Core Post #2 - Jackson's Sexuality and Masculinity

In the article “Monster Metaphors,” Kobena Mercer explores the Michael Jackson’s masculinity by doing a close reading (and viewing) of his hit song, “Thriller.” Undoubtedly, Jackson’s individual style (attitude, lifestyle, public presentation) fascinates and attracts attention—his “ankle cut jeans, the single-glove hand and, above all, the wet-looking hairstyle…have influence the sartorial repertoires of the black and white youth cultures and have been incorporated into mainstream fashion” (305-306). His androgynous look is not the typical “masculinity” that we see today. Moreover, his transformation to a lighter complexion, sharper nose and tighter lips provided a sense of racial ambiguity that placed him in the other end of the “black male soul artist” spectrum.

According to the author, Jackson has not “crossed over from black to white stations to end up in the middle of the road; his success has popularized black music in white rock and pop markets, by actually playing with imagery and style which have always been central to the marketing of pop” (308). Similarly, Iggy Azalea crosses that race boundary (maybe even operating between the boundaries that define by race) from being a former Australian model to becoming a mainstream rapper ( a distinct black urban cultural form)—constructing the star’s image as one-of-a-kind female white rapper. Iggy, like Jackson, uses intertextual dialogues between film and music to create meanings of that star’s image. Her “Fancy” MV parodizes the teen film, “Clueless,” plays on her sexuality (her short skirts, etc.) while the film is used as a backdrop to draw on the conventions of teens (which also happens to be her audience) and their culture.

Furthermore, Mercer examines “Thriller” in relation to Jackson’s masculinity—providing the fact that the lyrics were anti-macho but his transformation get-up (into a werewolf and zombie) evoked virility. The “monsters” occupy “masculine” positions in relation to the female victim. Werewolf mythology concerns the “representation of male sexuality as ‘naturally’ bestial, predatory, aggressive, violent” (316). On the other hand, his zombie transformation suggests a “neutral eroticism in [his] style of dance” (317) where his dance sequence can be read as cryptic writing on “sexual vagueness.” This contrast explains Jackson’s masculinity as both sexual (with its werewolf reference) and androgynous (with his zombie dance number).

Like what Mercer stated, Jackson’s spectacle of racial and sexual indeterminancy is compelling in that his work is located entirely in the Afro-American tradition of popular music and thus, “must be seen in the context of imagery of black men and black male sexuality” (320). However, he steps out of that existing range of “types” of black men by questioning the dominant stereotypes of black masculinity in his music and dance. Correspondingly, Iggy also withdraws from the stereotypes placed on models by becoming a mainstream hip hop artists/rapper.