I'm pissed off.
Shock!
I don't think I can make it through the day without something getting on my (lack of) tits. It's barely a quarter of the way through today and I'm already riled up, I'm attributing this to some sort of battle taking place in my uterus at present. Goddamn the perils of being a woman eh?
Anyway, it's not just my monthly womanly reminder that's sparked off some sort of aggression within, it's an article I had the displeasure of perusing this morning.
Little Mix, arguably the best girl band in the world at present (I said arguably before you get your knickers twisted), have just dropped (I sound like SUCH a cool music journo don't I?!) a new video for single; Touch.
I really rate Little Mix, they can sing, they can dance and they seem like really nice girls. Down to earth, friendly, funny and supportive of one another, I'll happily read an interview with them or listen to their music (they've released some absolute corkers over the years). I saw them perform at V Festival last summer and they put on a great show. Historically, girl bands who found fame on X Factor have never really set the music world alight but Little Mix bucked the trend with their success and I'm pleased for them.
As the years have passed by and their success has gone from strength to strength their image has of course changed. They've gotten older, they've gone from girls in their late teens to 20 something women and with that their sound has changed, as has their videos.
"Little Mix's new video is a Touch on the raunchy side" was a Metro article headline I read this morning.
"Zzzzzzzzz" was my first thought. Seriously? Is that the focal point here?
"So what's it like? Are they replicating high school dramas like Black Magic? Cruising down highways to the sounds of female empowerment? Nope, they're gyrating. Lots of gyrating." The article continues.
NEWSFLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Black Magic was 2 years ago, are they not allowed to evolve? Do they have to stick to the same type of video for every single song they release?
Oh and on the subject of gyrating, I guess you've written the same regarding the likes of Rihanna, Beyoncé and of course fellow girl group Fifth Harmony because there was plenty of gyrating and twerking in the Work From Home video.
Let's think back to 2001; nearly 2 decades ago. Britney Spears dropped the video (there I go again) for Slave 4 U, she was basically in the throes of a sweaty orgy, and that video was hailed as iconic by many. In 2007 Beyonce and Shakira gyrated up and down a wall for the duration of the video to Beautiful Liar and way back in 2002 Christina Aguilera sang about getting 'Dirrty' whilst adorning a pair of chaps and slut dropping it around a boxing ring but it's Little Mix and their twerking that's getting this journalist all 'hot under the collar' in 2017.
I've watched the video and let me tell you, some of the aforementioned videos are far, far raunchier. Raunchy (I can't bear that word anyway) is not an adjective I would use to describe 'Touch'. It's not crude, it's not rude and I think it's wholly unfair for them to be singled out in this way.
Artists evolve, they grow up, they change their image, their sound and the way they want to be portrayed and there's nothing wrong with that. Because guess what? It's not just Little Mix whose years have advanced, their original fan base would have too. The 'tweenies' who listened to them when they first set the music world alight back in 2011 are now in their twenties and won't be arsed that the girls are strutting about in leotards showcasing their twerking skills. Instead of lambasting the girls for being too raunchy or gyrating, let's just celebrate their success, why have we got to knock them down for something that is so irrelevant?