Tila Nguyen, better known by her stage name Tila Tequila, initially gained worldwide fame and attention when she was named the number one most popular person on MySpace in 2006. Through this status, she soon acquired the opportunity to have her own reality show on MTV. Her show, which aired for three seasons, depicted Tila on the hunt for a life long partner. Identifying as a bisexual, Tila searched for love in a group of both men and women.
Admittedly, I watched her show pretty religiously during the fall of my senior year-when it originally aired. Although it was not all that long ago that I saw the show, the only part I remember is Tila’s intense sexuality and shameless attitude towards provocative and in my opinion, classless behavior. Just recently, however, I saw Tila’s music video for her song “I Love You." Instantly reminding me of her actions on the show, the video depicts Tila in sexual straddling and modeling positions. To make the video even more pornographic, Tila’s attire consists of two different outfits-an S&M-esque body suit and a white tshirt (wet, of course) paired with only a bathing suit bottom.
Despite the fact that Tila’s sexuality was the first aspect of the music video to catch my attention, her vocals quickly kicked in and they, too, left a lasting impression. Although the vocals of the video start out in a soft and mellow manner, they almost immediately deteriorate to a sort of screaming-worst-vocals-I-have-ever-heard sound. It quickly became clear to me, and anyone with hearing abilities for that matter, that Tila’s video did not get thousands of views on youtube because of her stellar vocal abilities.
It does not take much thinking to realize that Tila’s video became popular because of the alluring sexuality it offers. A comment on Tila’s video states “she sings horrible but she is kute.” Another viewer states, “you would be great in a porn video, but music video you suck ass.” As Tila’s singing abilities blatantly did not bring her the attention she receives today, it is clear that her celebrity status spurred from her success and talent as a sex icon.
Tila uses her good looks and hot body to propel herself forward to obtain job opportunities and gain success. She plays up her sexuality, forever with a confidence and knowledge that it gives her power and control. Starting off as a small town girl from Texas, Tila Tequila has won herself fame and fortune using her femininity and sexuality the entire time.
As Ariel Levy discusses in “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” women often take advantage of their own sexual appeal in order to move forward in industries typically controlled and dominated by men. In other words, women play up their “girlie” side in order to gain a sort of power over men. In an excerpt from Levy’s book, Carrie Gerlach, a former employee at Sony Pictures states:
Do you think those male mentors wanted me telling them how to better their careers, marketing departments, increase demographics? Hell no. They wanted to play in my secret garden. But I applied the Chanel war paint, pried the door open with Gucci heels, worked, struggled, and climbed the ladder. And made a difference!!! And I did it all in a short Prada suit, (Levy, 102).
I wonder, however, do women feel empowered that they can manipulate men with the purposeful use of their sexuality? Or, rather, is it really men that are doing the manipulating, forcing women to be feminine since the use of sexuality is seemingly sometimes the only way for a woman to get ahead?
Is a more appropriate technique towards success to adopt a more dominant and aggressive approach? Some women, such as Sheila Nevins, attempt to fit in as “one of the guys” in order to impress men and prove that they are worthy of running in the same world as men. Levy suggests that “what is cool is for women to take a guy’s-eye view of pop culture,” (Levy, 92). Instead of acting overly “girlie,” thereby reinforcing many existing stereotypes of females, some women adopt a traditionally male mentality towards everything in life-sports, the workplace, and even other women.
These women suggest that in order to get “in” with men and gain the approval of men, they must behave and respond the same way that a man would, in any given situation. They adopt an audacious and forceful attitude they believe will earn them power and control as they leave their “girlie” counterparts back in the dust. Judith Regan, a “feared and famous” publisher, is happy to admit that she has “the biggest cock in the building,” (Levy, 95)! These women are proud of their tough persona and even identify themselves as more masculine than some males. Looking at it through the perspective of these women, Levy suggests “why try to beat them when you can join them,” (Levy, 93)?
After looking beyond the pornographic dancing and painful voice that dominate Tila Tequila’s video, I realized that she, too, reveals an element of this aggressive “bitch” attitude. The lyrics of her song, (http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-love-you-lyrics-tila-tequila.html) despite the fact that it is titled “I Love You,” are less than endearing-to say the least. She not only threatens to “kill” if the subject of her song does not please her, she also orders him to “bow down” to her several times through out the song. Tila abandons any manners and delicate traits she may have and instead, continuously curses during the entire song. Tila adopts the “bitch” attitude of Sheila Nevins and becomes a traditional “guy” in that she demands control of and power over her partner. Tila Tequila effectively discards her dainty or “girlie” and feminine traits and is instead very domineering and bossy, reflecting a sort of ability she has to command situations she is in.
I think that Tila Tequila’s music video places her as a potential example of a woman who accomplishes a sort of “double identity” between fitting in as one of “the guys” and promoting her sexuality as a “girle girl.” Visually, she is undeniably sexy and provocative. She blatantly uses her sexuality to please men and give them the image and persona she thinks they want.
At the same time, however, she puts her sex as somewhat unattainable through her lyrics in statements like “you betta obey if you want my nookie.” She demands control over the situation, and the man, and doesn’t hold back in terms of aggression and actions of superiority. She expects men to obey her and would be surprised and furious if she was treated any other way. Does her intense sexuality, in giving men the visual image they want, undermine women’s abilities to get ahead using means other than sex? Or does her other identity, as an aggressive and somewhat masculine woman unwilling to hold back, undermine women more in that she adopts a somewhat masculine behavior thereby suggesting that natural feminine behavior alone is not enough to truly gain success?
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