Over ones career in the spotlight, especially in the music industry, it is hard to not conform to society. The changes in a performers appearance are very clear over time. A great example of this is Miley Cyrus. Not only did Miley herself change, but her background performers also changed with her. As Miley became more sexualized so did her backup dancers. In the beginning stages of her career, Miley dressed appropriately and so did her backup dancers. Not only this but they also danced in a non provocative manor. As you can tell by the pictures below, this is far from how Miley and her dancers are today.
RuPaul is Shaking Things Up!
Most of the time when it comes to
background dancers it usually the females that get over sexualized more than
the males. Well thanks to well-known drag queen RuPaul is starting to change
that with their new music video Geronimo. This video features RuPaul herself
and said to be twerk champion Julian Serrano; during the video the camera going
back forth to solo shots of RuPaul singing and dancing some and Julian dancing
and mostly twerking with either a full back body view or close up to his
behind. This video finally gives girls a chance to take a break and act like men
do when they see girls twerk (with I believe Julian does better than most girls
anyway). But even though this video is one of the rare examples of male backup
dancers being overly sexualized; it did not get really any negative feedback
like music videos where female backup dancers are sexualized. Which seems
unfair and sort of relates to its ok if a man does it but it’s shameful and
disgusting if a woman does it.
Some of the comments on the video:
"Note to Miley Cyrus: THIS IS HOW YOU
ARE SUPPOSE TO TWERK"
"I used to be disgusted by guys that loved
watching girls twerk, but then I saw a man twerk and Lawd... _ I have seen the
light. I live, hunty! I live!"
"I am tired of people just seeing us men as
meat ;O. Lol."
In this
video, Sean Paul is sitting in a chair that resembles a rulers’ chair, while
Beyoncé and the other women in this video are hyper-sexualized. They are
glistening with sweat while wearing short skirts and sparkly material covering
their breasts. Beyoncé roles in what seems to be animal fur and looks as if
she's being held there. In the following seen, Sean Paul is lying in the center
of a room of half naked women which resembles an orgy. When the women are
dancing on the stage, the outfits are what creates sexual atmosphere seen.
Later in the video, Beyoncé is chained to a tree, which shows the 'Damsel in
Distress' play on women that they are not capable of fending for
themselves.
Beyoncé
and her backup dancers do just as Usher and his backup dancers did. It seems as
though when performers are with their own sex of backup dancers, the dance is
the same as the backup dancers. Whereas, when a male performer has female
backup dancers the dance is typically sexualized. The same goes for females as
well. The thing that differentiates the main performer from the backup dancers
is the slight difference in costume and the fact that the performer is always
at the center of the camera. In Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” video, the three
women are dancing with a neutral background, as if they’re in the club and
saying to the men across the room, “If you like it then you should have put a
ring on it”. This statement focuses on the man’s inability to want a committed
relationship. The female dominance in this video is very prominent.
The first link is to All Time Low's music video too I Feel Like Dancin' Tonight and the second link is too Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. There is a major difference between the use of backup dancers in pop/rap music and alternative/indie music. All Time Low are an alternative band and in their music video, they sort of make fun of other music videos. Their female backup dancers are jokingly beginning sexualised. By this I mean, yes the girls are only wearing bras and underwear and they are doing inappropriate dance moves, but the reason All Time Low has them doing this is because they are making fun of the typical music video where this happens. But in Robin Thicke's video for Blurred Lines, the backup dancers are completely oversexualised on purpose. The girls are all in small, tight clothing, and there are some scenes of them almost naked. The dancers are shown licking their lips and doing other inappropriate moves with their bodies and mouths to the men. In most videos in alternative or indie music, there are either no backup dancers at all or if there are, they are rarely doing inappropriate things. While often in pop or rap videos, the backup dancers are doing many inappropriate moves.
The link above is Janet Jackson's first music video, Dream Street. The video is a young girl's rise to stardom. In the video she is trying to make it in Hollywood. Seeing as she is so young in the video, Jackson is not sexualised in anyway, nor does she sexualise any of her backup dancers.
The picture above is from Jackson's performance on the 2010 finale of American Idol. The backup dancers in this performance are all male and they are being slightly sexualised. They are all shirtless, in tight black pants with black collars on their necks. And they are touching and dancing around Jackson. In comparison to other music performances, the backup dancers here are not being too overly sexualised, but they are still being sexualised.
"Smooth Criminal" is the 7th single from Michael Jackson's Bad album from 1987. The song is about a woman named Annie who is attacked in her apartment by an assaulter. In the music video, Jackson originally planned to have it set in a western genre but then decided to go with a 1930's nightclub scene. In the video, both the women and men are doing 1930's style dance moves. There is no sexualisation of any of the backup dancers. Both the women and men are just doing basic dance moves. There is no grinding or thrusting or anything of that kind.
