Parody and Intertexuality (Lilly Allen-Hard out here)

Lilly Allen's recent video 'Hard out here' has caused a lot of controversy as it has many sexual references and intertexuality as well as a major theme of gender inequality.It takes a feminist stance on how women are often portrayed as sex symbols and furthermore the stereotypical image of women presented in the media. Throughout her video, Lilly Allen makes very obvious intertextual references to Miley Cyrus'  most recent VMA performance. She does this by making her backstage dancers 'twerk' in the same way Miley Cyrus did. This shows that Lilly Allen has particular views about twerking as she parodies it. Many people may also make comments about her choice of backstage dancers acting out the sexual references e.g. sucking bananas and twerking as many of them are black. It may be said that racism is being portrayed through this.











Robin Thickes music video of 'blurred lines' is also parodied and referenced in this video as the silver baloons at 3.07 are similar to the ones from Robin Thickes video where it displays an explicit message about him. Also, both videos are objectifying women as Lilly Allen shows that women should be in the kitchen washing the dishes or satisfying men by fulfilling their sexual needs. Robin Thicke objectifies women by showing that they can be 'liberated' by men only and that they are 'domesticated' by men.