Go ahead, fetishize me.

This weeks readings brought a particular music video to mind for me. I had the pleasure of watching this woman perform live last year; her show left me covered in goosebumps and in complete awe! Her name is Sevdaliza. She is an Iranian-Dutch professional athlete with a Master’s degree in communications, who taught herself how to create music. She then wrote, performed, produced and released an album on her own record label. This woman is a force of nature! Her style is dark, provocative, and political; drawing attention to the issues that no one wants to talk about. Her track “Human” and it’s accompanying video are uncomfortably captivating; like you are watching something that you are not supposed to see. 

"Human" by Sevdaliza

There is so much going on in this video. The black server, with his blind, white eye (a highly visibly disability), is disregarded by the bodyguards. Once inside, the presumably wealthy men he is serving ignore him as he pushes his trolley among them; his race, class, and disability making him unworthy of their attention. The fact that there are only a handful of wealthy, predominantly white men sitting in an almost empty arena would suggest that they have paid a substantial amount of money for a private show. They are situated high above the stage, making them both unrecognizable to the performer and putting them in a position of dominance. As they glance around nervously, avoiding eye contact, we get the impression that they are partaking in something illegal or deviant in nature.

Next we see the performer descending the stairs in a hooded cloak. She is beautiful, exotic, and alone. This whole affair seems to be shrouded in secrecy. She makes her way into the arena, turns to face her audience, looks directly at them and removes her cloak. She is wearing next to nothing, just a few well placed jeweled pieces to cover her breasts and genitals, similar to the outfits worn by showgirls or in old movies. The camera pans out and we are able to see what the men have paid so dearly to see, she has the legs of an animal, furry and hooved. All at once we understand the secrecy, the cost, the nervous glances. These men have paid for a private freak show, a glimpse of a woman that they have fetishized because of the differences in her anatomy.She begins to dance. Twisting and seductive, she is the show. The circumstances are exaggerated, but she is another non-white, woman being exploited for her unusual body, exoticism, and objectified for the pleasure of the men.

Yet it is different somehow. She looks directly at her audience, challenging them to watch her, to see her. She exudes confidence, power, and pride. As she continues to dance, the way she looks at the audience begins to become more threatening. All the while her lyrics listing off body parts while insistently repeating that she is nothing more than human. The video ends abruptly with her exchanging a knowing look with the server. We are left to question whether it is the freaks or the rubes that hold the power in the room.

Lyrically, it seems that the song is about her struggle with her expectations of herself. A reminder that she is a person, a human with flaws that is still learning. However, paired with the video her message becomes so much more! She is a brilliant feminist with an amazing point of view, as exemplified in this interview for papermag.com: A Chat With Sevdaliza About Magic, Vulnerability, And Baring It All On Her New Album .  She captions the video with a bit of an ominous quote, perhaps a warning, but definitely an interesting statement coming from a person emerging into fame: "the basic human need to be watched was once satisfied by god".  The woman knows how to let a mic drop.