Okay, babies. In part one of this series, we looked at the pop genre as a whole, identified examples of sex positive imagery and lyrics, and sang the praises (see what I did there?) of some talented pop parody artists.
Now let’s take a closer look at two songs — more specifically, two videos — that use similar imagery, language and attitudes to represent two very different sexual equations. We’ve got some pop decoding to do, and I think you’ll like the results.
THE PLAYERS
LMFAO is the electro/dance/rap/DJ duo responsible for the incredibly shallow, shamefully catchy song “Party Rock Anthem” and a couple of other hits, notably “Shots” and “I’m in Miami, Bitch.” The group is made up of two guys, Redfoo (on the left, age 36) and SkyBlu (on the right, age 25). Redfoo’s dad is Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records. SkyBlu’s dad is Redfoo’s half-brother (Berry Gordy IV), so that makes LMFAO an uncle/nephew duo. I think it’s also safe to say they’ve benefited from a fair amount of music industry nepotism.
LMFAO, jumping for joy!
Who are they singing to? And what are they singing about? LMFAO’s lyrics address people who are attracted to girls that like guys (“Lookin’ for your girl? She on my jock, ha”), girls who are attracted to LMFAO (“Step up fast, and be the first girl to make me throw this cash”) and anybody who wants to *ahem* party rock.
“One more shot for us (another round)Please fill up the cup (don’t mess around)
We just wanna see (you shake it now)
Now you’re rollin’ with me (you’re naked now!)”
Their songs are lighthearted and tend to focus on dancing, their own attraction to sexy girls, their own fashion choices and personal style, partying, drinking and having a good, good time. They’re no saints, but in the world of pop music their sexual politics and overall world view are relatively positive and healthy.
Jonny circa 2003, lookin’ cute
And now, the flip side of our equation. Jonny McGovern is a comedian and musician, best known for his work on Logo’s Big Gay Sketch Show and the hit club single “Soccer Practice.” His comedy podcast, Gay Pimpin’ With Jonny McGovern, is an iTunes hit. (And — full disclosure — is sponsored by The Smitten Kitten.)
Jonny working the metro-lumberjack look, circa 2011 (he’s the one wearing pants.)
Jonny’s lyrics address hot guys of all kinds, the people in the club, queers and occasionally straight girls. Mostly though, hot dudes that he’s either fucking or looking to fuck. Heavy on comedy, in-character swagger and queer affirmation, Jonny’s songs focus on the ins and outs of gay male relationships, homo stereotypes and cliches, and sex. Lots and lots of awesome gay sex.
THE SONGS
Let’s look at Jonny’s video first.
The narrative is pretty simple. Jonny tells his freudian psychoanalyst about his descent into dickmatization, an ailment characterized by sexual obsession and distraction related to attractive dudes. Specifically, their packages. He sings about a one night stand with a perfect penis that he can’t stop thinking about, while in the video his basketball posse of “homo homies” lose a game of pick up basketball to a herd of shirtless, jockstrap-eschewing hotties. In the end, everyone seems to have become friends, hostilities are forgotten and they all (including some hot, dragtastically queer looking ladies of color) join in an impromptu dance party.
Here’s the LMFAO video. Again, a simple story. Redfoo and his pastel lycra-clad homies hit what appears to be the Venice Beach strip and flaunt their packages, declaring themselves sexy. People react with fascination, vague horror and serious distraction. Then SkyBlu’s crew of red and black-clad “tough guys” (which includes a pink haired elderly lady and Wilmer Valderrama of That 70’s Show fame) notice them, follow them to a bar, and have a crotch-thrusting dance off. All the penis waggling somehow makes everyone forget their hostilities, and things rapidly devolve into an impromptu dance party.
There are some obvious similarities between these videos. Here’s the main one.
These videos are all about cock. In total, Dickmatized has approximately thirty crotch-focused shots, and two shots about men’s asses. Sexy And I Know It has forty separate crotch shots (it also features some quicker editing, packing in more crotch shots per minute with fast cuts) and four shots in which ass provides the visual focus.
THE IMAGERY
Male bodies are the object of the desiring gaze here. In the words of Redfoo, “check it out.”
As the video viewers, we’re invited to ogle these bodies as much as we want. The difference between the videos is all about voice and gaze. In the world of each music video, who’s doing the gazing, the desiring and the storytelling?
THE GAYS AND THE GAZE
These folks notice each of the hot posses first when they arrive on the scene. What’s funniest to me is that the faces in each video run the gamut from pleasure and amusement to alarm and shock. Obviously there’s a greater percentage of feminine-gendered people in the LMFAO crowd.
But there’s also a power and desire balance specific to each video. In Dickmatized, everybody desires cock. But in LMFAO Land, some people are sexually aroused by the male body, while others seem to simply want to admire and celebrate it. Ron Jeremy appears as a mascot of the sexy/unsexy paradox of heteronormative masculinity — he’s a classic example of a sexual man who’s not a sex object, who only views, desires and fucks but isn’t expected to be conventionally good looking himself. And even he is sucked into the celebration of Redfoo’s undeniable sexiness, gyrating along to the seductive beat set by that shimmering turquoise bulge.
If we have to pick a dominant gaze here, a protagonist or agent of each story, the main arbiter of who’s sexy? It’s Jonny and Redfoo.
Although there’s no explicit homosexuality in LMFAO’s video, there’s definitely a homosocial, even queer vibe. It comes from Redfoo occupying the position of subject and object, and he can’t help but reflect the inherent queerness of a male-admiring male in his body language, throwing snaps, teasing us with a flirty glance over his cheeks and generally ignoring the women around him in favor of his own beautiful reflection.
And SkyBlu’s attitude towards the sexy interlopers and their packages is pretty similar to Jonny and his homo homies in terms of competitive aggression. The only difference is that Jonny’s dickmatized team gets defeated, while SkyBlu’s crew fights back by swinging their own dicks in retaliation.
In essence, SkyBlu’s crew is insisting that they be taken seriously as sex objects. It’s not just that they have the most impressive cocks on the block. They don’t ultimately want to be in charge, they just want to be admired as much as Redfoo’s crew.
CONCLUSIONS
What’s the point, besides an excuse to look at wang contours and abs while rocking out? I think the thrill of this analysis comes from how small the distance is between two supposedly opposite masculinities. Heterosexual narcissism is not the same thing as gay desire. But straight and gay masculinity can share a remarkable amount of common ground.
Whether it’s guys fantasizing about each other’s dicks or their own, I want to applaud these kinds of pop shenanigans. Jonny’s entire video is fantastic, but the dance party at the end of Sexy And I Know It has a kind of pansexual, body-positive exuberance that one rarely sees in a mainstream video. If we can dance more and be confident enough to wink at sexual equations of all sorts, more people of all sexual orientations would be able to declare “I’m sexy and I know it,” and have the world agree with them.
Rebecca has worked as a sex educator for several years, and has been a self-avowed geek scholar for over a decade. Before that, she was simply a young Midwestern girl who spent her days wishing that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold would make out.