Twerking - Empowering or Objectifying?

Twerking has been around for a while - years now. Many Americans who live in the suburbs or rural areas, or do not see what their kids are watching on youtube may not have known what twerking was until young, white Miley Cirus caused an uproar at the 2013 Mtv Music awards bending over in front of one hit wonder Robin Thicke.

Fast Forward to Mtv awards 2014 - basically a big booty review starring Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azelea and the queen of hyper-sexuality performance Beyonce. It was all total spectacle Broadway cheese - meets strip joint performances, with plenty of leg spreading and butt twerking, and horrible, forgettable music. Probably why they need to bend over so much to cover up this reality.

Beyonce even posted a big lit-up feminism sign behind her with a female voice justifying using sexuality as a power tool because men have done it - so why not? Well two wrongs do not make something right. I never liked it when Michael Jackson grabbed his crotch and if you watch his last performances before he died - he hardly did it at all compared to when he was young and maybe using poor judgement as a performer. I love Michael Jackson's music and performances but nothing would have been sacrificed artistically by his not grabbing his crotch. Surely his doing it was a reaction to people around him controlling or trying to control him and his career - all his life growing up in the spotlight. Bottom line - not necessary and bad influence on young people.

Are these women with their hyper-sexual performing, with dental floss bikinis going up their butts and provocative videos with millions of hits a good influence on young women and girls? Is this feminism or objectifying women?

Using sexuality as power is a dangerous thing. There has been a huge rise in STDs and unwanted pregnancies over the last 20 years, with little if any sexual education in public schools and the onslaught of urban twerk/hump dancing which leaves nothing to the imagination. For God sakes the next step is actually just doing it on the dance floor. The historical reasons that have led up to this point are complex and I shall not share my ideas on this blog - at this time.

We need to have a dialog because this is not healthy empowerment of females or a good influence on young males. When A young person - female or male sees this type of twerking dance, with half naked women singing about material crap - it cannot be properly assimilated into their young, ignorant, hormone-driven brains, which have a tendency toward impulsive ill behaviors that are later regretted (unsafe sex=STDs/pregnancies) and negatively influence guys toward acts of violence against women (rape etc). Yes - this is the reality that you will not see on Mtv.

These popular female performers such as Beyonce and especially Nicki Minaj who has little if any discernible talent other than bending over or spreading her legs - are a bad influence on young people - women in particular. Hopefully it is just an unhealthy trend and will die a quick death - so maybe music will get back to music as the main focus. After all, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston never had to get on all fours - why? Because they had real class and real talent.

I have attached a very intelligent rap called Mu-sick from a young urban woman who tells it like it is when it comes to the contemporary so called pop music scene.