Christina Aguilera is NOT more radical than the Sex Pistols. Or is she?

and clearly she's more radical in some ways, and less in others. and equally clearly, you're right, it doesn't matter, her songs are way better.

theres good ways of expressing that though - dirty is not one of them. i like songs like genie in a bottle or beautiful, but how radical is strong female sexuality really though when ultimately, its providing a fantasy for men anyway?

theres good ways of expressing that though - dirty is not one of them. i like songs like genie in a bottle or beautiful, but how radical is a lot of what passes for strong female sexuality really when ultimately, its just providing a fantasy for men anyway? i think it stopped being radical several years ago. at least in that 'i like sex, can i tell you all about it? AGAIN.' manner, anyway.

1) "Dirrty" came out at the same time as Britney's cover of "I Love Rock'n'Roll". Most straight men I knew found Xtina's uber-slut skankiness a turn-off, or at least they said they did, in contrast to the image of Britney in leather on a motorbike.

2) Xtina's 'radicalness' isn't bound up in any one song by itself; what I especially loved about the promotion of the Stripped singles was that the seeming deliberate wank-fodder (or exaggeration thereof) of "Dirrty" was immediately followed by a video in which two of the most prominent images were of an elderly transvestite dressing up, and a hot gay kiss with tongues. And you can imagine everyone who was turned on by "Dirrty" rushing straight to their computers to d/l and wank over the new video from pop's uber-slut when "Beautiful" came out... and then to find they couldn't.

Can someone who is old enough to remember The Sex Pistols tell me how radical they felt at the time? In retrospect they seem like a bunch of people cashing in on Consumerised Rebellion -'Hey kids, subvert the system by buying this CD' - not hugely radical, really (although, admittedly, more so than Christina). But this might just be how they look from today's perspective.

In retrospect they seem like a bunch of people cashing in on Consumerised Rebellion -'Hey kids, subvert the system by buying this CD' - not hugely radical, really (although, admittedly, more so than Christina)

Well, for a start, they weren't CDs. Secondly, the fact that the `Pistols were signed to and then summarily dropped by no less than three or four record labels in quick succession (hence the Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle), shoveling in a shitload of cash in the process certainly made them seem entirely anti-establishmentarian pirates. Also, while they -- once again -- may seem quaint today, the`Pistols were saying an awful lot of things that pissed a great many people off. What's Christina saying? That she wants to get dirrrty? Alert the fucking media.

OTM, its funny when i hear people (usually women) calling her or any other pop diva in a that vein a "slut".

don't care for her music though.

Which is more "radical"?

(a) Violently decrying society's ills, using naughty language, displaying abject disdain for authority and convention, playing willfully loud & arguably amateurish rock'n'roll.

or

(b) Shamelessly expressing one's sexual identity.

That said, if you choose (b), I'd say Madonna beat her to it.

Thanks for the perspective on the Sex Pistols, by the way. I've never really liked them, and the temptation is there to dismiss them on that highly subjective basis, but (aside from being rather arrogant) I suspect that is probably a mistake.

You have to wonder, from either side, how radical someone making lots of money for large record companies can ever be - but I'm sure that argument has been done here many times already.

And yes... can't believe I said CDs. You can take the kid out of the 90s, but...

http://www.plasticbag.org/images/extra/christina_of_finland.jpg

See, the issue doesn't really matter, but the important thing is that he's wrong on it. Wuh?

She isn't the Sex Pistols, but it would be pretty cool if she ever had a concert where she sang her most famous mash-ups, wouldn't it?

titchyschneider