Miley Cyrus’ recent “twerking” episode probably won’t be the last time we see a young female singer degrade herself on the national stage as music insiders such as world famous soprano Charlotte Church say industry executives encourage such behavior to sell records.
According to Church, the famous Welsh-born soprano who has sold an estimated 10 million records worldwide, Cyrus’ misbehavior is nothing new.
“The culture of demeaning women in pop-music is so engrained as to become routine,” said Church while delivering the annual John Peel Lecture on BBC 6 last week.
“You can trace this back to Madonna, although it probably does go back further in time. She was a template-setter. … The statement she was making is, ‘I’m in control of me and my sexuality.’ This idea has had its corners rounded off over the years, and it’s become ‘take your clothes off! Show you’re an adult!”
As CNS reports, Church has released six CD’s since 1998 and been involved in the pop music industry since 2006.
“They [women] are encouraged to present themselves as hypersexualized, unrealistic, cartoonish, as objects, reducing female sexuality to a prize you can win,” she said.
“When I was 19 or 20, I found myself in this position, being pressured into wearing more and more revealing outfits, and the line I had spun at me, again and again, generally by middle-aged men, was ‘You look great, you’ve got a great body, why not show it off?’ or, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll look classy, it’ll look artistic.’”
Deep inside, she felt very uncomfortable with it, “but I was often reminded by record label executives just whose money was being spent.” She continued, “The consequence of this betrayal of me is that now I am frequently abused on social media, being called slut, whore, and a catalog of other indignities that I’m sure you’re also sadly familiar with.”
Unfortunately, the music industry is a multi-billion-dollar business that relies on “short-burst messaging” to sell its products, she said.
And there is no easier way to sell something than with sex.
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