Fifteen and almost famous: the realities and misperceptions of sexual violence in the music industry

Prior research has explored the sexualization and objectification of women across media platforms, but very little attention has been devoted to examining the depiction of minors as sexual objects in the music industry. Given the illegality of forced sexual acts and consensual adult-juvenile sexual relationships, as well as the harmful effects, the current study utilizes a content analysis to identify popular musicians from various genres who have committed acts of sexual violence spanning from 1957-2021. Thus, this study examines incidents of sexual violence, specifically statutory rape, committed by musicians, their use of their celebrity to engage in such behaviors, and the relationship these acts of violence have with the artists’ music. While scholars have drawn attention to the ability of media platforms, including music and social media, to reinforce as well as shape existing cultural attitudes and beliefs, this is an area that warrants further systematic research as the link between the art and the artist has not been thoroughly investigated. Findings as well as implications regarding the cultivation effects of musicians who commit acts of sexual violence will be discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Dotson-Jackson, Emma

Contributors dc:contributor

• Garland, Tammy S.
• Policastro, Christina; McGuffee, Karen
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Statutory rape
• Popular music--Social aspects
• Music trade--Social aspects

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/815

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1984