Former Rap Video Dancer: 'It Started To Feel Degrading' (VIDEO)

Former Rap Video Dancer: 'It Started To Feel Degrading'

Do music videos get a bad rap for their treatment of women? Former rap video dancer Melyssa Ford talked to HuffPost Live host Dena Takruri about how she got involved in music videos as a young woman.

"When you're being presented with the opportunity to have millions of people see you and recognize you and that quote unquote feeling of fame, it's intoxicating," she said.

Ford spoke about seeing the music video industry move towards a more stereotypical depiction of women, and why she wasn't able to continue working as a dancer.

"It started to feel very degrading," she said. "You started to feel that there was more to answer for, that this wasn't just a regular job, this wasn't just a paycheck."

Also joining in the discussion were Chantelle Bateman, Organizing Team Leader & Campaign Strategist at FAAN Mail, Nuala Cabral, Co-Founder of FAAN Mail, Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of Black Popular Culture at Duke University, and Nehad Khader, an activist, writer, and editor.

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