Project 3

Everything Wrong with "Swalla" by

Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign

Summary

In 2017 Jason Derulo published a music video for his song "Swalla" ft. Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign. The whole song is about drinking, and begins by saying "Love in a thousand different flavors I wish that I could taste them all tonight." I assume this alludes to tasting different woman because the first thing you see is a woman placing her head on Jason's leg, and as the camera pans out you see three more woman are lined up. As the video continues, you see woman dancing in a provocative manner, wearing little to no clothing, and being displayed in vulnerable positions. The whole video is Jason Derulo having beautiful woman around him dancing, I would assume to show off his "manly hood." Jean Kilbourne, who wrote "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt" Advertising and Violence: has a lot of things to say that can relate back to this video.

Little to no clothing

In the video, there are multiple different woman, but all of them are dressed in suggestive clothing. The woman in the video represent the "ideal" body type of this day and age; a small waste, big butt, and beautiful face. Some of the woman are wearing only bikinis (figure 2) while others were turned around so you could see what they looked like from behind (figure 1). These models give off an unrealistic image to young girls of how they "should" look. While the models may look like this in the music video, in real life they probably don't wear such colorful, exaggerated, makeup, little clothing (unless they choose to), and they're bodies do not always look this perfect as displayed in the video.

In Jean Kilbourne's "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt" she states, "All woman are vulnerable in a culture in which there is such widespread objectification of woman's bodies...." (Kilbourne, pg. 504 para. 2). She continues with, "Young girls, of course, are especially vulnerable. In the past twenty years or so, there have been several trends in fashion and advertising that could be seen as cultural reactions to the woman's movement, perhaps unconscious fear of female power. One has been the obsession with thinness" (Kilbourne, pg. 504 para. 2).

By having these woman in this type of clothing (or lack there of) it is sending a message to young girls that this is the way they need to be or look like to be "ideal." As Kilbourne said, young girls are especially vulnerable and may think just because they don't look exactly like these woman, that they are not "normal" or beautiful.

Figure 2: Woman in only bikini

Figure 1: Woman very exposed

Figure 3: Woman in sexual position

Figure 5: Woman in a vulnerable pose

Figure 4: Woman seductively eating a popsicle

Sexual innuendos

As you can see by figures 3, 4 and 5 there are many (as Kilbourne would say) pornographic themes in the video. For example, if you look at figure 4 you see a woman with what appears to be a popsicle in her mouth. The popsicle however is not why this picture was put up here, it is the way in which she is eating it. She is tilting her head up and sucking on it slowly alluding to something more explicit. If you look at figure 5, you see a woman in a very vulnerable position. She has her head tilted back, her hands behind her, she's on her knees, and appears to be naked except for the paint that is poured on her body. This is a very unnatural pose and is often seen in pornographic images. Lastly, is you look at figure 3, it is clear to see that there is a sexual message being sent here. Not only the position they are in, but the woman's face appears to be enjoying the position she is in, or at least isn't showing that she doesn't enjoy it. These are just a few of the images that were in the video. The whole thing was filled with many just like these.

In Kilbourne's article she says, "The poses and postures of advertising are often borrowed from pornography, as are many of the themes, such as bondage, sadomasochism, and the sexual exploitation of children" (Kilbourne, pg. 489 para. 3). It is clear to see in these images (figures 3, 4, and 5) that pornographic themes are shown here. From the popsicle in the woman's mouth to the sexual poses, the whole video is filled with woman being displayed as sexual objects. Kilbourne states in her article, "Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially woman..." (Kilbourne, pg. 489 para. 3). The woman here are not being shown as real people with emotions and lives, but as sex symbols used to lure in an audience (typically men).

Male Pressure

Just about every time there is a woman dancing seductively, you see Jason Derulo right there next to them. Throughout the video, you see him wearing seemingly expensive clothes, girls dancing all over him, and having what appears to be his car with beautiful woman all over it. It makes it seem as if he is the perfect "macho man" with his expensive things and sexy woman fawning all over him. This image he has pulled off is not uncommon in society today, in fact, some men probably aspire to be like him.

In Kilbourne's article she says, "The popular culture usually trivializes these abilities in woman, mocks men who have real intimacy (it is almost always married men in ads who are jerks), and idealized a template for relationships between men and woman that is a recipe for disaster: a template that views sex as more important than anything else, that ridicules men who are not in control of their woman...." (Kilbourne, pg. 491 para 1). The image of an "ideal" man today is a scary one. From showing no emotion, to having nice cars, and woman constantly falling for him, the standard is unrealistic and encourages male dominance which can lead to many bad consequences if progressed far enough. Kilbourne claims, "Advertising often encourages woman to be attracted to hostile and indifferent men while encouraging boys to become these men" (Kilbourne, pg. 491 para 2). The music video is a prime example of a man being "macho" and showing that he is the dominant one with beautiful woman falling all over him.

Figure 6: Woman all over Jason and his fancy car

Conclusion

Because of the society we live in today, most people would look at this music video and think nothing of it. People (including myself) have become desensitized to the sexual objectification, stereotypes, and pressures put on woman today because it is seen so much in advertising, that it almost seems normal. At closer inspection of the video (and after reading Jean Kilbourne's article) it is clear to see that the woman in this video are being displayed as sexual objects and putting ideas in young girls' minds of how they should be. It also fits into the stereotype of how a man should be, having expensive things, and woman all over him. It glorifies having sex with woman rather than an intimate relationship. As for the actual song, it is encouraging drinking the whole time. The chorus goes, "Drank, swallahlahlah" encouraging drinking. Other lines in the song are, "All you girls in here if you feelin' thirsty come and take a sip cause you know what I'm servin'" and "Dolla got too many girls met her out in Beverly Hills all she wear is red bottom heels." The song goes along with the images (as to be expected). There are many other music videos and advertisements very similar to this one. By this, I mean the sexualization of woman and glorification of male dominance is not uncommon today. If you pay a little bit more attention, you'll see it all around you.

Works Cited:

Kilbourne, Jean. "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt": Advertising and Violence. 10th edition. Editors Colombo, Cullen and Lisa, Bedforth. Rereading America. Boston: Bedforth/St. Martin's P. 2016.
Derulo, Jason. "Swalla" (featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign). Youtube, uploaded by Jason Derulo, 17 March 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGLxoKOvzu4

Photo References:

Pictures. Jason Derulo. Youtube. 17 March 2017. Web. 14 Oct. 2020.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse