Blair West's response to Dream Worlds

The film Dreams Worlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Videos really struck a chord with me because several of the concepts discussed I hope to explore in my research paper. From the get-go, the film was a shocking depiction of music videos and the vast problems concerning women and sexuality. I found it particularly stirring to see all the video footage in one documentary, for we are almost desensitized to sexualized images of women in one music video or advertisement at a time, but when shown one after another, the effects are different. I was also stunned that these cruel images and story lines were not common in only pornography; they are the stuff of mainstream media such as MTV and BET--regular cable channels that anyone can access. 

I thought the way that the documentary demonstrated music videos as an ideal dreamworld was a creative and effective tactic in displaying their message. They described and showed countless examples of girls in dreamworld as the 'perfect woman,' or, rather, the women that men are cultured to desire. The woman, the film explored, was physically (unrealistically) attractive, overtly sexual, dependent on men, and genuinely enjoyed performing household or typically 'feminine' tasks with an uncommon sexual pleasure. Women are likewise objectified, for their only purpose is to look good and hang around men. Thus, as the film described, their subjective qualities and unique characteristics are eliminated. Women are only there to please men. This distorted sentiment is echoed across cultures and history, for the basis of sexism is the fact that women are simply reproductive vessels and their brains, personalities, talents, interests, and feelings are secondary. Being reduced to something so small, so meaningless, as an object (as are girls in the music videos) is a cruel fate. The submissive and inactive women in these videos, depicted hanging on a man dependently, clad in little to no clothing, is nearly difficult to watch. Just as hurtful were the sexual assaults committed against women of which the documentary. During the summer, I worked at a boutique where they encouraged us to wear their clothes and heels during the day. At lunchtime, I dreaded leaving the store and walking through the streets only to see men (usually carpenters and workmen) make inappropriate comments and yell at me as I walked by. At first I would shuffle by them quickly and keep my head down. But as time passed, I realized that I was only making it easier for them to offend me. One day, I was walking with another girl from my shop, and the men yelled at us in our short dresses and high heels. My friend and I exchanged glances, and she yelled, "F*** you!" and every single man was silenced; they put their heads down and avoided eye contact. I was overcome with joy and pride. I realized that by standing up for ourselves we put them in their place, and they realized that we would not longer put up with their assaults.