Alyssa ponders Lily Allen’s new music video:
The video is simultaneously pastiche and critique, referencing everything from Robin Thicke’s discussions of his anatomy in balloon writing to Miley Cyrus’ use of twerking African-American backup dancers as objects, and linguistically playing off Three 6 Mafia’s “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp.” And as apt as the song and video feel now, it’s also part of a long tradition of female pop stars whose brands rely on the idea that they’re different from their fellow pop tarts making music and videos that explicitly swipe at the conventions of their industry.
But she has misgivings:
The truth is that, as much as I adore Pink and Lily Allen in particular, artists like them and songs like these effectively function as a pressure valve for Big Music. By giving these women money and a platform to critique the industry in which they’ve succeeded, large labels prove exactly how tolerant and expansive they are, while continuing on their merry way to make the kind of music and images Allen, Jewel, and Pink deplore.
Prachi Gupta is much harder on Allen:
Allen opted to just stuff some sexist shit into a box, wrap it in a bow that says, “The contents of this box are sexist, so fuck this box, but also, go ahead and open the box.” Lily Allen is smart enough and talented enough that she doesn’t need to repackage that shitty box. She can throw it out and make something better.
Ayesha Siddiqi brings race into the debate:
It is not feminist to mock talented dancers of color for exercising skills Allen doesn’t possess. It is not feminist to claim that women who cook and dance provocatively are as damaging as a manager barking at her to lose weight. It is not feminist to remain blissfully colorblind in a world that functions along race.
Allen responds to critics:
The message is clear. Whilst I don’t want to offend anyone. I do strive to provoke thought and conversation. The video is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all.
The Dish 