Pop star in early twenties shaves head.
When you hear this phrase I would assume the first picture
that pops up into your head is the image of a very distraught, tear streaked
face of Britney Spears from 2007. However, as of last week, that is not the only
image circulating the internet that fits that description.
Minami Minegishi, a member of the Japanese pop group AKB48,
fell victim to the same pressures. Not long after a photograph showing her
leaving her boyfriend’s apartment one morning was circulated, Minegishi
released a video on the band’s YouTube page was released. A tearful Minegishi
apologized, saying she had been, “thoughtless and immature.” The video received over 7.3 million views
before it was removed.
Much like America saw in 2007 with Spears, Pop Stars are
supposed to exude sexuality and desirability to their audience but they
themselves should be untouchable, virginal. These sexual scripts, which
particularly apply to female Pop Stars, dictate who the woman is in her
personal life as well as their public persona.
The women are encouraged to be overtly sexual on camera,
producing borderline pornographic commercials, but are not allowed to be sexual
themselves. Indeed a 20 year old woman having consensual is cause for self-punishment.
Minegishi, in an act of guilt and shame, shaved her own head as a mark of her
disgrace.
Much like the case with Spears, the male counterparts are
seen as making no mistake. Minegishi’s boyfriend, also part of a Japanese Pop
group, faces no retribution.
Why does this dichotomy exist and how does it inform the
young women who see these images and hear of these “scandals” as part of their
daily lives?
They are put in a no win situation. If they dress like the
media tells them to dress, they are labeled a slut or tease; if they don’t
dress in that way they are labeled a prude.
At some point, people are going to have to stop viewing the
media as what dictates our social and sexual scripts.
Here’s my question: why does anyone care if this woman shaves her head? And what is so bad about having a shaved head? What if these women were simply trying to ‘start afresh’ and for once, for once in their societally constrained lives, they were trying to break out of the shell of “I have to be a certain way or no one will like me” and instead said, “I’m going to do what I want to do for me. Me. I just broke up with a guy and I want to do something for me. It’s my damn hair, it’s my damn head, and it’s my damn life. I’ll shave it if I want to”?
ReplyDeleteWhile I definitely wasn't famous, I spent most of my life trying to be an actress. I even played a lead on a children's television show. It took me a little while to realize that this industry isn't what I thought it was going to be. I knew how hard it was and how much rejection was there but it wasn't until I realized how over-exploited it can get until I was in my 20s. I had been doing it ever since I was 10 and it took me that long. The point is that there definitely is this Madonna/whore syndrome that we were talking about in class. You are expected to be something that you can never be....both promiscuous and demure. The thing is that we are human beings. Every single one of us. We are not robots and the media expects their actors and celebrities to be this. When they show themselves to be human and make mistakes, it is one that lives with them for the rest of their life. This lookism is so terrifying and it needs to be stopped. The only thing worse than being an actor and having all that attention, would be trying to be a supermodel. Can you imagine being that insecure all day? It's terrifying to think about.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Belcher