Shakira, I Have Loved Thee
Comments (6)
When Shakira's She Wolf dropped earlier this fall, even I was a bit undone by the video. Dancing solo against a background of the inner walls of a vagina, twisting her limbs into knots inside a human-sized cage, Shakira's message was an attempt to empower female sexuality. As she explained in an interview with Rolling Stone last week, "We live in a society that suppresses women's subconscious dreams."
Ok, true. And Shaki, I am with you. In fact, I applaud you. But I had to wonder what sorts of resistance this concept has inspired among the American public.
So I conducted a cursory search for prog-pop blogs that might have covered the release. Jezebel had nothing. Gawker, The New Yorker, Salon, Pitchfork -- nothing. When did culture sites stop caring about Shakira? She is the hugest pop star in the world, save for the United States. When did we -- Kardashian, Gossip Girl threesome, Miley Cyrus pole-dancing WE -- place ourselves above a little dialog about female masturbation portrayed in music video?
Seven years ago (woah ... seven!) Shakira put forth her first album for the English-speaking pop world. Since then, she has continued to write and produce, travel and perform, giving killer shows to loving fans around the world. Before the "crossover," she was one of the most popular artists worldwide, and afterward she has retained the same status. But, for some reason, the US audiences still have trouble making sense of her beyond her featured vocal parts in hip-hop singles. "Hips Don't Lie" was the best-selling single of her career.
It is that elusive global pop-ularity that Shakira continues to seek, producing bi-lingual albums and collaborating with key artists in the US market. When "She Wolf," the single didn't surpass number 11 in the charts, Shakira made a split-second decision to record a last-minute single with Timbaland and Lil Wayne to be included on She Wolf, the album. This track, "Give It Up To Me" may be the key to meeting her outrageous goals for She Wolf success in the US. The album drops November 23.
I know it's no secret that I might be Shakira's longest-running fan in the United States, and I have always felt like a cheerleader for her cause. For whatever reason, my fellow pop fiends can't seem to process that she's not dancing solely for the pleasure of a man; she is a traditionally-trained belly dancer; she is an advocate and financial supporter of primary education in Colombia; she learned English from Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Have our intelligent cultural critics written her off as just another pop star? She's producing mainstream stuff with a progressive message, like the truest Dylan proteges must! Come on, people, let's hear what you think!
Shakira Mebarak is not going to stop. This woman has the ambition of a young investment banker circa 2003, and she is good at getting what she wants. The question is whether Shakira's conviction that she is speaking on behalf of women around the world is the asset that will garner that "last frontier" audience in the United States. Where have you gone, critics?
Comments
hmmm, i had no idea that that preschooler's glitter/glue/construction paper project was to represent a vagina.
i can't deal with her raw voice, either- i love every part of "she wolf" but her verses. but she's beautiful and seems like she's just the right amount of crazy.
I love Shakira. I even pointed that out to someone via text at 3 AM last night when the "Give It Up to Me" song came on the radio.
Interesting. I had no idea about her new video. I'm a bit surprised Jez didn't cover it - seems like their kind of thing. I guess partly it's because people don't want music videos like they used to, but I'm pleased to see a big pop star (not sure if I would go with "hugest") saying something about feminism. I don't think Britney, Miley, or whoever else is big these days could come up with, ""We live in a society that suppresses women's subconscious dreams."
Excelente! I love Shakira and I think you give her all the credit she deserves. Una mujer con cojones!
Beautifully written, Erica. I don't need to say anything else.
I am not a big fan of Shakira, never have been. Not
hing against who she is but because of her music. I just don't like her voice. I do give her props for doing so much for Colombian Education and learning how to belly dance. She is very talented in that sense. But tell me what pop star doesn't do some form of philanthropic work or have taken dance classes? Most celebs do some sort of giving back. Granted she has not been the center attention of news for a doing something stupid, which i highly respect her for but in many other senses she i just another pop star. I don't think she deserves the credit you are awarding her.