Self-Esteem Issues
To these music artists, beauty is not based on internal qualities, but on one's outward appearance (“Music Videos: Negative Impact…”). Constantly seeing these images can cause women viewers to feel the need to change their bodies to look more like those in the videos. On November 22, 1997, the Kids Speak panel was held, consisting of a focus group of twelve teenagers from different backgrounds, who watch hip-hop/rap music videos ("Women's Portrayal in Vids Debated at Billboard Confab"). Some of the teenagers in this focus group complained that women in music videos always have to look like beautiful supermodels, but the men aren't held to these same standards. ("Women's Portrayal in Vids Debated at Billboard Confab").
Women who view these videos and have low self-esteem could develop a desire to be like the women in those videos. These images will “be harmful to young (insecure) adolescent girls who [are] being socialized into society and trying to develop a sense of self” (“Using Sex to Sell Products…”). Some adolescent girls think that if they act like the women in the videos, they will feel better about themselves, and so will others. When young girls constantly watch music videos (one to three hours pending) they try to dance and behave the same way by mimicking the moves with social groups/or at social gatherings, or they begin to feel overwhelmingly self-conscious about themselves (Music Videos: Negative Impact…”).
The perceptions of adolescents could be greatly distorted with the constant images of women acting in a sexual manner. Studies have been conducted, and concluded that these videos could greatly impact the behavior of adolescents in regards to sexual issues (Razetto, “Negative Aspects of Music”). This portrayal of women as easy, loose, and sexual promoters/advertisers, leads adolescent girls to believe that it is okay to go have sex, without being aware of the serious risks and consequences (“Music Videos: Negative Impact…”).
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