Goucher College 2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalogue PLEASE NOTE: This is an archived catalog. Programs are subject to change each academic year.
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CPEA 212 - Race, Gender, and Wardrobe Malfunctions: On Janet Jackson and Media (4 Cr.)
We will use Janet Jackson’s career as a case study to examine how race, gender and politics play a role in how media content is created, marketed and consumed.
The Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004) Halftime Show which featured Janet Jackson as the headliner and resulted in what became coined as a “wardrobe malfunction,” was a turning point for the global pop icon and touchstone for discussions about race, gender and politics and popular culture. She is often cited as the trigger that helped propel YouTube’s success and “Janet Jackson” became the most searched term on Google in 2005
Billboard Magazine ranks Janet as the #3 “Female Artist of All Time.” Considering that her ascent as an artist took place during a time in popular music when radio playlists were still largely segregated (MTV once limited the number of videos of Black artists it would play, for instance), her success as an artist and her impact are worthy study, on its own. Compounded with her steep decline, in terms of public opinion and sales following the Super Bowl incident; her career is a case study in the power of media in the 24-hour news cycle, digital age.
Despite her enormous success and her place among the most revered artists in pop music, she was blacklisted for the Super Bowl incident. Radio stations banned her music, MTV stopped promoting her videos, album sales dropped, etc. Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake, the featured performer during Janet’s Super Bowl performance, became one of the biggest stars in the world. His career did not suffer at all; despite his role in tearing off Janet’s bustier, revealing her breast.
This course will examine how pop music iconography is crafted and maintained under systemic structures that disempower women, Blacks and other marginalized groups. We will gain an understanding of power and how it functions in the media. We will look at the social/cultural implications of Janet being blacklisted, while Justin Timberlake’s career flourished. We will also examine Janet Jackson’s recent return to prominence as a respected legacy artist and how modern protest movements via social media helped revitalize her career and image.
In the end you will see that entertainment is about more than a song, a dance or an image. It is all about control and in order for the system to function, someone has to wield it and others yield.
Students are limited to one CPE course per semester. Offered Spring 2021. Branch.
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