iPhone snapshot from Glamour.com
So remember the “Cover Up, Girls. Less Isn’t Always More” post I wrote that mentioned Rashida Jones’ tweets on this new naked craze? Well, apparently Twitter’s 140 character cap wasn’t enough for the Parks and Recreation actress, as she discussed it all in greater detail in an online piece for Glamour. Unsurprisingly, there were still some who were not at all here for Jones’ thoughts, but I absolutely loved them–all of them! Here are some of my favorite highlights from her article, “Why Is Everyone Getting Naked? Rashida Jones on the Pornification of Everything.”
- “I don’t know when the pornification of pop stars became so extreme, but as Robin Thicke‘s ‘Blurred Lines’ video played in the background—naked fantasy women bouncing around and licking things—I realized that the lines were not really blurry at all. They were clear. A new era had arrived.”
- “Let me say up front: I am not a prude. I love sex; I am comfortable with my sexuality. Hell, I’ve even posed in my underwear. I also grew up on a healthy balance of sexuality in pop stars. Yes, we had Madonna testing the boundaries of appropriateness, but then we also had Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Cyndi Lauper, women who played with sexuality but didn’t make it their calling card. And for every 2 Live Crew ‘Me So Horny’ video girl, there was Susanna Hoffs singing tenderly about her eternal flame.”
- “Twenty years later, all the images seem homogenous. Every star interprets ‘sexy’ the same way: lots of skin, lots of licking of teeth, lots of bending over. I find this oddly…boring. Can’t I just like a song without having to take an ultrasound tour of some pop star’s privates?”
- “And then there’s this: What else ties these pop stars together besides, perhaps, their entangled G-strings? Their millions of teen-girl fans. Even if adult Miley and Nicki have ownership of their bodies, do the girls imitating them have the same agency? Where do we draw the line between teaching them freedom of sexual expression and pride in who they are on the inside? Are we even allowed to draw a line?”
See the full 2 page story here and check out which other celebs Jones directly mentions. She doesn’t address a problem without a resolution either. Take a look at her four suggestions for us, particularly pop culture, to do better in the new year.
The Essence Of... 
Love this!
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AMEN! It’s almost as if there is a competition on who can bear the most skin. Can we just go back to the days when ladies carried themselves like ladies?…maybe I am asking too much. lol. Great piece.
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I was ready to hate this and condemn it as slut shaming, however, I’m in agreement with Ms. Jones’ comments listed above. While there is no shame in loving your body and even showing it off, it is so overdone that we’re almost immune to it until a pop star does something so outlandish to shock us all. People say sex sells, but this is an adage that is old, played and untrue. Sex makes you stop, gawk, then move on. I have never bought an item from someone selling an item because a booty was prominently displayed on it.
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Exactly! My main issue with it all is that it’s way too overdone. Like everybodyyyyyy is naked. There’s no balance. Yes, embrace and celebrate your body but when everyone is nude it sends the message that, “the only way to love your body is to strip naked,” as if you can’t love your body just as much in clothes. Nudity and sexy/ownership of your body/sexual freedom, etc are not synonymous. You can still be sexy when you’re covered up, but rarely do you see mainstream stars showing that side. As grown women, we (some of us, anyway) know better, but so many of these stars’ following, which is mainly young girls, don’t. I was looking at my 16yr. old niece’s friends on IG and was speechless when I saw how her girlfriends her age were dressing. They’re the ones who make up the majority of these pop stars’ fan base and they’re so impressionable. And I hate when celebs say, “I’m not a role model.” If you don’t want to be a role model to youth, stop marketing your work to them! If you want a grown woman image, cater to a grown woman audience.
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