Dear naked female popstars,

Make no mistake; you are not just a girl naked in a music video. You are not just selling your body for fame, fortune or artistry. You are making life worse for women everywhere. You are making men worse for women everywhere. You are not a victim and you are not empowered. Your actions are evil and the consequences are coming to you. And moreover, the fact that you believe taking off your clothes will help you sell more albums shows that you lack confidence in your artistry. Successful, talented female artists don’t ever need to take off their clothes to get more listeners. Their talent does the work. Where is your talent, Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, Cardi B and others? Much smaller and hidden behind your naked body. 

One of the things I believe propelled young Billie Eilish to the spotlight was that she never took off her clothes publicly and that was shocking to people. While most of the public criticized her for this, it earned her my respect. Her talent did all the heavy lifting, and because of that, her success extends slightly beyond your average plastic pop-star with a 3-5 year fame streak. Tate McRae is an incredible dancer and Sabrina Carpenter does have decent singing range. But these talents are not what they are famous for. Tate McRae is famous for erotic moves and explicit lyrics. Sabrina Carpenter for her sensual poses and suggestive song titles. Whitney Houston never took off her clothes for an audience. Mariah Carey never took off her clothes for an audience. Ariana Grande has never felt the need to be naked or super erotic in her career. Though I have my personal qualms with Taylor Swift, she has never sexualized herself to young girls before and that I respect. I was beyond surprised to read some of the names of women who’ve appeared naked in music videos before. Britney Spears. Britney Spears?? There was no reason for her to be naked in a music video given her musical and dancing talent. But, the sexual tone of her music seemed to demand it and that’s part of the problem. I could make the case that female pop-stars being naked in music videos in the 90s and 00s was most often an artistic move, not a sexual one. Janet Jackson, for example. Nothing was shown and nothing was suggested. Nudity was a representation of “baring all.” Same with Rihanna. Now, everything is inherently, blatantly sexual. The moment Sabrina Carpenter posed naked on the cover of Rolling Stone, her career as a musician ended. You are not an artist anymore. You are now a sex worker. Being naked has become a rite of passage for sub par female singers. It tells me you aren’t an artist or a musician. You’re just a pawn with a decent voice. You are just putty in Hollywood’s superstar mold.

Beyond that, you are setting new standards for girls and women around the world. You are asserting that it’s okay to be naked on the internet and on magazine covers. And this is nothing new–Playboys have long been around featuring famous women, mostly actresses, baring all. But those were only ever for men, and they were dirty secrets. There is nothing secret about this anymore, and it’s beyond dirty. This is 12-year-old girls watching your videos and listening to your songs about promiscuous sex. You say you’re just doing you, but that is not the truth. You are doing what producers and songwriters and labels tell you to do, and you are doing it directly to an audience of young girls. The world is not what it used to be. Your naivety, whether genuine or not, is dangerous to society. And it must be stopped.