I read an interesting article on SoulBounce.com a few weeks ago that has stuck with me. In “How Can Justin Timberlake Still Objectify Black Women and Get Away with It?, the author is frustrated with what he/she sees as a trend, Justin Timberlake continually objectifying black women. The title threw me off guard and I had to read it. I get that Justin Timberlake has embraced and capitalized on aspects of black culture but to single him out as objectifying black women just seems odd. In my opinion, Justin Timberlake hasn’t done anything a number of African-American artists haven’t done a hundred times. And yes, I realize there are certain things that are not socially acceptable for people of different races to copy but surrounding himself with sexy, scantily clad ebony beauties is not comparable to uttering the N word.
A passage from the post:
“From behind a wry smile and with his hair faded he actually tarnished a reigning, Black Pop star’s image arguably beyond repair by exposing her breast on national television and then built his street cred further by bringing sexy back, Middle Passage style. He’s transitioned from the post-racialist’s pop culture dream of somewhat harmlessly lusting after beautiful Black love interest in the video for “Like I Love You” into something more sinister. He uses the scapegoat of S&M edginess in which he is the aggressor, the dominant force, to subordinate his object of desire when she is Black.
He distanced himself from those undertones in using shackles (why not a different two syllable kinky word like handcuffs, Justin? Or latex, like the piece you tore off of Miss Jackson?) and whipping in the song by making himself the slave, and in the video by making lusty faces with a White woman. But all of the soft edginess and ambiguous sexism and racism has become the central M.O. for him in the video for “Love Sex Magic.”
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t get it. Janet Jackson and Ciara are grown women. The infamous wardrobe malfunction, if planned, has to be as much Janet’s fault as it was Justin’s. While he could have taken more of the blame, it was her breast and therefore her final decision. And if it was in fact an accident, what more could he say than “I’m sorry.”
“Love Sex Magic” is a very typical music video. Justin and Ciara slink around and imitate sex while dressed. Yes, the opening scene features the silhouette of Justin pulling on a chained Ciara. But for some reason, I didn’t immediately jump to slavery. It might have been the fact that I saw a preview for the video a week earlier that featured just Ciara dancing around in a tiger print full body leotard performing stripper like acrobatics on multiple poles. The chain, while in bad taste, does make sense as the video progresses. She’s a sex kitten that wants to be tamed by someone equally sexy, not a mulatto house slave in search of a modern day master.
“Love Sex Magic” is Ciara’s video. While Justin is the bigger star, she had to have had a bigger say in how the video would appear. She’s the one that’s half-naked and giving the Pussycat Dolls a run for their money on the pole. If she agreed to the chain, why aren’t we questioning her judgement as well as his?
Another passage:
“Yes, Ciara is grown and autonomous. So is Janet. But that just makes his ability to exploit their collaborations to the point that they are subjugated to his dominance, wittingly or not, more protestable.”
Does he really have that power? Is he that convincing, sly, manipulative? Or are we just looking for another scapegoat? What makes Justin so special? His bank account or his skin tone?
This blog post garnered so much interest that the author and editors of the site hosted a roundtable to ” dig deeper and officially claim ownership of our position.” That discussion can be found HERE.
There are definitely issues we have with the image of black women in entertainment but I don’t think Justin Timberlake should be our target. He’s simply bought into the hype and found a way to make it work for him.
Shaking her head,
Jo’van
You be the judge.
The Truth: According to Jo'van 