SPARK a Movement!
1. (noun) a movement to speak out, push back on the sexualization of girls, and have fun while fighting for girls' rights to healthy sexuality.
2. (verb) to rouse strong feeling or action
SPARK is an intergenerational movement fueled by girl activists & their allies. Get at us on Facebook, Twitter, & and SPARKmovement.org!
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As far as I’m concerned, Rihanna is a grown woman and can sing about whatever she likes — even when it comes to sex. From a feminist perspective, what worries me isn’t what’s going on in the video, or what she’s singing about, but rather that thousands of lyrics and videos that arejust as graphic (if not worse) have been portrayed by men in hip-hop and largely ignored. Rapper 50 Cent proudly sang about how he was a “P.I.M.P.“– you know, someone who acts in a position of power over women, often forcing them to sell their bodies and then taking a cut of the money. More recently, Lil’ Wayne sings in his song 6 foot 7 that “two bitches at the same time/synchronized swimmers/ got the girl twisted ’cause she open when you twist her/never met the bitch, but I f-ck her like I missed her.”
Rihanna kills her rapist in her new music video, “Man Down,” a reggae-influenced song about a woman who gets revenge on “somebody’s son” “in front of a crowd.” It’s a head-scratching song and music video from a woman who is perhaps most famous for getting the crap beaten out of her. Is this supposed to be “feminist” Rihanna who murders the man who hurts her? Sorry, RiRi, but I don’t think perpetuating violence is “edgy,” even for a survivor of domestic violence.
…aaaand we’re back. What in the what, Rihanna?!
Taylor Swift’s new music video for her single “Mean” is clearly trying to be an anti-bullying anthem…but as always, her message seems a little too black and white for the issue. What do you think?
