“Dance with me” sexist.?
Filed in Category WoW Dancing Videos
In a country where men and women are supposedly equal would anyone like to explain why complete sexiest crap manages to get a record deal and produce an even more sexiest song which shoots to number one?….No one??? Ok, I don’t mind explaining =)
Fist I shall take every line of the lyrics and explain why the messages it gives are sexist. The definition of sexist is
1. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.
2. Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender.
What’s up darlin’?
Use of “nickname” to some woman he doesn’t by the sound of it even know. He feels okay to use a term that she may not be comfortable with even though he doesn’t know her. It’s like a girl waltzing up to a man and saying “What’s hanging hubby?” It’s completely ridiculous.
The definition of “darling” is : (1.) Dearly beloved. (2.) Regarded with special favor; favorite: “Metaphysics and poetry . . . are my darling studies” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).(3.) Informal. Charming or amusing: a darling hat.
Okay so let me get this straight?? He’s addressing some girl he does even know as “dearly beloved”? He is “regarding her with special favour” when he doesn’t even know who she is? What on earth could have even possessed him to approach this poor woman and use these terms he would most certainly only use upon people he is very close to (and are therefore beloved to him)? What is it he favours in her???
I been keeping my eye on your movement
Oh, so now he’s been watching her. Wait a sec, he’s been “keeping an eye” on some girl he doesn’t even know and he still feels it is okay to approach her and address her as “dearly beloved” and “his favourite” and freaking TELL HER THAT HE’s been “keeping an eye on her movement”? Surely this can only mean he has been watching her dance (this is confirmed by the music video), tell me why would he want to watch her dancing…?
I can’t see no room for improvement
Oh so she’s a good dancer? Her dancing is to his taste. Wow, she must feel so good now you’ve given her that compliment. I bet she was just looking over at you, the ugliest guy in the room (confirmed again by the video), and thinking “wow, I hope my dancing is to his taste, I really want some ugly nobody’s approval!!!” Again he is TELLING HER he is liking what he see in her (she is his favourate for some reason and, seeing as he does not know her, I think we, as intelligent people, must make this observation)
Why you all over there in your jack jones?
Definition of “jack jones”: Noun. Alone. Rhyming slang. Usually used in the expression on your jack, or on my jack. See ‘on ones jack’.
Okay, he’s asking her here why she is alone? Why does she not need to be alone? What if she wants to be alone? Do you think she feels comfortable with you asking why she’s alone? She could have had an argument with her boyfriend, she could have lost her friends, ahe may even have just fancied going out tonight and dancing to chavvy music in revealing clothes, either way it’s really none of your business.
You need to let me get behind your backbone
Oh, she “needs” to does she? It’s a necessity. Again why do you feel that this woman you don’t know but – by the sounds of it like the look of – would need someone like you? Ugly, unattractive, harassing, slightly scary? Yeah, sure what’s not to like! So he wants to get physically close to her and he is telling her she needs to let him – this is putting pressure on the woman. And again, what would make him so drawn to her as to make him want to get close to her when he has no idea of her personality? Uh oh, what if he meant he liked the way she looked in revealing clothes? Well that would cast a whole new light on the phrases “I been keeping my eye on your movement” and “I can’t see no room for improvement” and also the use of the word “Darling”. He’s been watching HER, out of all the other women in the room, he’s been perving on HER because she’s “perfect” to him and he can’t find anything wrong with her and she is his favourite to look at in the room and she doesn’t have to be alone now because he can get close to her. Well, wait a sec, the law says he must have an attitudes, condition, or behavior which promotes stereotyping of social roles based on gender. Well, hasn’t he already done all that? By selecting her out from all the other women in the room on the condition that she is stereotypically “perfect” (i.e. TOO THIN, again conditionalling the other women to be without his -ahem- thrilling company because they don’t half-starve themselves. Put another way, you have to be unhealthy, hungry and pretty to have the pleasure of me sexually harassing you) he is being sexist and discriminating against those other women by not giving them a chance to “let him get behind their backbones”, to get close to him. So his behaviour in selecting out this woman, and clearly the lyrics of the son
So his behaviour in selecting out this woman, and clearly the lyrics of the song which will go into auditory learner’s minds like soapy water into a sponge, promotes the stereotypic, social role that she should be okay with some strange ugly guy approaching her quite confidently (ha understatement of the century) and telling her that He’s been perving on HER because she’s “perfect” stereotypically and he can’t find anything wrong with her and she is his favourite to look at in the room and she doesn’t have to be alone now because he can get close to her. The whole song (which I have not proved yet but will) is encouraging men to do this because their subconscious is going to go “ooh dizzy rascal is so cool and he can approach random women and tell them they are perfect and put pressure on them to let him get close to them, therefore sexually harassing them, so why can’t I? Why don’t I? Let’s start right away! Away to a strip club we go!!!”. You get the picture.
‘Cause I’m the man for the job, let me work it
Here he is assuming that she is straight. Prejudiced that because she is stereotypically “perfect” she must have lots of men offering to “do the job” and to “work it”, so she must be straight. He doesn’t even ask her whether she is straight. She may prefer a woman to, um, “do the job”. The definition of “let” is: To give permission or opportunity to; allow. Again putting pressure on her to give permission, to allow him to “do the job” and “work it”. The definition of job is: A regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one’s trade, occupation, or profession or a task that MUST be done. What task, what activity performed in exchange for payment could he possibly want to do with her? Oh dear…is he pressurizing her to have sex with him?
Or just pressurizing her to dance with him for money? Or just pressurizing her to let him “do something physical” (work it definition from http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/work+it). Also can I ask does he treat men in this fashion? Of course not, therefore he is being discriminatory. Whether you believe he is being discriminatory to men and, would personally, queue up to have ugly, unattractive and harassing men pestering you to let him get close to you and “do something physical” or whether you believe he is being discriminatory to women by perving on her in a way he certainly would not do to men and in a way that is degrading to the women who were not stereotypically skinny or big boobed enough to be selected out and also degrading to the woman selected as she will be sad that this is the only reason this particular man would want to “do something physical” with her, not because of her personality but because, of course, she is stereotypically “perfect” to him.
I won’t waste no time, I’ll make it worth it
He won’t do the physical thing slowly – he will do it quickly – whether she likes it or not he “WON’T waste no time”. “I’ll make it worth it” He is speaking about it like it is definitely going to happen, remember he hasn’t asked her whether she wants to yet.
One hundred percent, I’ll make it worth it
Bit full of himself isn’t he?
You got a body to die for, let me work it
He would die for her body. Clarification of the assumption made earlier. Discriminatory – would he die for a man’s body? Promoting of stereotypical social roles based on gender – she has a “perfect” body, one he would “die for” and she “will” “let him work it” because she’s straight. Wow I think this role sounds very social don’t you? Doing physical things with random ugly men, how social can you get?
Now it’s murder on the dance floor
He’s going to kill her??? wtf?
I wanna take this further than the dance floor
He wants to get close to her away from the dance floor as well.
I ain’t forceful but I’m still hardcore
So he is denying that he has tried to force her or put any pressure on her through words or actions…interesting. Oh and of course he thinks he’s hardcore. He states it as a fact. I’m sure this will help the woman to make her ultimate decision whether to let him do something physical with her or not. If he ever asks her for a decision that is.
You’re gonna give me everything I ask for
Oh she IS GOING to is she? She has no choice? Sure, you’re not forceful at all! S’cuse me but are we seeing another example of pressure placed upon the woman to do whatever he asks her to do? Isn’t that sexual harassment? Isn’t that against her entitlement to freedom in her human rights?
It’s not a long ting, you’re the boom ting
She is “the boom ting”. I’m going to assume that’s another compliment, and seeing as he clearly does not know anything about her personality, I would say this is another compliment to her looks, unfairly treating the rest of the women in the room to her because, of course, she is his favourite.
Maybe more than a hotel room ting
He mentioned going to a hotel. Why would he take her, a girl he hardly knows but likes the look of, to a hotel?
I’ll never know if I just walk past
I really wanna dance so I guess I’ll just ask
Wow, I’m just grateful he mentioned asking to be honest with you.
She ain’t no hoe
Yet you still expect her to go to a hotel room with a strange, ugly man who is harassing her?
Look at those thighs, it’s in her eyes
Oh, yes, someone’s thighs are very communitive to whether a woman is a hoe or not. Prejudice – judging that she isn’t a hoe by perving on what type of thighs she has. Promoting of stereotypical of social roles based on gender
Promoting of stereotypical of social roles based on gender – females with a certain type of thighs and eyes are hoes – another very social role 
.
She’s good to go
Like Ready-Salted crisps right? Like everything has been prepared and she is ready for her mission!
She can satisfy my mind, body and soul
She can satisfy your body mind and soul but you have to ask her politely first, okay?
Come and dance wiv me
Where the do you want to bit? Sounds like a bit of a command to me.
I see you glance at me
She glanced at you so you think it’s okay to harass her?
That’s why I’m asking B
So let’s party B
Come and dance wiv me
If I’m out on my own
Then I can look at you looking at me
If I’m out on a date
Then I just shut my eyes, then I can’t see
Get away from the bar
Another command.
Tell your boyfriend hold your jar
Ooh and another one.
So I creep, creep creep back to your seat
He has to creep because he has to hide it?
I got my left eye checking out your scenery
I got my right eye right where it needs to be
It “needs” to be there again. This guy has issues; he’s perving and harassing this poor woman who hasn’t given him any go ahead apart from looking at him with an expression on her face, which he could have misinterpreted.
Don’t matter how I look at it
You look good to me
Still, I’m looking for the perfect view
The way I see it, that’s right next to you
Again he refers to her as “perfect” and “good”.
I know you’ve probably heard it before but still
I love it when you flex like that for real
So don’t stop doing what you do when you do it
Perving, perving, always with the perving…
I just wanna be a part of it when you do it
I’ll feel like a wally if I don’t pursue it
He wants to pursue it – capture, chase, gain, accomplish, advance,
Definition of pursue: to continue to torment or afflict; haunt.
And I can’t go through it
So let’s get to it
You made a real effort tonight and it shows
I can tell by your face you don’t wanna be alone
How about actually consulting her then?
‘Cause the mood is right and the time is now
The mood is right for sex is it(yes another assumption sorry!)? How did this mood come about you? Could it be because you have been perving on her? Doesn’t that classify as sexual harassment?
Put your skills on show, oh
Of course, the only skills she could have would be the ones she could show to him and he could perve over.
These are just some of the sexist underlying messages in this, may I say, completely shit and tacky song. These are the kind of messages that are going to be seeping into teenagers minds as they listen to this crap over and over again. This is basically why I don’t listen to the charts anymore but prefer to listen to REAL music, which has less degrading shit in it. It’s just viewing women as nothing but objects again and I, personally, am upset by it and have had enough. And before the critiques start can we clarify that I am NOT jealous of these women, if I wanted to be perved over, heh, believe me I could, but I do not want to and I make damn well sure I’m not.
It upsets me when I speak to my friends and they are mad about it too but do not know how to phrase why this stuff is sexist so I thought I would help them. How thousands of women can sit and listen to this song and not speak out I do not understand. I know what it is like to be sexually harassed and therefore cannot really understand women who condone it. The saddest thing is, the woman in this song would have probably accepted the man because, what with all the pressure from the media, it would be almost impossible for her not to feel ugly and like all her “imperfections” are overwhelming. She would have just been grateful she was picked out, grateful a guy noticed her, even if he noticed her for the wrong reasons. Thank you for reading…x
I don’t have a problem with lust – just men who take it too far – like in this song…x
3 Comments so far
Riiiiiiight… Errmm… We’re talking about men and women – lust is natural, why do you have a problem with it?
You are so politically correct it’s not even funny. When’s dinner ready?
Ooh I love this song. Have you seen the video? She isn’t exactly unhappy about the attention is she?? I’m more of a beats over lyrics person when it comes to pop music though. Looking for meaning in the lyrics of a pop song is like looking for a dance routine in a metallica video.