Artists Who Haven't Used Sex/Sexuality To Stay Relevant

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

This is a spin-off of the Artistical Sexual Maturation topic. A comment was made by @misha:

Jul 26, 2015 21:42:17 GMT -5 @misha said:

Reality is most female pop stars have to become softcore porn stars at some point if they want to stay relevant.

It got me wondering about which artists really haven't done this sort of thing to continue on with their careers and/or to remain relevant.

---

Annie Lennox - She did dress up as an extroverted sex siren in the "Who's That Girl", "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)", and "I Need A Man" videos, but within the context of what she was portraying, it fit the situation and wasn't a calculated move to extend/enhance/prolong her career. And then the was that controversial (at that time) genderbending kiss with a female actress in the "Who's That Girl" video.

Whitney Houston - Aside from slightly revealing clothing in some performances or videos, her image was rarely sexualized.

[Deleted]

That comment, no offense to OP, feels incredibly narrow-minded and reductive. Would anyone say that Usher, Nick Jonas, Justin Bieber, Ginuwine, Justin Timberlake, Enrique Iglesias, etc. "reduced themselves to softcore porn stars" to succeed? Why is it that a woman embracing sexuality is always immediately equated with the most extreme sexual medium (porn)? Furthermore why are we STILL acting like every time a female artist has a sexualized image it isn't of her own agency but because of some behind-the-scenes puppeteer who is forcing her to do whatever it takes to sell records? Like obviously sometimes that happens but it also goes both ways (see: early 90s Mariah). It's so silly to me to think that the only reason a woman would want to express her sexuality openly would be part of some desperate ploy to get attention and radio spins.

I also feel like this conversation of women in music being oversexualized always becomes just another hateful reverse-circlejerk to shit on women who do use sexuality in music rather than an actual meaningful conversation regarding the larger societal conditions which places a woman's sexual value on a pedestal. Like do you really want to talk about sexuality is seen as a pre-requisite for female artists but only a strong suggestion for male artists or do you just want to call Rihanna and Ariana Grande a whore in 50,000,000 different ways?

[Caution]

Susan Boyle
Celine Dion
Mary J Blige
Kelly Clarkson
Katy Perry

[ant]

Carrie Underwood, definitely.  Always keeping it classy.

Jul 27, 2015 7:25:45 GMT -5 Caution said:

Susan Boyle
Celine Dion
Mary J Blige
Kelly Clarkson
Katy Perry

Really?

[Deleted]

It's 2015. This thread is gross.

[smiley22]

Adele

[Caviar]

Aretha

[Relaxing Cup]

Celine Dion is the first that pops into mind.

Michael Buble
Sade
Stevie Wonder

[Deleted]

On topic:

Carrie Underwood
Adele
Kacey Musgraves

On another note, the older I get, the less I could give a s*hit about artists choosing to use their sexuality as part of their image.

Women in the entertainment industry are expected to be gorgeous beings who are willing to sell sex, but as soon as they're old enough to take control of their own image/sexuality, suddenly that woman is seen as a w*hore who just uses her body to sell herself even if she WANTS to have a more sexual image.

It's one thing to objectify someone at a young age, but it's also completely messed up that this suddenly seems to become immoral once a woman decides she wants to show off her body and be a sexual human being just because she can.

Heaven forbid should a woman become an adult and use her sexuality because she's comfortable with her body.

The fact that so many young female entertainers seem to think that getting naked equates to maturity just shows up how f**ked up our society is when it comes to sexuality and body image, particularly when it comes to females.
I despise the idea that embracing your sexuality equates to being trashy or desperate, because although that CAN be accurate sometimes, I really think a lot of that comes from the pressure we put on women and the way their sexuality is exploited and used all the time.
If we continue to treat sexual maturation as a taboo subject, it's completely expected that women will almost always be shamed for using their sexuality, even if it's by personal choice.

Male artists are objectified well, but that's usually not even a part of the discussion, and the objectification is treated as some sort of celebration.
When Nick Jonas poses in his underwear the headline is typically something like, "Nick Jonas poses (almost)) naked, you're welcome, ladies!"

Women aren't celebrated for their sexuality, and celebrating it doesn't always have to be a bad thing that's seen as a ploy for attention. Exploring sexuality is natural, so the fact that the industry can exploit a woman (and then shame her), for using it is completely ridiculous.

I'm not going to automatically label a woman as trashy/talentless if she uses her sexuality, but it's a bit annoying to see people saying, "Look, someone who doesn't need to sell sex to sell records!" as if EVERY woman who chooses to embrace her sexuality is some sort of talentless pop tart who has nothing else to fall back on.
Whether a woman chooses to keep her clothes on shouldn't necessarily be an indicator that she's somehow superior to a woman who uses sexuality and is proud of her body.

[bat1990]

^That post needs a mic drop at the end

[seaguy27]

I think it depends on how it is used....is it being used to say something or prove a point? Also some people/artist just naturally exude a sexuality by the way they look and move around the stage.

[Joe1240]

Taylor Swift. :)

[musicjunky318]

Whitney Houston was the first person that came to mind.

Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Adele, Carrie Underwood....

[chillpill]

Aug 3, 2015 3:59:42 GMT -5 Joe1240 said:

Taylor Swift. :)

[Linnethia Monique]

Aug 3, 2015 3:59:42 GMT -5 Joe1240 said:

Taylor Swift. :)

No... just no.

[Deleted]

Selling sex/using sexuality is never as black-and-white and some people want to make it out to be.

Taylor Swift may not sell her sexuality like Katy Perry and Beyonce, but you're lying to yourself if you think that Taylor hasn't gone from a safe, pretty, inoffensive Country artist to someone who wants to appear glamorous, edgy and sexy.

Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert could also be examples of slowly morphing from Country artists to the sexy vixens as time has progressed.

They, too, aren't selling sex at the level of most Pop artists, but they're still selling up a more "glam" and perhaps commercial version of beauty than they were when they both started out.