Homage, parody, feminist statement?

An homage is generally an expression of respect and bestowing honor. In contrast, a parody is frequently an imitation exaggerated for comedy.

Last time I taught Psychology of Women, several students excitedly shared Ingrid Michaelson's video for "Girls Chase Boys." The boys are in make-up and being objectified! Ingrid's flipped the script that women should be objectified in music videos.

Ingrid's video is a direct imitation of Robert Palmer's 80's hit "Simply Irresistible". In this video, Robert performs in front of women who are purely in the video for visual decoration. The women are dressed identically  with matching make-up. The women dance and gyrate for the camera. The camera even pans across a close-up of the women's cleavage. The message is pure objectification, especially because the women are completely interchangeable with the lack of individual expression, style, or identity. This was not Robert's first video with interchangeable women. Three years prior to "Simply Irresistible", his hit "Addicted to Love" featured identical women as his band. Again, the identical nature of the women highlights their lack of worth as they would be infinitely interchangeable with other identical women.

Some claim that Ingrid's video is an homage to Robert's. This would suggest that Ingrid is bestowing honor to Robert and expressing respect. Others claim that Ingrid's video is a parody of Robert's. In this case, she is imitating his style to mock and poke fun at it.

To me, Ingrid's video is neither an homage or a parody. She's not respecting and honoring Robert's style. She's also not mocking it either. I believe that her video is a feminist statement of sameness. Ingrid's video features not just men, but also women dressed and made up in Robert's style. The fact that the men and the women are interchangeable is a direct expression of equality. The men and the women in the video can be exchanged for each other; the men and women are equal. Of course, there is a touch of mockery in using the same outfits and make-up as Robert's video. But Ingrid also includes more diversity in her video, which also suggests an equality among races, not just sexes.

Watch the videos yourself and see what you think.