Genie in a Bottle: It's About Respect

In the late 1990s, a phenomenon took over American media: the virgin. I'm not saying that this is when it started, but the subject of virginity was everywhere. American Pie, Dawson's Creek, and countless other tv shows and movies were all asking one question: "to do it, or not to do it?"

Around the same time the nation became obsessed with virginity in movies and television, the whole "pop princess" thing happened. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were singing songs filled with sexual innuendo, prancing around on stage wearing basically nothing, and admitting they were virgins in interviews.

The point is, the video clip we watched in class today had a scene where a 14 year old girl said "Genie in a Bottle" was about respect. Our class erupted in laughter as we thought how could someone be stupid enough to believe that. Well, I'm not saying I do, but a critical look at the songs lyrics sort of back up that claim.

The song seems to be a product of the "to do it, or not to do it" question of the time. In the little prechorus part, Aguilera states that her body's saying "let's go," meaning the hormones pulsing through her body are thinking having sex would be a great idea. But...she goes on to say that her "heart is saying no", meaning even though she really wants to, she understands it's not the right thing to do.

In the first verse, she talks about guys blowing kisses her way and trying to get with her. They can blow all the kisses in the world, but "that don't me I'm gonna give it away." Yet another example of Christina's decision to remain a virgin. Later in the song, after a night of dancing comes to an end she states "we're good to go." She takes a guy home, and although her "hormones are racing at the speed of light, that don't mean its gonna be tonight."

So there's three example from the song where Christina admits she's not necessarily ready to lose the big v-card just yet. Although this song is by no means an anti-sex song, it does give a positive message to people who are considering having sex: Wait for the right person. Wait for someone "to make a big impression" and "like what (they) do."

The problem with this song is people get caught up on two or three very suggestive lyrics in the song ("rub me the right way" "come come come" and "set me free baby and I'll be with you") and forget to actually listen to the rest of the lyrics. Sure, there are very conflicting messages in the song, but one of those messages is actually a decent message to the mass of virgins being pressured to have sex in the late 1990s.

One last thing: I hope this song gets stuck in your head all day like it's stuck in mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu7Ixskp0dY