Hypersexualization affects women and men alike.
We speak of hypersexualization when:
a person's worth is judged by their sexual appeal and behavior, at the expense of their other personal qualities; "being sexy" is understood as "being physically attractive"; a person is treated or perceived as a sexual object to be used by others rather than as a full human being; some form of sexuality is imposed inappropriately.
This hypersexualization has consequences for young people, whether they are aware of it or not.
It targets women in particular; these women can be highly talented, but as a researcher, I also question the image they project and its impact on young boys and girls.
It also affects men, who remain trapped in "ultra-virile" clichés — meaning they must have talent, but also a fine physique.
As Méryl puts it: "If you have the women, you have the men too, because they come along to the parties or the concerts — they're the ones who pay."
This hypersexualization has consequences for self-esteem, and for one's relationship to one's own body and to other people's bodies.
Listening to and watching hypersexualized songs and videos shapes how young people behave with one another, shapes their minds, their psyche, their intimacy.
It has consequences for the audience — but how do artists themselves experience this hypersexualization, imposed on them consciously or unconsciously by both the industry and a demanding public?
This is where I come in, magnifying glass and investigator's hat in hand… (little joke)
Example:
In December 2021, during a concert, a fan took the liberty of touching Kalash's intimate parts.
Kalash reacted immediately:
"You're really starving, aren't you! You know if it had been the other way around, you'd have pressed charges. You need to eat at home."
In everyday life, as in the artistic world, men tend to be locked into virilist clichés and stereotypes, which minimizes — or even makes invisible — sexual violence committed against men.
We tell ourselves it can't really happen, because in over 90% of assault cases, the perpetrators are men.
There are beliefs around male sexuality which, in the collective unconscious, push us to believe that men cannot be victims of sexual assault, abuse, or rape.
It's important to dismantle these beliefs.
These "bad boy" images showing off their abs cut both ways: they stir desire in female audiences and lead some women to behave like predators. They tell themselves the men are "available" because they show off their bodies — but that desirability is a commercial and artistic image, and in the process, we forget the human being behind it, a sensitive being entitled to have their body respected.
What is feminism?
Making sure women have the same rights as men. Consequently, if a woman's body shouldn't be touched without her consent, the same goes for a man.
The woman who touched Kalash's intimate parts took advantage of a moment of "weakness" and "vulnerability" for the singer, since he was in the middle of a show and couldn't defend himself. These are aggravating factors.
It's worth remembering that men, too, are able to file a complaint.
The problem is that, just as with women, the people receiving their complaints will (too often) question their account, downplay the facts, or even mock them. When a man is a victim of assault, he is taken even less seriously than a woman would be.
The cause: rape culture, patriarchy, and — for Black men specifically — all the clichés and beliefs about their supposed bestiality and sexual savagery.
What does this have to do with shatta?
Shatta is such a rich and profound musical genre — it can call out racism, sexual violence, domestic violence, political violence, addiction, mental health, respect for oneself and others… but also pleasure, desire, sharing, celebration, all over a festive beat. It's a wonderful medium for carrying conscious messages.
Example:
In shatta, women are hypersexualized either by themselves, through their outfits and their dancing, or by men, whether through lyrics or through the staging in music videos.
The way women are talked about and represented in shatta is tied to the music industry. The sexier it is, the more money it makes.
Still, artists have a role to play, because they have influence.
N'Ken, Kryssy, and Shannon have shown models of powerful, independent women since the start of their careers. They are sexy, sensual, and the way they are filmed seems to showcase their feminine power.
This also comes through in their songs, as in Shannon's Capitaine: "it's me who holds the reins, it's me who's your captain." No object-woman here.
They paved the way for Maureen, Shannon, and Cécinelle, who, in their own way — through careful choreography and dance — encourage women to love their bodies and free themselves from the male gaze.
In CVNI, Maureen and Shadeey's demand the right to female pleasure.
"If you won't go down on me, you won't get sex. If you won't go down on me, you won't get my ass."
This right to pleasure, to orgasm, is quite striking when you consider that only 65% of heterosexual women always reach orgasm, compared with 95% of men.
By speaking this bluntly about sexuality and female anatomy, they lift the veil on the taboo of female sexuality and pleasure.
Indeed, it's only been about five years since the clitoris was represented in school textbooks. This organ, entirely dedicated to female pleasure, is still too often overlooked or neglected during sex, because young people learn "the art of sexuality" through porn. The more women talk about pleasure and sexuality, the fewer taboos there will be around these topics.
The clitoris is the most sensitive organ found in the human body — 8,000 nerve endings, against 4,000 for the glans… "I don't know where the clitoris is," this 54-year-old woman told her daughter.
According to the latest IFOP survey on French women's sexuality: 1 woman in 4 did not reach orgasm during her last sexual encounter; 2 women in 3 fake it; only 20 to 30% can reach orgasm through vaginal stimulation alone; and 1 in 2 wish to practice acts other than simple penetration.
And yes, women experience more pleasure and reach orgasm more easily when their clitoris is stimulated.
Slackness lyrics are, in my view, a space of dialogue that can contribute to teenagers' sex education. Few teenagers receive real sex education — and it shouldn't fall to artists or to porn to provide it.
Porn and the influence of social media have disastrous effects on young people's psyches. They develop complexes, embrace a "cult of performance," rack up conquests to prove their worth…
This can lead some young men to commit sexist acts, even sexual assault, because they believe girls and women like brutality.
When women free themselves from male visual codes (the "male gaze"), they offer young girls and boys another model. When male artists uplift women in their songs and in their visual staging, this helps give another image of relationships between women and men.
When they affirm that they are not objects of pleasure, they claim their right to exist by and for themselves.
Showing models of strong women and caring men, free of relationships of domination, is inspiring for young people.
When I analyze artists' discourse — media interviews, the interviews I conduct myself, studies of songs and single covers — and compare them to find points of convergence and divergence, it gives me a picture of the general situation at a given moment, like a photograph.
Dance, in shatta, can be seen as a vector of empowerment: dancing to shatta, women become aware of their power, their sensuality, first and foremost for themselves. They become more assertive, almost wild.
From a "Western" point of view, twerking is seen as a "vulgar," "unrestrained" dance…
And yet, dancing with the pelvis is found across cultures, notably Afro-descendant ones — whether it's belly dance in the Maghreb, in Polynesia, or in Colombia, and so on.
"Dance is a way to free yourself from society's constraints, from its injunctions," explains one dancer.
Through dance, stagnant emotions are released, hormones like endorphins are secreted. This well-being, driven by shatta's BPM, lets women free themselves from everything that keeps them from being themselves day to day.
Sources
Radio France, "Kalash: sa réaction après qu'une fan lui touche ses parties intimes en plein concert."
"L'orgasme au féminin: quand la sexualité ne se réduit pas seulement à la pénétration," France Inter, January 16, 2020.
"C'est un mythe que la plupart des femmes ont des orgasmes par pénétration," BBC News Mundo, April 8, 2024.
Alicia Bacouel, sex therapist, author of Les dessous du plaisir.
Camille Froidevaux-Metterie, professor of political science, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne; author of Le corps des femmes, la bataille de l'intime.
Janet Zacharias, "La pornographie — Un enjeu de santé publique," February 7, 2017.
"Pornographie, quels impacts sur la sexualité adolescente ?," August 30, 2023.
UNESCO report on the impact of social media on girls' well-being, learning, and career choices.
"Une étude américaine établit définitivement l'impact négatif des réseaux sociaux sur la santé mentale des adolescents et jeunes adultes," Atlantico, May 21, 2023.
© Noor-Sharina Grondin, 2025. This text is protected by copyright. Any reproduction or use without authorization is prohibited. For any request, contact: norahdoctorante@gmail.com