I was charnel flipping tonight and came across One Hit Wonders–Sex Hour on VH1. Now that’s quality TV! And one of the songs they played was “It’s Raining Men” and I was reminded of just how fabulous it is, so I had to share it (thank you Youtube):
I can’t get over the fact that this was made in 1982! Okay, the production values pretty much scream early 80s, but this video is still shocking for so many reasons. First, the men are objectified–dancing around in bikinis, flexing and posing. Second, to make the objectification clear, the singers ogle the men. It isn’t left to chance; the video makes quite clear that women like to look at male bodies and that doing so arouses them. There’s no soft focus, no romantic looks or restrained embraces. This isn’t a video (or a song) about women finding husbands or even boyfriends. They’re finding one night stands!
Finally, the singers who not only take center stage performing but a sexual beings (lying on a heart-shaped bed, reaching out to grope the male dancers) are emphatically not stick thin, overly made up, traditionally attractive women. Almost always, the only way a woman gains the priviledge of being sexually active is by being stunning looking in a very stereotypical way. Thin women with big breasts and full lips, long hair and perfect makeup can desire a man, since there is no chance any man would find their desires unwelcome. And even those women have to be simultaneously desiring subject and desired object, by dressing in skimpy, and again, stereotypically sexy clothing. For example:
Or
And of course:
Gee…I sure am glad we’ve made all this progress. Clearly, we don’t need feminism any more!
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