Proving that I just don't get it.

[kimberly]

EAKerrangNews.jpg (629.48 KiB) Viewed 155 times

Is this necessary?

I was recently emailed by the admins from the forums of a favorite indie artist of mine, http://emilieautumn.comwith a rather dismaying message that the forum is being reduced/limited only to topics and posts that discuss EA's work. No more talking about other indie artists, indie fiction, recipe swapping, or photos of your hand-sewn creations. She's keeping it all EA all the time. It's sad, but I realize that her forums need to be for her alone. Totally fine with me, not a problem. I can absolutely understand because she's not a major music conglorporate with infinite $ to spend on forum bandwidth. EA limiting her forum is depressing but obviously it's a necessary evil.


What I don't get is why an over-30 year old woman who is in her own right a genius, composer, writer, and a self-made superstar is mostly naked on her splash page. I had to take her off my Top Friends list on http://myspace.com/queeniebecause of a photo where she's wearing pasties and not much else. I'm not a prude, it's just because kids see my MySpace page and I don't need them absorbing images like that because of me.

Do women in music really need to get naked to get attention? Is it truly necessary? "Queenie", my alter-ego, is nowhere near as famous or as popular as Emilie, but as her character is technically a courtesan, I suppose it would be rather easy to take some risque photos with my various body parts (which are actually quite nice) mostly exposed. I just always hesitate to go there. Am I being smart or just pathetic and elitist?

[Knightmist]

Artists from painters to musicians are always trying to find away to distance themselves from the pact. It can be anything from a shocking work of art, a fantastic show, a word of mouth campaign and finally to a shocking look.

In this case Emmie is deciding to show a bit more of herself in a new campaign in the hopes it creates buzz. The look and style of her new promotion can be said to just having that impact considering you have posted on it yourself drawing attention to her.

She maybe getting attention but how many people are going to check her work out, over checking her out? Is she really going to gain new fans of her work, or new fans of just her? It's a risky gamble when an artist decides to put so much of themselves out into the public eye. A good example is if you look over past history singers that have decided to do photo spreads in adult mags like Playboy seem to see their popularity go down instead of up. However, a great teasing spread in something like Maxim may get them on a top 100 list for their looks but how did it do for sales?

So what I'm say is it's purely up to the artist on how much "exposure" they want to get people to notice them. The problem is are they getting noticed for their music, their work, their art, or their look? Personally, I wish people would let their work and talent speak for itself, but the problem is we are in a digital age were people have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.

I'll close by pointing out that Steve Nicks is one of these artists who's kept her look and kept herself covered, and is still selling records today. Yes, we have the Britney's, Lady Gaga's, and Christina's but how many of them will be around as long as Nicks as time will tell. Personally, it maybe good to make a splash in the pan now by having more exposure, but personally I'd rather simmer and thus be there for a lot longer.

Also, sometimes a photo of a woman in alluring photo with more clothing with a great look and smile goes a lot longer then a "Hey look at me, I'm almost naked" photo. Personally, she has a great look to her but in no way am I at all interested at this time in checking her music out. I think I've seen enough of her for this time.

[kimberly]

The Stevie Nicks example is exactly what I was searching for. I'm sure Stevie had a beautiful body back in her day--she certainly had the male members of Fleetwood Mac wrapped around her enchantress fingers, right? But she didn't need to do a Hustler spread to prove that she could work a little magic. Consequently, she is still seen as a consummate pro superstar & musician.

I think Lady Gaga is awesome, but I'm perplexed at all of the artists that are trying to emulate her every move. You'd think that artists out there would have some subtlety and use Gaga as an inspiration rather than literally copying her. EA's new Suicide Girl look strikes me as very Lady Gaga. Christina Aguilera made a cringe-worthy stab at becoming Lady Gaga that was so bad I posted about it:

http://www.foreverfifteen.com/ffworld/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=303

The Playboy slut thing will never grow old among a certain breed of male, but is that who Emily Autumn wants to appeal to? I'm turned off by her current campaign. It's tacky and frankly it's below her. At any rate, there is a huge amount of pressure out there for women to show our bodies in order to draw attention. Young girls are looking to the 30 something women (EA and myself) and they DESPERATELY NEED role models. Gaga is fun but she's all shock and no substance. I admire her musicianship but she barely uses it. Young women need to see talented females in the spotlight who refuse to compromise for what's in or expected or popular, and right now showing it all is definitely what the in-crowd is doing. Totally disappointed that EA didn't resist the call.

[Robert]

Long time no see .

Myself I can appreciate risque photos ( but not nude ) of artists but only if they're something more than "hey, look at my body" and "I want attention real bad". This example unfortunately, isn't. I also don't think that age has much to do with it. It doesn't matter to me if it's a 30yo or 18yo, it's still something I don't like.

I don't think your question "Am I being smart or just pathetic and elitist?" is the right one to be used here. In the end, this a matter of what a person can sacrifice for something else. If someone is willing to compromise their body to get fame / money, good for them, as long as they're happy with their choice. Our lives are all about compromises and giving up something to get something else.

We have football / soccer world cup right now. I don't care much for it but think about what these players sacrificed. They likely lost at least a few years of their lives and should expect health problems later on in life. Not to mention that it's more likely than not that they take some officially illegal "helpers". Let's face it, most of "serious" athletes or people in showbiz are compromising themselves for money and fame. It's a "dirty" business.

Lastly, it's a little sad that most of the pressure you mentioned that's being put on women to display their bodies comes from other women, actually. I'll admit that it all likely started with a guy but women ultimately agreed to it.