Blurring the lines of hetero male fantasies

I’m completely out of the loop, and wasn’t aware that Robin Thicke has the song of the summer with his hit “Blurred Lines.” Until recently, I had only heard the song once. A while back, I saw the uncensored version, which features a number of naked and otherwise half-dressed women participating in various activities, but mostly prancing around to the delight of Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. I didn’t think much of it at the time.

(That’s the “fully” clothed version). And I didn’t think much of it because it seemed standard fare. For most male artists, the music video is an outlet for their hetero male fantasies. A naked woman walking in front of balloons plastered to a wall that read “ROBIN THICKE HAS A BIG DICK” didn’t even register as abnormal because, well, that’s pretty much the message of every music video I’ve ever seen a dude make.

But that’s sorta the problem, isn’t it?

Roxane Gay, writing for Salon, said: “In the wake of the criticism, Thicke is fairly unapologetic, saying, ‘Women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are always gonna want to follow them around.’ I guess that’s that. Men want what they want.” And as her headline “What men want, America delivers ” suggests, in our society whatever men want, they get.

That’s the danger of brushing aside this video and the potentially “rapey” lyrics, as I first did (a function of my privilege as a hetero man). It’s not about the nudity in and of itself, or that the three men in the video are indulging their fantasies, or that they even have these type of fantasies to begin with. It’s the idea that their fantasies are meant to be fulfilled, whether the other parties are willing participants or not. It’s about the fact that we bend over backwards (in some instances, literally) to accommodate hetero men’s desires for a sexual playground, and in turn deny anyone else the same pleasure. If everyone is focusing in on how to please hetero men, when are they afforded the opportunity to pursue their own sexual fantasies? And if hetero men become so accustomed to being the star, how resistant will they be if asked to play a supporting role in someone else’s show?

Thicke’s video is mostly playful, and wouldn’t necessarily classify as demeaning, but that doesn’t matter all that much because it still fits inside the narrative of “boys will be boys.” And if you’re not one of the “boys” there’s apparently nothing you can do about it except participate as the boys wish. The lines are clearly drawn here.