Seeking Validation with Sex Appeal: A Comparative Essay of Two Songs
This essay was written for Comparative Literature Class back in 2017.
Self-validation is one of many things that human seek
in life, and the society plays an important part in it. To make someone feels
like they are worthless or worthy as a human being, the society took a major
role in validating someone’s worthiness. An important thing to notice is that
the society is based on the patriarchal system, pushing women to the side of
the society. The society’s patriarchal system constructs our life in every way
possible, even in the way how one should feel about themselves, especially
women. This case can be found in two popular songs entitled “Milkshake” by
Kelis and “If You Seek Amy” by Britney Spears. Both of the songs have
similarities and differences that depict how having sex appeal is one way to
validate a woman’s worth.
It is a fact that two of the songs
are sung by two female singer; Britney Spears and Kelis, but it is also worth
noting that despite the fact that both female sung those two pop songs, all of
the work was done by a group of male. The composer and writer of “If You Seek
Amy” are Alexander Erik Kronlund, Martin Sandberg, Savan Kotecha, Johan Karl
Schuster who are all men. The same with the first song, “Milkshake” is composed
and written by men; Pharell Williams and Chad Hugo. Thus, the female singers in
two of the songs carry the perspective of men even if the songs are purposely served
for females to express their sex appeal from their own point of view.
Another significant similarity of
the two songs is that both are famous for its sex appeal that the singers “sell.”
In terms of lyrics, both songs are quite implicit in expressing the sexual
meanings. In “Milkshake” explicit words could not be found, but the word
“milkshake” as seen in the lyrics “My milkshake brings all the boys to the
yard,” suggests another meaning which is “female breast.” The suggested meaning
is further highlighted by the lyrics saying “The thing that makes me what the
guys go crazy for.” If it is intended only for the literal meaning, the
audience would not only be ‘boys’, but also and most preferably children.
Rather than having double meaning, “If U Seek Amy” plays on its acronym to
express the sexual suggestion. The lyric of the chorus goes “Love me, hate me/
Say what you want about me/ But all of the boys and all of the girls/ Are
begging to if you seek Amy,” but the last line shows an incorrect use of
grammar. If we identify the last line, there is a suggestion that it uses sound
play to express the sexual meaning; ‘If You Seek Amy’ would sound as
‘F-U-C-K-M-E,’ which also resulting in the correct use of grammar. Although the
lyrics are implicit, the music videos of both songs are visually explicit. One thing
that both music videos have in common is that the singer, while singing and
dancing, is being surrounded by boys swooning over her. In the video, the song
“Milkshake” is visualized by a female who is jiggling her body, especially the
breast and bottom to attract the boys around them. Here, the visualization
justifies the sexual meaning of the song itself. Meanwhile, in “If You Seek
Amy” video, the singer sings and dances with a lot of people (female and mostly
male) with clothes that accentuate their sexual body parts. Another convincing
visual aspect that emphasizes the sexual meaning is the fake news in the
beginning of the video saying that “Britney Spears song lyrics spell out obscenity
in disguise,” which may refer to the suggestion of the sexual acronym of the
title itself.
Sexual expressions could lead to
many things, but rather than seeking to have a sexual experience, the two songs
seem to express their sexual appeal as a way for self-validation. It is important to
pinpoint the system of patriarchy that works in the society, since the two
songs seem to seek the approval of male for female’s worth. We can see some examples
as a comparison; the society often tells female to look good only for men to
like them rather than for themselves to be comfortable in their own skin, if a
woman is successful and smart but does not have a boyfriend then she is still
considered not attractive enough. In other words, without men’s approval of a
woman’s beauty or outer appearance, a woman is still not valid. In this case,
the same thing is happening; a female is only sexy or attractive sexually if
lots of boys are into her. Even in the song “Milkshake,” as seen in the lines “My
milkshake brings all the boys to the yard/ And they're like/ It's better than
yours/ Damn right / It's better than yours/I can teach you/But I have to charge,”
the popular female tries to teach other female to get the boys’ attention by
having a “good milkshake”. It suggests that the boys look down on other woman
just because that the other girl has a better “milkshake”, as if it is the only
important thing of a woman. This may be resulting to the lack of the woman’s
self-validation where she feels that she is not good enough as a female just
because her “milkshake is not that good”. In comparison, “If You Seek Amy” does
not seek the approval of men only, but both men and women as stated in the
lyrics “Love me, hate me/ Say what you want about me/ But all of the boys and
all of the girls/ Are begging to if you seek Amy.” This song is rather wide in
terms of sexuality than the first one, suggesting that her sexual appeal is not
only targeted for men but for everyone. Here, the self-validation of the sexual
appeal also comes from other people but without the needs to distinguish and compare
themselves to other people in any way. Still, if we take a look at the music
video, it may suggest what kind of a woman the society would find sexually
appealing.
In conclusion, “Milkshake” by Kelis and “If You Seek
Amy” by Britney Spears share some similarities and also differences that can be
seen in many aspects of the songs. Despite the fact that the two songs are sung
by female vocalists, the male perspective behind it constructs the way how female
should feel about themselves. The expression of sexual appeal of female becomes
the theme of both of the song, and it is something that says a lot about how
the society sees women’s worth. The society tends to validate women from their
sexual appeal or other outer appearance, making it seems that the only
important thing a woman can do is to impress other people physically,
especially men. Ironically, it is also need to be remembered that if a female
is sexually attractive, sometimes the society will also sees her as “cheap”. Thus,
however and whatever woman do, the society seems to validate a woman’s worth by
only seeing what they think they see.
Reference(s):
Kelis
– milkshake lyrics. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kelis/milkshake.html
Britney
spears – if you seek amy lyrics.(2017). Retrieved from https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/britney-spears/if-you-seek-amy.html
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