Corpses are so hot: the erotization of violence towards women

To the right there is a window display featured at Barney's department store in New York. Or a window display that was featured at Barney's... before it got removed.

Congratulations Barney's, you effectively decided that a blood-strewn woman in a contorted position, falling off a chair (being thrown off a chair?) isn't the best angle to sell your clothing to women. Nothing like women and violence to sell an A.L.C gown.

And yet does this surprise me? Hell no. Shit like this is seen all the time and women posed in provocatively violent positions are eroticized over and over again. Nothing like a woman beat into submission to speak sex appeal. It is the very same reason that the latest Lady Gaga video for "Paparazzi" completely creeped me out. It can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQJ9Vi8GLok

The first opening scene shows Lady Gaga thrown off a balcony where she ends up in a contorted position on the pavement with blood seeping from her skull. Sexy. But this disturbing image (or storyline) is followed up by countless other nearly subliminal flash shots of contorted dead women. And I'm talking gruesome: we have a nurses with bullet wounds to the head, Seran-wrapped asphyxiated bodies dumped in the woods, hangings, and apparent death by shovel-beating. If you don't want to subject yourself to the entire video check out the 45 seconds following the 4:20 mark. If you want to see what I mean even more clearly, cut the sound (your ears will thank me too). These one-second (sometimes less) shots are laced through this video while supposedly ending with a "rah rah girl power!" message at the very end when the Lady herself announces "I killed my boyfriend". Again, nothing like murder to show who means business.

Lady Gaga is currently one of the biggest pop stars around. Millions of pre-teen girls and boys are eating this shit up on MTV without the slightest clue of the inherant violence contained within its 8 minutes. Sure, I could use my degree in English to argue that the video actually calls attention to the effects of the sexualization of women in the first place (via the paparazzi), but unfortunately even that argument would have to avoid addressing the constant eroticization of violently murdered female corpses found within the video itself... I don't think you can really argue with those. And why are these images only a second long? Well because if they were any longer, parents (and people) would probably give a shit.