Recently I watched the "Merchants of Cool" by Frontline and I have to say that it opened my eyes on what sells and makes a something well known and cool. The documentary covered the topic of sexualizing premature girls to make things sell. An example is Britney Spears, she was considered a midriff or a young teen girl that is sexualized. This earned her record label an abundance of money due to the majority of teens enjoying what they see when she performs. Midriffs definitely influenced young girls to be more mature. Young girls not only watched celebrities with lots of sex appeal, they aspired to replicate their style and habits as described by the episode. The midriffs helped girls gain confidence and empower them as well as encourage them to flaunt their sexual side. The male version of this is a mook. A mook is a crude young boy portrayed in the media to capture the attention of teens to market shows to ads. Although not sexualized, a mook sells to the majority of teen boys. After MTV displayed mooks and midriffs in their shows, their ratings and viewership went to an all-time high.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
What is a Midriff and a Mook?
Recently I watched the "Merchants of Cool" by Frontline and I have to say that it opened my eyes on what sells and makes a something well known and cool. The documentary covered the topic of sexualizing premature girls to make things sell. An example is Britney Spears, she was considered a midriff or a young teen girl that is sexualized. This earned her record label an abundance of money due to the majority of teens enjoying what they see when she performs. Midriffs definitely influenced young girls to be more mature. Young girls not only watched celebrities with lots of sex appeal, they aspired to replicate their style and habits as described by the episode. The midriffs helped girls gain confidence and empower them as well as encourage them to flaunt their sexual side. The male version of this is a mook. A mook is a crude young boy portrayed in the media to capture the attention of teens to market shows to ads. Although not sexualized, a mook sells to the majority of teen boys. After MTV displayed mooks and midriffs in their shows, their ratings and viewership went to an all-time high.
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I know that midriffs and mooks weren’t the hottest trends but I remember my older sisters when they were into those trends. Looking back at their scrapbooks you can see constant trends through the photos. Every photo had a small top and very low pants. Personally, I don’t like the trend but if that’s how MTV got attention then so be it!
ReplyDeleteI would agree with the fact that Midriffs are overly sexualized, which is sad as it shows us what society truly values and wants, because after all we are the consumers of this. But, I do wonder if mooks and midriffs will someday be a thing of the past. If not, however, what will they look like in the future. Will these characterizations evolve as the world does or generally stay the same?
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