Sexual violence in Rihanna video

Holowiwi would you have been comfortable if the person who she kidnapped and brutalised in this way was the same looks but age 10 say?

Because the privilege point is the same, and the benefiting from the accountant is the same.

Unless we know that the woman in the video was complicit in the theft?

I still think that having her naked and strung up and making it "sexy" is more to do with the fact that this imagery is generally popular than to do with any more complex points? Or am I giving her too little credit? Or whoever had the idea for the video?

So a resounding yes well done from you Holowiwi?

Personally I don't want to see videos of people being tortured to represent the "baddies" in the things I feel strongly about, maybe others feel the same way? So eg I'm a feminist, I wouldn't make a video showing women torturing a man, I would think that was grim (plus it would give all the MRAs loads of ammo LOOK they hate us see women are just as violent as men there's the proof and they want to hurt us).

Additionally while the viewpoint from a race perspective is that it's subversive which I get, from a sex perspective it's hot naked woman gets tortured WAHEY which is all over our TVs already.

I'm not sure that the comment about racism will chime for the men who get to see yet images of attractive women with their clothes off being brutalised?

The comments about what is deemed attractive in western patriarchy as well - the point being that the black woman wants to violently destroy the image of the white blonde woman - I get that too. But the white blonde woman is a subject of the same sex based oppression, should the ultimate target of this stuff not be the man? Squishing white women is well and good but is there nothing to be said for the white men? Is it because white women are an easier target than white men or is it because it's sexy to sexually brutalise women? Because if it was a white man naked and being tortured that would without a doubt be way way more shocking - too shocking really.

I mean if what we need is more white women being sexually brutalised by all sorts of people then given that this is already a mainstay in mainstream TV, how much do we need before the message gets across? And why are white men not subject to any of this?

It's moments like this that put people in an uncomfortable position of realising what privilege they have in life. Often some men would say I haven't experienced the benefits of being male and women will just think wow he simply can't see it. Just like how some white women can't see the same thing as this time it's race.

I don't think the accountants wife is innocent as she benefited from Rihanna's exploitation and I can see why Rihanna would kidnap the wife not the accountant after all you can't kidnap the person who has your money (how would you expect to get it back?) also one of the most effective ways of hurting someone is hurting their loved ones so Rihanna hit 2 birds with 1 stone.

I have not seen the video and I never want to see it as I know it'll make me furious. Never liked the woman since she sang that S&M song about whips and chains exciting her etc. Why that was allowed on the airwaves I do not know.

But definitely more innocent than, um,the accountant himself, no?

"exaltation of white femininity". But white women and especially feminists never asked to be exalted. The exaltation of the perceived aspects of femininity (delicacy, beauty, frivolity) is a bone that has been thrown to us throughout history whenever we ask for real power, and is one that harms us more than benefits us. So no, I don't benefit from this "exalted femininity" although I fully acknowledge that black women have been made to feel shit for not being considered part of that ideal.

Besides which, in RL the vast majority of white women are far far removed from that privileged, beautiful, thin, rich woman that is being portrayed. We are being hated for what we are not and misrepresented into the bargain.

I would argue though that the female beauty ideal has expanded now to include mixed race women although darker skinned women are still left out and that's shit.

Ultimately what needs to happen IMO is not for the beauty ideal to be extended to give women of all colours / body shapes more crap to worry about but for it to be gotten rid of entirely and just for all women to feel happy with what they are.

The accountants wife enjoyed the fruits of her labour. She is not innocent.

This is a moment of on-screen acknowledgement of the historical erasure of women of colour by white women who – as a group – have benefitted from both white supremacy and colonialism. It also highlights a long history of women of colour serving and enabling the exaltation of white femininity, with their service – coerced and enforced – as slaves, maids, ayahs, nurses, and cleaners rarely recognised. The sequence is also a nod to the many, many screen representations of an affluent white woman – often clad in white and with blonde hair to further emphasise whiteness – whose attractions are highlighted by contrasting her to ‘lesser’ non-white female bodies that surround her but remain in the background. Think of Miley Cyrus, Daenerys Targaryen, and pretty much most film, music video, television programming.

Horrible.

And why take it out on the accountant's wife?

I'm surprised it wasn't banned. I can't believe anyone thinks it's ok to have a naked victim hanging upside down being tortured.

Sorry for double post phone playing up today

But I hated Tarantino for that violence too. The bit where Patricia Arquette is all bloodied up with her chest hanging out is awful. The only good thing is that she saves herself. And the body count in Kill Bill was insane. I hate it all so that means I can complain about Rhianna's too I assume.

I hate all violence for show whether the victims are black, white, male, female. But it's portrayed differently. Female victims of any colour are more likely to be portrayed in a sexual way and in this video the fact that the victim is rich and white is supposed to denote that she deserves it.

But Rhianna's making loads of money so I'm guessing she's happy. I just wish she would challenge the world where money and violence are Gods rather than buy into it. Because then I wouldn't have to watch that garbage or worry about our kids watching it.

But when people say "it's no worse than Tarantino" do they think that feminists approved of that? I still remember hating the scene where Patricia Arquette is all bloodied up with her chest hanging out. The only good part is that she saved herself.

I hate all violence whether the victims are male, female, black or white of course but they are portrayed differently. With women of any colour it is portrayed in a more sexual way which makes it disturbing in that it is supposed to be titillating and in the case of Rhianna's video the use of a rich white woman is supposed to convey that she deserves it.

But Rihanna is making loads of money put of it so I guess she's happy.

I like a lot of Rihanna's music but this video makes me very uneasy. When people say 'it's no worse than Tarantino,' I think, 'well, Tarantino films aren't aimed at teenage girls, are they?'

Because whoever Rihanna thinks makes up her audience, it's definitely more school-age people than adults.

It's all for publicity... she, and her record company, know this is wrong but sex and violence sells. By producing a shocking video, even if it does eventually get banned, has projected her profile. Everyone will be talking about her and this video, everyone will be logging on to youtube (or other source) when someone says "have you seen Rihanna's new video?!" ...whether they agree with the content or not it will be a topic of conversation online, on TV, on radio and between us all. We're all talking about, listening to, and watching Rihanna.

Publicity stunt success - job done!

But fwiw no YANBU, it's disgraceful she feels the need to promote sexual violence in order to remain at the top. I feel like certain female entertainers are taking major steps backwards after women fought hard to stop being objectified and be taken seriously as equal human beings

Whirlpool is right, it's about who you identify with. When I see a half naked murdered woman in a back alley on TV I feel slightly afraid because it subconsciously registers that this could happen to me.

When Patrick Jane (The Mentalist) described how Red John would creep into women's bedrooms at night and wake them up so he could see their fear, I ran around checking the locks for nights!

There's something gratuitous in TV's obsession with female fear, it's like killing young women is more likely to push our buttons and it's odd that in RL men are statistically far more likely to be murdered than women but I'm sure if you tallied the no. of tv murder victims you'd find it the other way round.

(Just to back up BreakingDad's pov I felt exactly the same about hip hop. I used to be really into it early 90s because my boyfriend did and it was super cool then, but couldn't square my burgeoning feminist principles with the attitude to black women - hoes, bitches and goldiggas - in its songs)

innocent they both wronged her. The wife spent Rihannas money on a lavish lifestyle.

mediadiversified.org/2015/07/04/so-were-still-all-talking-about-rihannas-bitch-better-have-my-money/

Imagine if instead of kidnapping the accountant’s wife, Rihanna and her crew kidnapped his brother? Would White Feminists™ be so upset?

I've not seen the video, but why didn't Rihanna kidnap the accountant if he's the target of her anger? Could it be because women are seen as belonging to men not as people in their own right? Or because a woman is seen as an easier target?