Lady Gaga in that infamous video for Telephone

“And after he’s been hooked I’ll play the one that’s on his heart…”  A line from a modern day love song, à la pop’s current first lady, Gaga.  The Poker Face card metaphors are charming – and catchy.  But then, gasp, she lets us in on her real desires – “I’ll get him hot, show him what I’ve got…”

Lady Gaga and her contemporaries, adored by kids as much as adults, have recently come under fire for provoking the young audiences they pull in.

But let’s start from the beginning.  “I’m no schoolboy, but I know what I like – you shoulda heard me, just around midnight”.  So howled Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones in Brown Sugar from their cheekily named release, Sticky Fingers, in 1971. In 1991 the Divinyls told listeners in no uncertain terms, “I don’t want anybody else, when I think about you I touch myself…”  And before Stefani “Gaga” Germanotta, the Pussycat Dolls instructed us to “loosen up my buttons, babe.”

A scan of the blogosphere finds artists such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna a hot topic amongst mamma bloggers like ‘A Mommy Story’ (American Christina).  She muses, “I guess I can’t be too hard on myself. I remember being a little kid and singing along to Madonna’s Like a Virgin. I didn’t even know what it meant at the time, but hey, it was a catchy song and she was pretty and dressed so cool. And I turned out OK, right? Right?”

Supposing that children of the noughties don’t actually comprehend what their idols are singing, there’s the always the videos to accompany them.  However, the question is – is music really more sexualised now than before?

Rihanna – “Rude Boy”

“Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up?” Drawing on her Caribbean roots, post-Chris Brown, Amazonian Rihanna uses her best, albeit blatant, line to draw in a suitable lover.  Director Melina Matsoukas represents the song’s “90s dancehall” style with gaudy tones, theatrical costumes and classic dances from the period.

Visually, the video doesn’t seem particularly provocative save for the close up of one of Rihanna’s seven costumes bearing a startling resemblance to…cleavage!  However, commentators are reacting to Rude Boy’s lyrics.  Admittedly, it would be rather disturbing to see ten year old girls singing along to “So giddy-up; time to get it up, you say you a rude boy, show me what you got now.”

Katy Perry ft Snoop Dogg – “California Gurls”

Katy Perry’s lead single from her latest album is a response to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind.  With “Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top” as Perry’s outfit of choice, not to mention her charismatic sass and Snoop Dogg, it comes as no surprise that the video is suitably naughty.  Perry treats us to her well-sculpted naked physique perched atop a cloud, while featuring some tongue-in-cheek cupcake bras which don’t leave much to the imagination.

Reviewer Jennifer Sale has a point – Perry and Snoop could have done something “funny and actually edgy going more with the contents of the song…[But] I got Snoop playing bizarre Candyland and a bra squirting whipped cream.”

The Pretty Reckless – “Miss Nothing”

Gossip Girl’s Jenny, a.k.a 16 year old actress Taylor Momsen is also the frontwoman of otherwise masculine The Pretty Reckless.  Her undeniable talent, offset by a rebellious sense of style has gotten tongues wagging amongst conservative mothers in the US.  See Momsen’s trashiest fashion moments (including her on-stage antics), chronicled by The Fab Life’s Lauren Deiman to help make up your mind.

Justin Timberlake/Ciara – “Love Sex Magic”

Justin and Ciara’s collaboration evokes the cockiness of SexyBack with some obvious chemistry in the video.  Director Diane Martel does a pretty good job adapting the tune visually; Digital Spy’s review stated, “Quite frankly, the whole thing could make a nun have impure thoughts”.

Britney Spears – “Slave 4U”

Back before anyone sobbed, “Leave Britney alone!” the girl was taking care of herself – depending on how you look at it.  With lyrics that weren’t exactly screaming feminism and independent women, Brit sang sensually about pleasing her man.  The video was a new level of “sexy” with g-strings as outerwear.

Lady Gaga – “Telephone”

The second single from Gaga’s album The Fame Monster, this video may be up there with Madonna’s Justify My Love (see below).  Released on the back of fem-bot infested Bad Romance, the video for Telephone was much anticipated.  And it didn’t fail to deliver – at least in controversy.  A melee of girl-on-girl, sexy, outlandish costumes and Tarantino-esque poisoning, the concept has Beyoncé bailing Lady Gaga out of jail, and follows the ladies on a homicidal road trip.  Director Jonas Åkerlund’s full version includes extra material such as Gaga flashing her genitalia at the prisons guards – an amusing nod to transvestite rumours about the singer.

Female talk show host Sandy Rios didn’t see the funny side however, claiming Telephone is “poison for the minds for our kids, and for our minds for that matter.”

Madonna – “Justify My Love” 

The mother of sexy music videos, Madonna caused a stir in 1990 with her dreamy erotic-hetero-bisexual sequence dotted with nudity and S&M.  Co-written by Lenny Kravitz, the resultant ban of “Justify My Love” on MTV was upstaged by the decision to release the clip as a ‘video single’ – an unprecedented move.  She even went on to defend the video and its hedonistic female sexual themes on US television – girl power!

Surely there is no denying the purpose of controversial videos, even for the artists.  At the core, they are made to sell albums.  Ciara stated that her and Timberlake’s goal was to “make the best video we could and to give the fans something a little fun and a little unexpected”.

So it seems music and sex have a long relationship – for artists, but also our memories.  We’ve all had that “OMG, I never realised those were the words!” moment.  The Media Awareness Network has a viable solution – challenge kids to analyse music videos – when they’re old enough.

Perhaps Madonna sums it up in her interview.  “It’s about a woman who’s talking to her lover and she’s saying… ‘Tell me your stories, I’m not afraid of who you are. These feelings are true and I’m just dealing with the truth here in my video.”  And sometimes we need to hear it – as long as it’s at the right age.