Pop Music and Porn Culture
The number one song in the year I was born was by Patti Page. It was, “How Much is That Doggie in the Window?” Ten years later the Beatles were singing, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. All pretty bland stuff. But we are no longer living in the 50s, or the 60s.
Indeed, for decades now we have witnessed the pornification of culture, and popular music has not been immune from this. Today it seems every second music video is nothing less than soft porn. In fact, actual porn stars are featured in many of these videos.
Pop music has gone from being innocuous and innocent to decadent and sleazy. Twenty years ago we had albums like “Nasty As They Wanna Be” by 2 Live Crew. It featured:
-226 uses of the word f**k
-81 uses of the word s**t
-163 uses of the word b***h
-87 descriptions of oral sex
-117 explicit terms for male and female organs
And that was just in one album! Things have not got any better in the past two decades. Indeed, it has been all downhill for at least forty years now. And for much of this time, I and others have been warning about these destructive trends. Yet we were mocked, scoffed at, made fun of, told we were ‘wowsers’ etc.
But it seems others are now finally beginning to see the light as well. Even non-conservative and non-religious voices are beginning to appear, warning of our pornified pop culture. Consider for example this recent news item:
“Raunchy pop stars are facing a growing backlash from their own industry, with one of the players behind Kylie Minogue’s career the latest to hit out. Kylie’s former producer Mike Stock has slammed saucy film clips as ‘sexualising’ children, saying modern pop stars are going ‘too far’. He joins other high-profile stars including Kate Ceberano and Katy Perry in condemning the avalanche of inappropriate clips.
“Calls are rising for individual ratings on film clips or a ban in children’s viewing hours. Stock, one third of the legendary pop factory Stock, Aitken and Waterman, said he was loathe to let his own children watch many of today’s pop queens. ‘The music industry has gone too far,’ he said. ‘It’s not about me being old fashioned. It’s about keeping values that are important in the modern world. These days you can’t watch modern stars like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga with a two-year-old. Ninety-nine per cent of the charts is R ‘n B and 99 per cent of that is soft pornography.’
“Gaga’s latest music video Alejandro, complete with simulated group sex and religious symbolism, has been criticised as one of the most controversial. American singer Katy Perry also weighed in, recently tweeting: ‘Using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke.’ It was widely reported she was referring to Gaga’s film clip.”
It is not just pop music but an entire culture shift which began with the counter-culture of the late 60’s. There were calls for liberation from everything, including sexual restraints. Thus the sexual revolution unleashed a tidal wave of permissiveness, sleaze and sexual anarchy.
Many feminists were behind this, speaking of “empowerment” and “liberation”. But now that their libertine worldview has come full circle, and they are seeing the ugly effects of this in their own daughters, many are now having a bit of a rethink. One important new article by Cassy Fiano explains this turnaround:
“There’s a new nightmare on the block for femisogynist moms. Now that they’re all grown up and settled down with teenage daughters of their own, they’re shocked to find out that the sexual empowerment they’ve been championing for decades has backfired on them. How has it backfired? Well, the femisogynist moms are finding out that sexual empowerment has really turned their daughters into slutty teens.
“Canadian magazine Maclean’s examined the phenomenon in a controversial article titled ‘Outraged Moms, Trashy Daughters: How did those steeped in the women’s lib movement produce girls who think being a sex object is powerful?’ Confused moms who label themselves as feminists can’t understand why their daughters label themselves as sex objects, sleep around, and demean themselves yet call it empowerment.”
She continues, “One culprit for why girls are so hyper-sexualized these days can be traced right back to the extreme sex education being taught in our schools, with the charge being led by femisogynists to keep the sex ed coming. Girls have been taught by the adults in their lives to embrace their sexuality, have been lovingly encouraged to explore their sex lives in new and innovative ways.
“The feminist extremists gush about the brilliance of giving their daughters vibrators, they teach middle schoolers how to have good sex. Planned Parenthood distributes sexually explicit brochures to Girl Scouts and teach 10-year-olds about anal sex. Children are inundated about sex from extremely young ages about sex, something that the femisogynists encourage, and yet they can’t understand why teenage girls are sleeping around?”
Her concluding remarks are well worth noting: “The fascist feminists have been engaged in serious social engineering over the past few decades, subverting marriage and family. The word ‘father’ is also noticeably absent. Femisogynists have tried very hard to make sure that fathers no longer have any say in a girl’s sexuality. But now that some of those activists have grown up and started families of their own, they’re realizing that they maybe don’t like the results so much.
“And of course, we can’t forget about abortion. Abortion opened the door to sex with no consequences. It opened the door to men being able to use women and not have to deal with the responsibility of the possibility of a child. We let the sex genie out of the bottle, and for a while, femisogynists cheered it. But it seems like some of the femisogynists moms aren’t liking what they’re seeing.
“It used to be that men had to prove their love and commitment before having sex. But femisogynists instead told women that they were better than that, that having sex like men made you empowered. Decades later, we’re seeing the results of this social experiment. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that the very people who manufactured the social experiment are now the ones complaining about how it all turned out – and, as usual, taking absolutely no responsibility for the disaster.”
Our pornified pop culture – of which pop music is one important part – has been turning our children into hyper-sexed tarts, and some of those responsible for it are now beginning to ask some hard questions. However it may be too late – at least for this current generation – who have been sent down a moral sewage drain by a hedonistic, selfish and rebellious culture.
Whether enough concerned voices will now emerge and challenge this toxic culture and hopefully turn it around remains to be seen. But if something does not happen soon, the future will be looking very bleak indeed.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/saucy-film-clips-too-raunchy-says-kylie-minogues-former-producers-mike-stock/story-e6frf96x-1225904601133
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2010/08/13/femisogynists-shocked-to-find-that-theyre-raising-slutty-daughters/
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What is that I’ve heard about “sowing and reaping”. The Bible really does have some wisdom!!
Mark Wilkinson
Thanks again Bill,
I have also been concerned with the growing ‘feminisation’ of boys and men; this too is coming from the pop culture and turning boys into narcissistic nancy boys, who preen themselves like peacocks and constantly need mirrors.
This tragedy is of course leading boys into homosexuality, another agenda, this time from the homosexualist interest groups.
Creos Mary Roman
That is an excellent article Bill thanks very much – and I agree with you Creos, I have seen this with young men as well, they seem to be very effeminate, tragic that our boys don’t know where they stand anymore.
Liz Gee
I remember when No96 was pushing the boundaries of decency [it only seems a few years ago] That all seems so mild now. The water’s boiled and the frog is cooked.
Glenn Christopherson
Sad world we live in…
Jane Petridge
Hi Bill
I totally agree with your article.
Give our young boys new shorts, pink shirts, white socks and sneakers, give them a computer as baby sitter, and volah! we have zombies who turn into a selfish individuals. It always fascinates me when parents wonder what happened to their teenage sons.
Anne van Tilburg
Hi Bill,
I agree with your description of the sexualised society which we are living in, and that is being strongly portrayed by the pop music culture.
But I’d just like to point out that perhaps quoting Katy Perry isn’t very beneficial for your argument. I think you are quoting her comments out of context, or from a time where she was into the Christian music scene (prior to her being famous). Just have a look at her latest film clip for ‘California Gurlz’ and you will understand what I mean.
Cheers.
Annie Dekker
Thanks Annie
Yes you are right – she seems pretty sleazy as well. But bear in mind that I did not quote her. I merely quoted the article in the Herald Sun. They were the ones quoting her.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I had no idea Lady Gaga was so indecent, until I happened upon a video by her just recently. Young people, 12 and under, are listening and watching that material. Unbelievable. Thanks for pointing this out Bill.
Keith Jarrett
Congratulations on another great article on a very sad subject.
Warwick Marsh
Not to mention the literal explosion of STD’s that comes hand-in-hand with so called “sexual liberation”. Many STD’s lead to chronic pain, infertility and in some cases death.
Peter Jackel
Yes quite right Peter
I also deal with this in various places, such as:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/05/14/fifty-years-of-sexual-suicide/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2007/01/15/the-high-cost-of-free-love/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I have wondered about this myself. After seeing a Christina Aguilera or Lady Gaga film clip I was thinking to myself; that is soft porn!
Also witness Lady Gaga’s antics on and off stage to see how trashy and narcissistic how culture has gotten.
Damien Spillane
Yes, Peter, it is so bad now that all Australian doctors (general practitioners) have been instructed to routinely test ALL women between age 18-25 for Chlamydia. Even if they come in to see you for a sprained ankle, ingrown toenail, or the ‘flu.
The chlamydia epidemic has been by and large ignored by the mainstream press, but you can read all about it at the DHS.
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/humanservicesnews/jul09/prevent.htm
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/humanservicesnews/dec05/snap.htm
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/humanservicesnews/jul08/hiv.htm
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas/bluebook/chlamydia
Notice how much money — that is, your and my TAX money — is being spent by the government in a desperate (and probably futile) attempt to regain control of this spiraling problem. And when all the young women who have chlamydia now need fertility treatment in 10 years time, it will be our tax money once again paying for their IVF.
“But it seems like some of the femisogynists moms aren’t liking what they’re seeing.”
The reward reaped by the Gen X feminists: (1) infertile daughters; (2) no grandchildren.
Jereth Kok
Well said Jereth.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Hi Bill,
Women would profit greatly to learn the truth of God’s Word concerning the way they dress and display their ‘beauty.’ While a man must be on guard against temptation, it is also the woman’s responsibility not to “lead the man into temptation.” There is a simple teaching available in Genesis concerning this issue. Both the tempted and the tempter were punished. Neither had an excuse that acquitted them of their guilt before God.
“Like a gold ring through a pigs snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.”
God leaves us with no doubt that no amount of jewelry or make-up or body hugging, provocatively revealing attire, can hide a heart that is not right with God. While the world does these things, being slaves to their sin and dead in their sins, the real concern is the amount of professing believers who are ‘no’ different.
I really begin to get a sense of the frustration Paul must have felt in trying to convey through his many letters to the believers, the message of living lives that honored God and reflected the work of the Holy Spirits’ transforming power. Speaking the truth in love must surely be a challenge when that truth is met with opposition. I cannot imagine being thrown in jail after being flogged and stoned for preaching the gospel of Christ, desiring only to write letters urging the peoples of Corinth, Ephesus, and Philipi to name only a few, to live lives of propriety and modesty reflective of God’s holiness and to stand firm in the faith. You cannot manufacture that type of faith.
Paul desired that the believers lived lives worthy of the gospel so that those who were UNbelievers would see their lives and speak well of them. We should not therefore be surprised by the actions of the world, when the life of the believer is not all that different from that of the worldly heathen. God issues a stern warning in Deuteronomy concerning the believer who professes faith but uses it as a license to ‘go his own way.’
19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. (Deuteronomy 29:19,20)
WOW!!, Old Testament I know, but God’s principles nonetheless. I wonder how many professing believers know that a profession of faith in Christ that is lived contrary to the word of God not only damages the witness to other believers, but also the heathen world as well. Hence the ‘dry land’ and the ‘watered land.’
Our witness as believers holds far more value than we realise. I’m sure you will agree. It is also important to know that God is not smiling on the one whose life does not accurately reflect the belief he professes.
Regards,
Bennett Donelly
Facing all this makes it so difficult to hold on to any sense of peace or joy. May God protect our children and grandchildren. May His Holy Spirit strengthen us to keep fighting such evil.
Anna Cook
Thanks Bill.
I have written on this theme myself, and in the sequel to my article in the current Saltshakers I will be commenting further on the degeneration of music and culture. I remember well hearing the song “Doggy in the Window” on the radio, which was on the top of the charts when I was a small boy in the 1950s. Then there were other songs from singers such as Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Doris Day. Then there were the “Tammy” movies with Debbie Reynolds, and a bit up the cultural scale were those movies starring Mario Lanza. All good stuff, and authentic popular music.The interesting thing is that if you want to hear them now they a part of the repertoire on “classical” stations like ABC FM, or 3MBS FM, or on CD in the classical music shops like Discurio. Meanwhile, popular “music” (if we are going to call it that) is dominated by confrontational, discordant, jangling, ear-splitting beat and thump, while the lyrics are as you say, merely filth dressed up as “culture”. It is all part and parcel of the collapse of our once-proud cultural tradition, and the collapse of our civilisation.
The trouble is, it is all a one-way street to disaster. There is no turning back, I am sorry to say. Western civilisation is fast going the way of all those of antiquity and of more recent history as well. I read the signs in the light of history, and that is the message I get. We can do what we can in the meantime, and congratulations to you for what you do, but let’s face it: our voice is not only howled down, but laws are even passed to forbid our voice being heard in the public arena.
Hence, like the collapse of the Roman civilisation 1600 years ago, epitomised by the sack of Rome by Alaric the Goth in 410 (the 1600th anniversary is Tuesday of next week, 24th Aug.), our civilisation is sinking into barbarism in all sorts of ways, and the music scene you describe is but one aspect of that headlong fall to barbarity.
Murray R Adamthwaite
It is great to see people within the music industry starting to react to the over-blown sexualisation of the music industry
To be involved in reversing this trend, get involved in something like http://collectiveshout.ning.com and make your voice heard. On the Herald Sun article there’s an opportunity to vote on this.
Garth Penglase
Thanks for showing the connection between the pursuit of liberation without God and its consequences for following generations. So sad.
On a practical note, how do you think we can best take action to raise the standard of these music videos that are fueling lust in our young people?
Dale Skewes
“Well, the femisogynist moms are finding out that sexual empowerment has really turned their daughters into slutty teens”
This is nothing new, although the feminist context might be. If you read your social history there have always been members of the female population seen as “loose”, sluttish, cheap, “easy” etc. right through from the working class up to the aristocratic elites.
On the matter of pop music, I don’t listen to it because of its banality, shallowness and foul language. Instead I listen to the songs of classical music. There are thousands of them, and not a swear word in sight. Schubert himself wrote over 600. I am talking about the songs of Brahms, Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Grieg, Sibelius, Debussy, Poulenc, Ives, Tchaikovsky etc. The language is beautiful, the melodies better than any in pop music, and the themes eternal: love, humour, friendship, parting, Nature, God, childhood, death and so on. And it takes real talent to sing them.
John Snowden
Thanks Dale
As with so many of these issues, the sky’s the limit. Simply pray and ask God what role you might play. On a positive note, we can produce our own music videos, offering a wholesome and uplifting message. More negatively, we can protest, boycott, complain, make a stink to those showing them, like the ABC’s Rage or MTV. We can raise our voices on talkback radio, write letters to editors, etc. We can alert others to all this. There is no shortage of what we can do.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks guys
Another aspect of this ugly business can be found here: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sextortion-turning-mild-mannered-online-flashers-into-internet-porn-queens/story-e6frfro0-1225905901296
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Bill, on a much more positive note, I am continually thankful for the increasing range of excellent music being released by Christian musicians that have God centred and God honouring lyrics. Being a Dad I really appreciate the oportunity to play these songs at home and in the car, and have my kids hearing these lyrics over and over again. I’ve taken the liberty of including some of the lyrics froma Kutless praise song, butthere are so many other artists and songs, with varied musical styles, that point listener’s thoughts to God as they listen and sing along. And this is priceless. We do have a choice in the music we play, and that we let our family listen to.
Amazed (Kutless – It is well)
Open up, my eyes to see
All of you, your mysteries
I hold my breath, you hold my hand
As heaven melts the heart of man
How amazed I am
Your glory fills the sky,
a great and holy light
Shining like a million stars,
I’m amazed by who you are
Lord we lift you high,
Oh God be magnified
You have overwhelmed my heart,
I’m amazed by who you are
The universe, is at your feet
And angels bow, when you speak
So high above, our greatest song
but still you call
and we will come
Peter Baade
Thanks guys
This is also a good piece on this topic: http://townhall.com/columnists/RebeccaHagelin/2010/08/17/music_industry_sexualizes_your_children
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I noticed sado masochistic satanic influences creeping into music videos in the 1980’s; lyrics: ‘You think Im wicked, well I slit his open his guts with a knife and sucked out his intestines’……standing on an old man with high heel shoes on…..a baby in a play pen with superimposed red eyes, this was on SBS at about 5pm in the afternoon!! Apparently SBS is under different broadcasting rules than the commercial stations. I wrote and phoned and tried to get other Christians to protest, (not much success) and in the end almost burnt out but faith keeps you strong. Check out the programme ‘Rage’ after 12 midnight, at what our public broadcaster is spewing out, frightening. Since then really inspiring contemporary Christian music has evolved influencing a new generation of artists… maybe a new renaissance in the arts giving glory to God the Creator. The battle is fierce for the souls of our children. Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but aginst the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Lets contest these authorities with God’s Word.
Angie Volmensky
Thank you Bill for having visited us at Miracle Christian Center on Sunday. A book I would recommend for those that take an interest in many of the topics you write about is “The Marketing of Evil” by David Kupelian.
God bless you.
Mario Del Giudice
Thanks Mario
It was great to be with you guys. And I quite agree with your book suggestion. I did a review of his great book here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2006/07/11/a-review-of-the-marketing-of-evil-by-david-kupelian/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Yes Peter, as a worship musician I have enjoyed seeing the rise and rise of contemporary Christian music from it’s beginnings with Keith Green who was an outspoken & polarising Christian artist, to artists like Amy Grant and Michael W Smith & Gary Chapman. I listen to the same Christian music as my children such as Kutless, Jeremy Camp, Switchfoot, Delirious, Michael Shultz and many other artists, there is so much good music to choose from.
I know of many Christians who have predominantly Christian music collections, which are quite diverse, and pure Christian acts (as opposed to those that also court the secular arena as well) are widespread. There is also a continuing movement away from radio and TV as the source for spreading the word about new music to the Internet.
Where I live on the Central Coast, & also in Newcastle, there is a vibrant young Christian music scene with Rhema FM sponsored music events and many other local and larger events such as RICE, EXOday. While the secular has become more sex-oriented, the advent of Planetshakers, Hillsong Citipointe etc. and the Christian band phenomenon, there has developed a grass-roots Christian music culture, that is maybe only rivaled in the US through the Louie Giglio’s inspired Passion Conferences, which has paved the way for contemporary Christian culture to impact this generation.
Garth Penglase
Thanks guys
More on sleaze songs and pop culture: http://townhall.com/columnists/BrentBozell/2010/08/27/see_how_low_we_must_go/page/1
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch