Sexualization marked the life of Britney Spears, and also the childhood and adolescence of thousands of music industry consumers around the world. It is obvious that in pop narratives, romantic love and pure and exquisite young women who wish to be taught by a man still dominate what is massively sold as music, but some think that the story was not the same for all artists who began to shine in the 2000s. According to their theory, Beyoncé was saved from falling into that.
Beyonce’s debut was in 1997 with Destiny’s Child, when she was just 16 years old; a year later, Britney Spears came out. According to the user @Riicaardoo4 on Twitter, the big difference between both careers is that Britney Spears was initially portrayed publicly as a kind of incarnation of Lolita (Navokov’s child character that “provoked” the lust of an adult).
For their part, he says, Destiny’s Child had the figures of Mathew and Tina Knowles, their managers, who functioned as a protection for the group; they even prohibited a late-night recording session requested by R Kelly, who is currently in jail, accused of child abuse.
Likewise, as a wise business decision, Destiny’s Child’s songs pointed to a stronger constitution of femininity: demanding men to be honest with their feelings, making the first move in “No No No No;” in “Bills, Bills, Bills, Bills,” talking about them paying their bills; or even venturing to declare infidelity to a boyfriend who did not properly reciprocate in “Confessions.”
In other words, in Destiny’s lyrics, women played an active role in the construction of love relationships, unlike Britney, who was there as if suspended in space waiting for a man to take her for herself. Another interesting aspect she mentions is the racism in the 2000s, a time when the stereotype of the “Lolita” did not fit with women of African descent, but with the young blonde girl, like Britney and Christina Aguilera.
We leave you the complete thread, because honor where honor is due, and Ricardo was very accurate in his analysis:
“They have started to think that despite Beyoncé being younger than Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and debuting a year earlier (with Destiny’s Child), she was never perceived as a teen artist and much less as a Lolita. Well, I’ll tell you the reason.”
“If we review Britney Spears’ debut album, ‘Baby One More Time,’ we are going to find lyrics focused solely on her devotion to a man, talking about how she desires him and how she lives for him. This added to the image they sold of her.”
“The image of Lolita, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, is the image of this young woman who looks younger but has this innocent and suggestive image that awakens the attraction of adult men. That’s what they did with Britney, they painted her as pure, virginal, but they exploited that sexually.”
“Did you think it was random that in her debut video, they portrayed her as a schoolgirl showing her navel and pretending to be innocent? No, they sold her as a Lolita, and her career at the beginning was based on that. Exploit her image as a girl, and sell her as a sexual object.”
“With Christina Aguilera, things were no different, her debut album is full of songs where she pays devotion to a man and longs for him to be by her side. And let’s not talk about ‘Genie In A Bottle,’ a sexual ode about her body and intercourse. He was 17 when he recorded that.”
“That is also why eras and albums like ‘Stripped’ or ‘Britney’ are well remembered in pop culture because they were those albums that marked the passage of these singers from being an innocent product to being “adult” women who knew what they wanted and rebelled against everything.”
“With Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child, things were different. The group’s first album, although it has several love songs, its first single ‘No No No’ invites a man to accept his feelings and confess, that without that she will not take that first step.”
“Her second single, ‘With Me,’ speaks from the position of the lover who calls the wife of the man she is sleeping with, to tell her what she has with her husband, and also advise that if she were in his place she would make herself respected.”
“In other words, Destiny’s Child were talking about more mature topics than their contemporaries, and from an empowered perspective. Even in ‘The Writing On The Wall,’ they got tougher, talking about women paying their bills.”
“Talking about leaving behind a man who gives you nothing, and how that feels so good (‘So Good’). Or even talking about being a woman who is unfaithful to her boyfriend because he does not know how to value her (‘Confessions’). DC’s line in maturity was always marked.”
“That’s why Destiny’s Child doesn’t have an album of “sexual liberation” like Britney and Xtina, on the contrary, their liberation album was more of an album of economic and sentimental enmancipation. Alas, ‘Survivor’ became more feminist, and talked about topics that its contemporaries did not touch on.”
“Songs like ‘Bootylicious’ talk about booty positive, loving your body, and feeling sensual with what nature gave you. ‘Survivor’ is a song in response to the media that swore the group’s decline. Or ‘The Story Of Beauty,’ which talks about a friend supporting her abused friend.“
“But speaking of the image as such, the media could never sexualize Destiny’s Child and Beyoncé as Lolitas because they were black women. The rejection in the industry for their attributes was in this case a blessing for them, a shield.”
“But the greatest protection they had were these two people: Mathew and Tina Knowles. For Mathew, beyond being his manager, he was his father, and he did not allow DC to have vulnerable moments. He even gave them a 24-hour bodyguard, and prohibited a session with R Kelly at night.”
“Time proved Mathew right in taking the protection of the group so seriously. Many allegations of abuse of young artists, R Kelly in jail for pedophilia, and Britney confessing how all that massive sexualization at that age ruined her life.”
“Also, the marketing of the group and Beyoncé was based largely on her talent for singing and performing. And it is something that to this day we continue to demonstrate. Widely recognized talent.”
This story was written in Spanish by Carmen Guerrero in Cultura Colectiva
