Are Music Videos Too Sexual?

I recently shot a music video for local rap artist Theory. The shoot was for a concert scene. I had no idea what to wear, but I wanted to be cute like all the other chicks that appear in music videos. This wasn't a drop it like it's hot music video shoot (Theory is a female), but I felt the need to be sexy anyway even though I can't even drop it like it's warm. I just wanted to be cute on camera. I felt the pressure!

I tried on a million different alfits and the one that stood out was this cute lil military inspired dress I got from Victoria's Secret. I was fine blending in with the crowd, but everyone insisted that I stand out and wanted me to dance more. Hello, I don't dance! No one believes this, but I don't. I'm very laid back. The only time I dance is when I am at home with my daughter actin' silly!

And, just as I am writing this article some knucklehead approaches me on MySpace under the name of Bella! Agency and asks me what I charge to appear in videos! If he had taken the time he would have realized that I am not like the other women on his page with their bare asses out! I am a writer!

I wouldn't mind being in a music video as you've obviously read above, but if I do I have to be me, not a scantly clad poppin' and lockin' piece of eye candy! This Bella Agency person continued to approach me in a very nice but unprofessional manor. "Send me a few pics and you'll start making money" is what I was told. Hello, where are your credentials, the contract, the company website? I'm not fallin' for the okie doke! Be careful ladies the freaks are not limited to night outings!

Anyway, I bring this up to get on the topic of Video Hos, no not Video Vixens, there's a difference. I'm talking about Videos Hos! The chicks who appear in the UnCut videos on BET past midnight doing everything except having actual intercourse!

How did hip hop videos get where they are today and what's the deal with Video Hos anyway? And, why is no one concerned with those Girls Gone Wild chicks. They're pretty risqué and cheap too, aren't they? I posed this question to my MySpace friends and the opinions varied. Here are a few:

Crell says…

The majority of the Girls Gone Wild women are White, while the majority of so called video hoes are women of color. White women have a large array of media images with a large percentage being that of a dignified nature. Women of color, on the other hand, have less of a range. Throughout the history of film, TV, and print media sisters have been consistently shown in the light of being promiscuous and available for the taking.

Berton says…

I think rap music is being marketed as the Black cultural experience, which pigeonholes Black women. Girls Gone Wild videos are marketed as porn and is expected to be sexual. Music videos are marketed as true life visuals of Black culture.

Jim Neusom …

Most of the professional models and dancers I've met are smart, aggressive, professional, beautiful women, with agents, lawyers, and boyfriends/husbands setting in the wings. They are no joke. Now I'm not saying things don't happen. But as they often say; a fool and his money are soon parted. Ask Mike Tyson, Rick James, or R. Kelly.

I believe that Crell and Berton have both hit the nail on the head as to why many in the Black community as well as Oprah are upset with rappers and the hip hop community in general. What Jim speaks of are the Video Vixens and other professional woman in the business. There is a difference between the two and what Video Hos do for music videos is the same thing that strippers who have sex for money do for the stripper world, degrade it. Not all women who appear in videos are hos just like not all Black people can dance!

I've been informed that the footage we shot for Theory's music video that day may end up on the cutting room floor! Oh well, so much for my Victoria's Secret dress. Check out Theory at www.myspace.com/theorymuzik and subscribe to Video Vixens Magazine at www.videovixens.net, yes they have their own magazine!