless the video itself was made to do so. In “Smack My Bitch Up,” women are certainly seen in these positions. They are the victims of harassment and they are the strippers offering their bodies to sate the hordes of lustful men; they are seen in almost every situation within the video. Within the entire video, there is only one female character that breaks out of this stereotype, and that is the main character of the video.

With breaking out of the female stereotype, however, the video takes a rather interesting turn and places the main character into the stereotype of the opposite gender. While the video uses the male stereotype to the point of showing it off to the viewer, it is not actually the male stereotype because it is not a male that is following it. It is a woman who binge-consumes the alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, abusing and harassing the masses of women lining the walls and couches of clubs. While the video does not show the viewer straight away that the “stereotyped” character is female, there are hints given throughout: her neon pink bed, her nails when she consumes shots of liquor, the man flirting with her at the bar, her physique when she abuses heroin, and so on. By replacing a male protagonist with a female in the opposite stereotype, the video effectively debunks common ideas associated with said stereotypes.

The video does not just disprove the male stereotype in this way, however. In the video, when the man at the bar is rejected by the main character, he does not act out, act offended, or start harassing the main character. He simply accepts the rejection and moves on, which is certainly not associated with the common male stereotype. Compare this to the near violent reactions to rejection that the female main character has, such as smashing chairs and shot glasses and attacking performers at clubs, and it becomes easy to see that this character does not fit the aggressive male “standard” that is almost to be expected in music videos. His attire also helps to debunk this common stereotypical association; instead of a messy, thrown-together outfit, he is clad in a well-made suit with neat hair and a sort of visual personality that is mature and respectful. Not only do his actions go against the typical pre-conceived ideas, but his appearance does as well. The male stereotype is not the only stereotype broken by miscellaneous characters, though.

Although they are often scantily clad, and are often put in sexual situations, the women in the music video break the female stereotype in different ways. The common female stereotype is that of a submissive, sexually objectified view, classifying women as objects of sexual pleasure and eroticism in music videos. While the women in The Prodigy’s video are put in revealing outfits and are looked at in a sexually objectified manner, most of the women in the video break the stereotype of willingness to court with others. Countless times in the video, the protagonist is knocked to the ground, pushed, shoved, slapped, or even verbally rejected by females in response to unsolicited sexual interaction, whether it be touching, flirting, or groping. By acting out and fighting back against their harasser, these women show that they are not willing to sexually interact with a random person, as is the stereotype established by vast examples of other music videos. Additionally, almost all of the women manage to display strong personalities when they are approached by the main character, also breaking stereotypes that often associate women with submissive or otherwise gentle personalities. The women in the music video are strong and defensive, and that fractures pre-conceived ideas about their gender role in music videos. However, despite the numerous examples of gender-role stereotypes being broken, some might say that this is not what is important.

Some people may argue that although the video breaks stereotypes, the most important aspect of the video is the relentless scrutiny of drugs and sex. Almost every shot of the music video contains drugs, alcohol, or sexual themes, and shots that did not display these visually made references to them in camera movements or reactions to them, such as throwing up blood in reaction to drugs. They might argue that the video mocks the typical abuse and display of sex, drugs, and alcohol in music videos across the spectrum of musical genres. However, while this is a valid point that can be made about the video, the importance of this topic cannot compete with the importance of the stereotypes that are displayed and promptly broken within the video. Attention to the representation of sex, drugs, and alcohol is important, but the representation of these themes rest under the all-encompassing umbrella of gender-roles. The stereotyped role of men in music videos exhibits the mass consumption of drugs and alcohol, and the stereotyped role of women in music videos incorporates alcohol and sex into its commonly-assumed idea. It is not possible to evaluate the depictions of drugs, sex, and alcohol in music videos without first taking to heart how the themes interact with stereotyped gender-roles.

To say that The Prodigy’s music video, “Smack My Bitch Up” represents stereotypes in music videos would be a dramatic understatement. The video displays and showcases the common music video stereotypes of men and women with excruciating detail, bringing up commonly accepted ideas of the aggression and recklessness of men and the submissive sexuality of women, before ultimately shattering these gender-biased misconceptions to bring about a unique viewing experience, taking its viewer on an explorative journey through these all-too-often erroneous ideas about gender roles. By creating a female protagonist that fits almost seamlessly into the aggressive, abusive stereotype of men, and by constructing other female characters that act out against the common submissive ideal that is expected in music videos such as this, “Smack My Bitch Up” administers antithetical cases which put these commonly-perceived stereotypes to shame, displaying this information in a truly unique way that is bound to leave a lasting impression on anyone that would care to watch and listen. It is truly a prime example of how incorrect these misconceptions in music video gender-roles are, no matter what genre, theme, scale, or classification they might fall into. It is truly groundbreaking in shattering the idea that not every male or not every female fits within what society generalizes and erroneously accepts as “true” representations of male and female gender-roles in music videos.

1501 Words

Works Cited

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Seidman, Steven A. "An Investigation Of Sex-Role Stereotyping In Music Videos."  Journal Of

Broadcasting & Electronic Media 36.2 (1992): 209-216.  Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

Smack My Bitch Up. Dir. Jonas Åkerlund. Perf. The Prodigy. Maverick Records, 1997. Music

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Smith, Stacy L., PhD, Marc Choueiti, Ashley Prescott, and Katherine Pieper, PhD. "Gender

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