Sexual Imagery

Rihanna’s latest music video for her song “Hard” has a very strong war theme but as most music videos are, is heavily stylized. While it is not explicit, it’s still pretty obvious that the video is referencing the current war. The entire video is filmed in a desert and Arabic writing on the side of a building suggests that Rihanna is dancing and singing in the Middle East.

The images in the video are very memorable because they are suggestive and sexual. Rihanna’s costumes are dramatic and revealing; a short black dress with spiked shoulders and a very deep neck line, a bold shouldered long sleeve “shirt” covers her torso but leaves her legs bare, a nude leotard with an open military style jacket over it, and, of course, a “top” made from lines of machine gun bullets. She usually has a helmet or military cap of some sort on as well.

The extras’ costumes in the video are a bit more accurate but still off. The “soldiers” wear tank tops or t-shirts and camouflage pants…and that’s about it. Most aren’t even wearing helmets. In reality, even when not in the middle of combat, soldiers are suited up: jackets, backpacks, helmet, gun, ammo—everything. Having these men just sitting in the background holding a gun and looking pretty is almost as bad as Rihanna walking around in a skin tight dress.

Obviously, this is not what war is like. Even though this video is stylized, what kind of message is it really sending? The next time we think of war we’ll think of Rihanna’s cleavage? At one point Rihanna is straddling the barrel of a tank…a bit over the top, no?


What's more is that Rihanna treats the subject of war like it's a fashion statement: "It’s couture military. Everything is surrounded around the idea of something military. We have tanks, we have troops, we’ve got helicopters, we’ve got explosions. We’ve got lots of cute outfits, lots of bullets. It’s crazy." (http://gossiponthis.com/2009/12/16/screenshots-from-rihannas-new-hard-f-young-jeezy-music-video/#ixzz0fhBysqXK) Do you have the long term effects of war on soldiers such as PTSD? Hmm...


However, Rihanna is not the only one endorsing a more “laid-back” idea of war. In the September 2007 issue of Vogue Italia, a pictorial entitled “Make Love, Not War” was featured. It was photographed by Steven Meisel and featured over a dozen male and female models, such as Agyness Deyn. The title may seem like it’s sending a good message, but looking at the images, I’m not sure.

Let’s just say the photographs are highly sexual.


Most pictures feature at least one female model that is topless, while there is a shirtless male model in every photo. The photos are of soldiers in a desert camp surrounded by women in designer dresses. There are many problems with this editorial…

First of all, the soldiers are messing around in every picture. Yes, soldiers have some downtime while serving, but a kegger in the middle of war? Really? The women in the photos are also total sexual objects. Especially in one photo where a model is just standing in the middle of a room full of soldiers. A soldier behind her is in the process of removing her gown with another watching. Another photo is a soldier and woman apparently wrestling in mud. Though the woman is lying on top of the man, his arms are wrapped around her arms and she has a pained expression on her face.

Both the editorial and Rihanna’s video do not depict actual warfare, but what soldiers could do with their free time. A card game and a little booze, okay. Full on orgy? Don’t think so. There’s nothing wrong with a little creative license, but frankly, I believe these artists have taken it a little too far. Especially with a subject like the Iraq War, so many people have a negative view on it already.

Are the soldiers in these photos really fighting for their country? Or dibs on the woman tattooing the ass of one of their own?

Since when has something as devastating as war become the object of sexual fantasies? There is nothing sexy about death and destruction.

View full editorial here: http://www.paranaiv.no/inspiration/2009/03/make-love-not-war