‘Levels’
The music video for “Blurred Lines” marked an important moment in our culture — not because of the (highly sexist) video itself, but because feminist and anti-racist critiques of the video were widely celebrated. Parodies of the music video highlighted the asymmetrical power dynamic between the clothed men and topless women, which in turn demonstrated how feminists were using digital media to resist patriarchal depictions of women. It seemed sexist men in particular had learned a valuable lesson: Women want to be more than topless, nameless, voiceless blow up dolls when included in men’s projects. It felt like our society was finally “getting” feminism.
Then I watched the new music video for Nick Jonas’ song “Levels.” The song seemed fun, catchy and a bit sensual, so I assumed the music video would mirror this tone. But this is not the case: Women are blatantly objectified in the “Levels” music video. The nameless, voiceless women in the video try their best to achieve a sexy aesthetic. They are scantily clad, lying on car tires (which I can’t imagine feels good let alone sexy) and dancing with the star, who is seemingly rewarded with their attention simply because he exists as a man.
To be clear, not all representations of women wearing revealing clothing are necessarily problematic. Had the image been framed differently, had the power dynamic not been so imbalanced, had these women’s voices been heard and their sexual needs also met, it seems this video could have, in fact, been a great opportunity to switch up the sexist narrative usually employed in music videos. But, ultimately, this video disappointingly positions (clothed) men as the dominant subjects and women (who wear revealing outfits, clearly meant to titillate the male gaze) as the objects.
This is a very dangerous fantasy to impart to male viewers, especially those who already struggle to separate patriarchal fantasy from reality. We live in a very violent culture in which male entitlement is still the norm. We live in a world where feminist critics like Anita Sarkeesian are subject to violent rape and death threats for simply pointing out the obvious truth that women are still treated as play-things for men. Men all-too frequently kill others because they didn’t get what they want — like Elliot Rodgers, who killed many people because he was “angry” at women who didn’t notice him. He even wrote a 140 page entitled garbage manifesto where he said:
“College is the time when everyone experiences those things such as sex and fun and pleasure. In those years I’ve had to rot in loneliness, it’s not fair…You girls have never been attracted to me. I don’t know why you girls aren’t attracted to me but I will punish you all for it.”
So why haven’t we made progress? In our patriarchal society, men still control the mainstream entertainment circuits and have the power to enact their fantasies on all screens. They also assume other heterosexual men are the default consumers of media. This results in women’s bodies still being objectified and sexualized, while naked or sexualized depictions of male bodies are virtually non-existent.
The solution to this problem, therefore, may be deceptively simple: more male nudity. Presenting the naked male body as an object of legitimate desire in mainstream pop culture is a transgressive act. In a culture where men are told that they are entitled to everything and everybody, framing their bodies as subject to the gaze of others privileges overlooked audiences. Doing so also radically presents men an opportunity to learn to enjoy their own sexualized bodies and pleasing others rather than only themselves.
So the next time Nick Jonas — or any other young, straight, male artist — makes a video, perhaps he’ll consider stripping down himself rather than hiring a posse of women to do so for him.