Perception of women in media goes unchanged
Last Sunday not only marked Super Bowl XLVIII, but also the 10th anniversary of Janet Jackson’s infamous halftime show “wardrobe malfunction.” The incident, which has since been dubbed “Nipplegate,” occurred during Jackson and fellow performer Justin Timberlake’s performance of “Rock Your Body,” during which Timberlake tore off a piece of the pop diva’s costume to reveal her right breast for a fraction of a second on national television.
Though initially the incident appeared to be accidental, 10 years of hindsight suggest it was a botched stunt on the part of MTV, who was in charge of the halftime show and has since been banned from participating. A decade later, it’s still hard to grasp how conservative the mindset of the country was back then. With 2004 being an election year and patriotic spirit still going strong, something as miniscule as an exposed part of a woman’s body was just the right kind of event to rile up the new “moral majority” that dominated politics and social concern.
It wasn’t even the content of the song the two singers were performing, which had objective lyrics, but just the exposure. Unfortunately for Jackson, not only did she receive the brunt of the blame, but the incident also effectively ended her career. In the end, all Jackson was really guilty of, as far as the public was concerned, was being a woman who accidentally exposed her body.
Jackson being forced to take the blame is indicative of a more systemic problem in the music industry. While Jackson was the only one held accountable, Timberlake immediately distanced himself from the incident, expressing equal distaste and shock at the incident despite the fact that he was the one who originally caused the exposure. A week later, Timberlake went to the GRAMMYs to claim two awards, while Jackson was practically blacklisted by the show, and her post-Super Bowl album flopped.
It’s troubling that in a world where HBO has made topless footage a staple, one single mistake could end a woman’s career. The fallout of Jackson’s controversy alone was fast and far-reaching. Since this incident, every awards show now has a five-second delay, Howard Stern was kicked off of public radio and even movies such as Troy began to edit out topless scenes.
Society has not improved in terms of gender rights. Instead, it has become stagnant. Both Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber have been the subjects of public scrutiny. Though Bieber was arrested for driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an invalid driver’s license, all Cyrus is guilty of is making controversial music videos and posing for risqué magazine covers. This clear double standard won out before, and it continues to plague the industry today.
Even a decade later, American society still seems to be confused and needlessly malicious when it turns on a celebrity figure without first looking at itself. We already see female pop singers as musical mannequins, objectifying them and judging them. Yet when they break out of the mold, we lash out. Beyond the prudishness of getting so worked up over a natural part of a woman’s body, we should be concerning ourselves with what the actual content is and whether we’re just getting what we ultimately asked for.
Robert Calcagno is a third-year graduate student studying animation.