The "Offending" Breast of Janet Jackson: Public Discourse

Women's Studies in Communication
Volume 32, Number 2, Spring 2009
The "Offending" Breast of Janet Jackson: Public
Discourse Surrounding the Jackson/Timberlake
Performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII
Shannon L. Holland
Clemson University
This article examines national newspapers' framing of the Jackson/Timberlake halftime
performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII. I argue that Jackson was often represented
in national newspapers as the primary or sole instigator of the event and as a scheming
seductress who manipulated Timberlake for her own economic gaiti. This framing not
only constructed Jackson as a contemporary Jezebel but also deflected attention away
from Timberlake and, conversely, reaffirmed his white male privilege. Keywords: Janet
Jackson, Jezebel, sexuality, intersectionality, media
O n January 31, 2004, ninety-nine million television viewers in the United
States and abroad tuned in to CBS to watch live coverage of Super Bowl
XXXVIII, which featured the anticipated match-up between the Carolina
Panthers and the New England Patriots. To the chagrin of the network
producers however, public hype over the major sporting event was
eclipsed by the publicity surrounding the now infamous halftime performance. The MTV-produced halftime show, which included performers
such as P. Diddy, Jessica Simpson, Beyoncé, and Kid Rock featured a
4-minute duet performed by Janet Jackson and former *NSYNC icon
Justin Timberlake. Three days prior to the performance, Jackson's choreographer, Gil Duldulao, predicted an unprecedented performance and was
quoted on MTV as stating, "I don't think the Super Bowl has ever seen a
performance like this . . . . There are some shocking moments in there too"
(Reid, 2004). Indeed, thefinaleof the JacksonATimberlake routine inspired
considerable public shock (and, for many viewers, outrage) because of its
sexually explicit nature and its exhibition of public nudity. As the duo
danced erotically to Timberlake's hit song "Rock Your Body," Timberlake
sung the lyrics "I'll have you naked by the end of this song" and
simultaneously ripped the right breast cup of Jackson's leather bodice,
revealing her nipple, which was partially covered by a silver nipple ring.
A version of this paper was presented at the 2005 NCA Convention in Boston, MA. The
author would like to thank Bonnie Dow and two anonymous reviewers for their
instructive comments.
130 Women's Studies in Communication
After a dramatic pause, Jackson, appearing mortified, covered her breast
as network producers cut to a commercial. The incident, which was
described in the Chicago Sun-Times as "the breast shot heard of around the
world," prompted a media frenzy as local, national, and international news
sources vied for interviews with Jackson and Timberlake as well as with
producers at CBS and MTV in an attempt to assign responsibility to the
offending parties (Steyn, 2004, p. 39).
A substantial body of media coverage focused primarily on questions
regarding the intentionality of the "stunt"; however, the controversies over
the premeditation of the breast exposure are not pertinent to this project.
Rather, I argue that media discourse surrounding the event merits a critical
investigation. Hence, this essay examines how normative assumptions
regarding race, gender, and sexuality (and the relation between these
categories) were often rearticulated in mainstream media explanations of
the scandal. Although some accounts of the incident, especially those
published in Black media outlets, derided Timberlake for his willing
participation in the event, this analysis focuses on mainstream newspapers' coverage of the event in order to assess how the scandal was
articulated to the general public and, in particular, to (and by) conservative, white audiences.
This article proceeds as follows: First, I describe how particular mythologies regarding Black female sexuality, specifically the mythology of
the Jezebel, function as both historical and contemporary constructs that
often justify the disciplining of African-American women. Second, I
examine public discussions of the Jackson/Timberlake scandal, as featured
in mainstream print media. Using the Lexis-Nexis database, I searched the
full text of articles reporting on the Jackson/Timberlake halftime performance, limiting my search to national and regional newspaper articles
printed between January 31, 2004, and March 31, 2004. Although I
retrieved over 900 articles, for the purpose of this analysis, my sample was
limited to the first 200 articles, which were sorted by relevance. I argue
that in many of these accounts, Jackson was represented as a contemporary Jezebel and that her racial and gendered Otherness was often juxtaposed with the "normalcy" of Timberlake's white masculinity. That is, she
emerged in public discourse as the primary (if not sole) instigator of the
lewd act, a scheming seductress who manipulated Timberlake for her own
economic gain.
Shannon L. Holland 131
Jezebel as a Site of Otherness
According to Dehorah Grey White (1999), "The uniqueness of the
African-American female situation is that she stands at the crossroads of
two of the most well-developed ideologies in America, that regarding
women and that regarding the Negro" (p.27). Drawing on Frances Beale's
discussion of the "douhle jeopardy" experienced hy African-American
women, Marsha Houston Stanhack (2000) explains that Black women "do
not experience their gender and ethnic identities as separate 'parts' of who
they are" hut rather, experience those identities in relationship to one
another and in relationship to other facets of their identity (p. 11). For
example, particular ideologies regarding race, gender, and sexuality are
often articulated in holistic ways that justify the disciplining of AfricanAmerican women's suhjectivity (Houston Stanback, 2000). Additionally,
Patricia Hill Collins (2004) argues that sexual stereotypes associated with
African-American women, specifically Western constructs of exotic, untamed, or "wild" sexuality, equate African-American women's subjectivity with vulgar Black female bodies (p. 28-29). Kelly Brown Douglas
(2003) explains, "Such stereotyping has produced the paramount image
for Black womanhood in White culture—the Jezebel image. 'Jezebel' has
come to symbolize an evil, scheming, and seductive woman" (p. 36). This
section discusses the Jezebel image as both a historical and a contemporary construct, noting that the Jezebel image often functions as a site of
Otherness that gives meaning to white male privilege.
Historicizing the Jezebel Image
The mythology of the Jezebel originated during antebellum America as
a means to reproduce (both literally and figuratively) economic and
cultural power structures, which required the maintenance of normative
race and gender hierarchies. As the archetype of Otherness, the Jezebel
functioned, in part, as a justification for white, male slaveholders' sexual
maltreatment and control of African women. Once African women were
identified as Jezebels, they were marked as exotic, sexually insatiable
breeders, and their sexual exploitation by white men was coded as a
"natural response." According to bell hooks (1990), "Rape as both a right
and rite of the white male dominating group was a cultural norm" (p. 57).
Moreover, the Jezebel image not only justified white men's sexual exploitation of African women but also absolved white men of blame and
132 Women's Studies in Communication
sustained the sanctity of white masculinity by depicting African women as
temptresses who used their sexuality as a means to manipulate white men.
Assumptions regarding African women's hypersexuality not only reinforced white male supremacy, but the mythology of the Jezebel also
functioned as a means of sustaining Nineteenth Century gender politics
(Collins, 2004; hooks, 1981; Davis, 1983; Rodgers-Rose, 1980). In her
book A'm't I a Woman, White (1999) argues that during the Nineteenth
Century, major periodicals featured articles describing the optimal conditions under which slave women reproduced and that "the merits of a
particular 'breeder' were often the topic of parlor or dinner table conversations" (p. 31). During slave auctions, African women were fondled by
white men, stripped naked in public forums for physical examinations, and
paraded in the nude. Not only did the publicity surrounding the exploitation of African women reinforce the "rights" associated with white masculinity, but the public exploitation of Black female bodies also reified the
norms associated with "true womanhood" (i.e., white, middle-class femininity) such as chastity, purity, piety, and domesticity (Anderson, 1997;
White, 1999; Douglas, 2003; Campbell, 1989). According to Patricia Hill
Collins (1990), "Black 'whores' made white 'virgins' possible" because
the "savageness" of Black women "could be used as the yardstick against
which the cult of true womanhood was measured" (p. 176).
In many ways, the abolition of slavery during the late Nineteenth
Century intensified white America's distrust of and disdain for Black
female sexuality as African-American women sought to secure their rights
as citizens. Without the structural protections to white masculinity and
white femininity afforded by systems of slavery, the mythology surrounding hypersexual Black female bodies became a prominent justification for
the sexual exploitation of African-American women (Anderson, 1997;
Collins, 2004). Indeed, the rearticulation of the Jezebel image enabled the
courts and the public in general to turn a blind eye to the sexual violence
committed against African-American women by white men post slavery.
Illustrating the double standard embedded in Nineteenth Century norms of
womanhood in her 1892 speech titled "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in
All Its Phases," Ida B. Wells condemned the lynching of thousands of
African-American men for allegedly writing notes to white women while
white men who were "notorious for their preference for Afro-American
women" were unpunished, even for the crime of rape (Wells, as cited in
Campbell, 1989, p. 399). Drawing on the work of Paula Giddings and
Phillip Bruce, Collins (2004) argues that the myth of the Jezebel perpet-
Shannon L, Holland 133
uated a narrow interpretation of rape, which was constructed along the
lines of race and gender, because "in brief, Jezebels couldn't be raped"
(p, 66),
During the Twentieth Century, the Jezebel image was often rearticulated in public discourse in ways that reiterated Western assumptions
regarding the malign uncontrollability of Black female sexuality. In the
latter portion of the century, public discourses regarding the lives of
African-American women, such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan's infamous
report published in the 1960s and Newt Gingrinch's discussion of intraracial politics and family values, often equated Black women's sexual
insatiability with the ubiquitous emasculation of African-American men,
the deterioration of the American family, the rise of poverty and violence,
and the degradation of the Black community (Anderson, 1997; Spillers,
1987), Additionally, during the 1991 Thomas/Hill hearings, in which Anita
Hill brought charges of sexual harassment against the then-nominee to the
Supreme Court, the depictions of Hill as a female "race-traitor" and
temptress during and after the trial perpetuated the myth of the sexually
cunning Black woman (Morrison, 1992; Lubiano, 1992; Douglas, 2003),
Because the hearing received national attention, the treatment of Hill
during the trial influenced public discourses about the trial even after the
verdict, as illustrated by the publication of David Brock's 1993 book The
Real Anita Hill, in which he describes Hill as "a little bit nutty and a little
bit slutty" (p, 30), As discourses surrounding the Thomas/Hill hearing
illustrate, the mythology of the Jezebel is difficult for an African-American woman to escape because it is formulated at the intersection of two
historical mythologies regarding gendered and racial Othemess, White
(1999) concludes, "If she is rescued from the myth of the Negro, the myth
of woman traps her. If she is rescued from the myth of woman, the myth
of Negro traps her" (p, 28),
In sum, as a historical phenomenon, the Jezebel image both mirrored
and reproduced dominant power structures by categorizing African-American women's sexuality as dangerous and animalistic. Although the mythology of the Jezebel has been rearticulated in various ways throughout
the past centuries, many contemporary images, particularly those featured
in popular culture, continue to situate African-American women's subjectivity almost exclusively within the confines of Black female sexuality.
The following section explores how the Jezebel image functions in contemporary popular culture as a representation (if not the representation) of
African-American women's subjectivity.
134 Women's Studies in Communication
The Jezebel as a Contemporary Icon
According to Collins (2004), since the 1990s, mass media have become
prominent sites in which ideologies surrounding Black sexuality "are
reformulated and contested" (p. 121). In many cases, the increased popularization of Black culture has inspired new representations of raced and
gendered identities that are marketable to members of both Black and
white cultures. As a contemporary phenomenon, the Jezebel has become
a popular culture icon that has generated much discussion among scholars
in fields related to cultural studies. Indeed, as a polyvalent representation,
the Jezebel has come to symbolize both a malign, cunning sexual object
and an autonomous, liberated sexual agent. Scholars continue to debate
whether the Jezebel image is, itself, an image that is inherently steeped in
racist, sexist, and colonialist mythology or whether African-American
women can successfully reappropriate the Jezebel image as a site of
empowerment. In this section, I discuss how the historical baggage associated with the Jezebel image often constrains African-American women's
attempts to reappropriate the Jezebel image. I am not suggesting that the
Jezebel image cannot function as a site of empowerment; however, I am
suggesting that the commodification of the Jezebel in popular culture often
results in the reiteration rather than the dismantling of pejorative stereotypes regarding Black female sexuality.
Although "updated" popular culture representations of the Jezebel may,
to some extent, feature African-American women's sexual liberation,
contemporary Jezebel images often mark Black female bodies as distinctly
Other and excessive (Collins, 2004). For example, in many contemporary
images, African-American women's facial features are distorted with
excessive makeup, including dark lipstick that accentuates the thickness of
their lips, and African-American women are often dressed in clothing that
emphasizes the curves in their figures, giving the illusion that they are
"slightly overweight" (hooks, 1981, p. 65). Additionally, hooks (1981)
notes that images of the Black woman's protruding buttocks have become
staple representations in modem popular culture, symbolizing AfricanAmerican women's heightened sexual desire, availability, and deviant sexuality.
More specifically, representations of the Jezebel are commonly featured
in rap and hip-hop culture. Imani Perry (2003) argues that although
hip-hop is derivative of African dance and cultural pride, the commodification of hip-hop by the American music industry often results in "the
Shannon L. Holland 135
visual image of Black women in hip-hop rapidly detedorat[ing] into one
of widespread sexual objectification and degradation" (p. 136). She explains
The videos have assimilated the African-American ideal into a
large rotund behind, but the video ideal also features a very small
waist, large breasts, and slim shapely legs and arms. Often while
the camera features the faces of lighter-complexioned women it
will linger on the behinds of darker women, implying the same
thing as the early 1990s refrain from Sir Mix a Lot's "Baby Got
Back" that lauded the face of a woman from Los Angeles and the
behind of a woman from Oakland, (p. 138)
Moreover, Collins (2004) argues that African-American women who
perform in many contemporary music videos, especially those that feature
Black male artists, "typically share two attributes—they are rarely acknowledged as individuals and they are scantly clad" (p. 128). She
continues, "One Black female body can easily replace another, and all are
reduced to their bodies" (p. 128). As Maria Torgovnick (1990) explains,
the relationship between "namelessness" and "nakedness" is significant in
Western culture, and both have been used as a means to justify the
"civilizing" of "primitive" people (p. 90). Such namelessness and nakedness are often featured in popular culture representations, particularly
when those representations include visual depictions of African-American women.
Some African-American women entertainers have attempted to defy the
commodification of their bodies by reclaiming their sexual identity as a
site of empowerment. For example, contemporary artists such as Lil' Kim,
Mia X, the Lady of Rage, and Missy Elliott often express both their
feminist and Afrocentric roots through their lyrics while simultaneously
projecting their autonomy through their physical appearance. In his article
"Unladylike Divas," Jason Haugen (2003) argues that African-American
women artists, particularly those who perform "gangsta rap," often perform "alternative femininities that are counterhegemonic to both the
norms of femininity in mainstream American society and the norms of
femininity imposed by traditional categories used by males in gansta rap"
(p. 429). Indeed, the discourse and physical appearance of both Lil' Kim
and Missy Elliott attempt to reappropriate aggressive Black female sexuality in ways that celebrate Black womanhood rather than in ways that
136 Women's Studies in Communication
commodify Black female bodies. Although many Black women artists
have experienced some degree of success in subverting the Jezebel image,
the commodification of Black culture often constrains African-American
women's ability to reappropriate the Jezebel mythology. For example.
Perry (2003) explains that while Lil' Kim has become "the Pamela
Anderson in brown skin," Missy Elliott has adopted a more pornographic
persona by frequently exposing the size of her hreasts (p. 142). Thus, the
attempt to subvert the Jezebel image often functions as a validation of the
pejorative myths regarding Black female sexuality. Collins (2004) concludes, "This theme of the materialistic, sexualized Black [woman] has
become an icon within hip-hop culture. The difficulty lies in telling the
difference between representations of Black women who are sexually
liherated and those who are sexual objects, their bodies on sale for male
enjoyment" (p. 126).
In an attempt to complicate current discussions surrounding the possible subversion of the Jezebel image, the following section explores how
mainstream (white) media depicted Black female sexuality following the
Jackson/Timberlake scandal. My purpose is to assess how contemporary
representations of Black female sexuality were assigned meaning in mainstream discourse during a time in which the sanctity of white masculinity
was called into question. In this section I argue that many news accounts
portrayed Jackson as a contemporary Jezebel and that the representations
of her deviant sexual persona often normalized Timberlake's white, masculine identity.
The Deceptive Jezebel and the Innocent White Man: Jackson
V. Timberlake
The Jackson/Timberlake scandal that occurred during Super Bowl XXXVIIl prompted a considerable amount of controversy among policymakers, legal advocates, and television producers regarding regulations on
publicly televised displays of nudity and sexuality. The four-minute finale
included two independent (yet related) choreographed performances. The
first routine featured Jackson's performance of her classic "RJiythm Nation," a 1989 hit that topped the U.S. Billboard charts and earned her a
Grammy for "The Best Music Video, Long Form" (King, 1990, p. 2G).
For approximately two minutes, Jackson, clothed in a provocative leather
costume, re-enacted choreographed excerpts from the original music video
Shannon L. Holland 137
while the word "JANET" appeared in bright lights over the stage. The
conclusion of Jackson's performance of "Rhythm Nation" segued to the
second routine, which featured Timberlake's performance of his new hit
"Rock Your Body." Timberlake, emerging from beneath the stage, was
immediately surrounded by several scantily clad female dancers, including
Jackson. As Timberiake and Jackson made their way to the front of the
stage, the word "JUSTIN" flashed over the stage as the duo danced
seductively, enacting the risqué lyrics that Timberlake was singing. During
this segment of the routine, Timberlake followed Jackson across the stage
in an erotic game of cat and mouse. In the final seconds of the finale,
Timberlake, having promised "to have her naked by the end of the song,"
reached across Jackson's body and ripped her bodice, exposing her right
breast. Although the event was described by Timberlake as an unfortunate
"wardrobe malfunction," the scandalous event prompted intense speculation about the performers' degree of responsibility for the lewd act.
The event spurred contentious public discussions, and those discussions
are significant for several reasons. First, because the event garnered
national and international publicity, mainstream media channeled much of
the public's interpretation (namely, the white, conservative public's interpretation) of the incident. Second, and more importantly, Jackson serves as
an icon of Black womanhood, particularly within the music industry,
because of her highly visible persona and successful career. Additionally,
throughout her career, she has assumed (and has been assigned) a highly
sexual persona. Thus, many newspapers read Jackson's highly sexualized
persona as a sign of her innate deviance, thereby absolving Timberlake
from responsibility (and consequently, protecting his white maleness). In
the following section, I argue that many news accounts constructed the
event as a passive occurrence and as a scheme used by Jackson to
"seduce" Timberlake in order to boost her own career.
Visible Breast; Invisible Assailant
The most common theme in national news coverage of the Jackson/
Timberlake incident was the emphasis on Jackson's naked breast. Instead
of documenting the act that resulted in the exposure of Jackson's breast
(i.e., Timberlake's ripping of Jackson's bodice), one-third of the 200
articles that I examined failed to mention the cause of the exposure, and
over half of the articles mentioned Timberlake's involvement in passing.
Frequently, writers used passive terminology when discussing the incident
as if either Jackson exposed her own breast or as if the breast had
138 Women's Studies in Communication
spontaneously exposed itself. Several articles described the event as "the
exposure of Jackson's breast" or the "revealing of her breast," For example, writers for The Houston Chronicle and The Seattle Times described
the Federal Communications Commission's condemnation of Jackson's
"exposed breast" (Brand, 2004, p, A6; Rahner, 2004, p, Bl), Additionally,
a writer for The Washington Post stated, "In reaction to the national furor
arising from pop star Janet Jackson having her breast exposed on network
television during the Super Bowl halftime show , , , team owners said last
month that there would be no prégame musical concert in conjunction
with next season's opening game" (Maske, 2004, p, D2), These passive
representations of Timberlake's actions and the emphasis on Jackson's
breast are significant because they illustrate a failure on the part of some
news media to assign culpability to Timberlake for his actions, actions that
some defenders of Jackson described as an act of sexual violence (Richards, 2004; Stanley, 2004), Moreover, the passive representation of the
occurrence implicitly protected his white masculinity by diverting focus
from his responsibility for the act to the publicly nude spectacle of the
Black female body, the ultimate image of the Jezebel,
Additionally, news media's depiction of the "spontaneous exposure"
also shifted the blame to Jackson (or at least to her body). For example, in
The Washington Post, Roxanne Roberts (2004) described Jackson's breast
as "caus[ing] shock and awe" (p, C3), and Bill Carter (2004) reported that
Jackson "flashed one breast in front of the largest television audience of
the year in the Super Bowl halftime show" (p, Cl), Reporters for the Daily
News, Columbus Dispatch, and The New York Times also described the
incident as "Janet Jackson's breast-baring" fiasco (Siemaszko, 2004, p, 6;
Shapter, 2004, p, F2; Van Gelder, 2004, p, E2), Significantly, over threefourths of the newspaper articles that I examined described the "breast
exposure" in similar terms. The Washington Post sports writer Tony
Komheiser (2004) commented, "What Janet Jackson did was bizarre,
deliberately flopping out of her costume like that" (p, Dl), and a writer for
the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette (2004) referred to Jackson's breast as "the
offending breast" ("Laying Bare," p, D2), Additionally, columnist Bob
Ryan (2004) reported in The Boston Globe that "Timberlake reached over
to that infamous right breast belonging to Janet Jackson" (p, Cl), insinuating that although Timberlake may have reached, it was the "infamous
right breast" that committed the offense.
These representations of Jackson's breast "exposing" itself conjured
images of the uncontrollable Black female body. As Douglas (2003)
Shannon L. Holland 139
explains, the myth of the Jezebel is premised on the image of the insatiably
sexual Black female body, a body separate from the Black woman's
subjectivity—a body with a "mind of its own" (p. 36). These depictions of
Jackson's uncontrollable breast invited the logical conclusion that if Black
women such as Jackson cannot control their bodies, someone (namely
white men) must take control. As Houston Stanback (2000) notes, the
"multiple jeopardy" experienced by African-American women often manifests as a mechanism of external control over the lives of Black women.
By constructing an image of Jackson as an anarchic, hypersexual Black
female, a Jezebel symbolized by the image of the "offending breast,"
many news accounts implicitly constructed a rationale for disciplining
Jackson and, arguably, the bodies of other African-American women.
Perhaps the clothing worn by Jackson and Timberlake during the
halftime finale encouraged mainstream reporters to interpret the scandal in
a way that directed the public's attention toward Jackson's breast and away
from Timberlake's act of ripping the bodice. Indeed, in many reports, the
costuming (and even the choreography) of the four-minute finale served as
a backdrop for explaining the incident. James Lileks (2004) commented in
The Star Tribune, "[Jackson] was dressed in what appeared to be formalwear for zombie morticians—that wretched leather S&M chic we have
come to expect from our 'edgy' artists" (p. E3) whereas Timberlake was
dressed like the "sort of modem male" that is featured in a "stack of
Maxims" (p. E3). Additionally, Lisa de Moraes (2004) of The Washington
Post reported, "In their performance, Jackson, looking very Matrix: Revolutions-like in some sort of leather bustier thing with shingles attached,
and Timberlake, in his usual grungy baggy chinos and T-shirt, sang and
danced their way through 'Rock Your Body"' (p. Cl). She also noted that
throughout the routine, Timberlake followed Jackson around the stage
"like an old hound after a bitch in heat" (p. Cl).
Interestingly, only a handful of articles mentioned Timberlake's attire
whereas over three-fourths of the articles commented on Jackson's costume, which was often referred to as the "leather bustier" or the "leather
bodice." In fairness, for many viewers, the visual images of Jackson's
revealing leather costume were more shocking than Timberlake's urban
boy-band ensemble. However, mainstream media's preoccupation with
Jackson's attire often detracted attention from Timberlake's ripping ofthat
attire. That is, by focusing attention on Jackson's seductive costume, the
reports framed Jackson as the provoker of the scandal, the cause of the
lewd event. Thus, many news reports read Jackson's attire as a visual
140 Women's Studies in Communication
representation of her sexual aggressiveness and uncontroUability, thereby
interpreting the breast exposure as the predictable behavior of a contemporary Jezebel.
Jackson's Publicity Stunt
A second theme related to many mainstream newspapers' assignment of
culpability concerned the potential motives underlying Jackson's breastbaring "stunt." In March 2004, Virgin Records scheduled the release of
Jackson's new album titled Damita Jo. Considering that Jackson's participation in the halftime performance was, in part, a promotional for her
upcoming album, news sources often speculated that Jackson orchestrated
Timberlake's ripping of her bodice as a strategy to boost her sales. Over
three-fourths of the articles that I examined mentioned the upcoming
release of Jackson's album Damita Jo, and over two-thirds of those
articles suggested that the halftime debacle was designed by Jackson as a
promotional strategy. In an article in The New York Times, Kelefa Sanneh
(2004) described the event as Jackson's "excessively public display," a
"publicity stunt" that was "the expression of some private fantasy" that is
revealed in her new album (p. 1). Writers for other news sources including
The Washington Post, The Boston Herald, The Boston Globe, and The New
York Times frequently mentioned the Jackson/Timberlake "stunt" in relation to the upcoming release of Jackson's new album (Graham, 2004, p.
El; Ogunnaike, 2004, p. El; Tarlach, 2004, p. Al; Varga, 2004, p. A3;
Katz, 2004, p. E4; Segal, 2004, p. Cl). Although many of these reports did
not speculate on Jackson's motives, the reference to the event as a "stunt"
encouraged the audience to interpret the event as a premeditated act.
Moreover, mainstream media's reporting of her new album also fueled
public suspicion regarding Jackson's motives for orchestrating the "wardrobe malfunction."
Other news accounts more explicitly suggested that Jackson was the
primary architect who premeditated the "stunt" in order to boost her
career. For example, a writer for the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reported,
"Janet Jackson manipulated the halftime occasion for her own enrichment,
knowing sex and controversy sell. She'll make millions off her new
album" ("Laying Bare," 2004, p. D2). Additionally, Kevin Cowherd,
correspondent for The Baltimore Sun, speculated that Jackson used overt
sexual appeals in order to market her album. He concluded, "Janet Jackson
fans are used to all sorts of, um, salacious behavior from their idol. Let's
face it: She's not exactly Marie Osmond on stage. In fact, Janet Jackson
Shannon L. Holland 141
fans get shocked when her act doesn't include lots of cleavage, pelvic
grinding, and outfits from an S&M catalog" (Cowherd, 2004, p. El).
Cowherd predicted that her performance would almost ensure that her
album would "[sell] out in about 10 minutes" (p. El). Similarly, Jim
Färber (2004) from the Daily News explained that the "furor over Janet
Jackson's baring her breast" would probably elevate her music career (p.
Al). In a similar vein, David Segal of The Washington Times commented
that "the album might remind listeners of the publicity stunt that preceded
it. Like getting naked on network television, 'Damita' has about it a hint
of desperation" (Segal, 2004, p. Cl). Finally, Sharon Fink (2004) wrote in
the St. Petersburg Times, "Turns out that [Jackson's] Super Bowl stunt was
a hint about the photo on the cover of her next album. The photo shows
Jackson topless, from the left side, with her hands covering her chest and
some of her torso in shadow. Her head is facing the camera, and she is
smiling" (p. B2).
Media attention to Jackson's motives is significant for several reasons.
First, such attention framed Black female sexuality as manipulative.
Mainstream newspapers often dismissed the claims that the exposure was
the result of a simple "wardrobe malfunction" and instead, implied that the
lewd act was premeditated by Jackson as a means to reinvigorate her
career. Second, depictions of Jackson as the sole architect of the event not
only conjured images of Jackson's racial, gendered, and sexual Otherness
but also functioned to absolve Timberlake from responsibility and to
normahze his white male identity. Most media accounts failed to discuss
Timberlake's potential motives for participating in the sexual act, despite
the fact that Timberlake was an active participant in the event—he ripped
her bodice. Indeed, the lewd act occurred during the second half of the
finale in which Timberlake occupied center stage. Ironically, however,
mainstream media's focus on Jackson's motives eclipsed the discussion of
the actual event and encouraged the public to assign sole responsibility to
Jackson despite Timberlake's active ripping of her clothing.
Finally, mainstream newspapers' construction of Jackson as a contemporary Jezebel not only detracted attention away from Timberlake's behavior but also normaUzed Timberlake's performance of hypersexual (and
arguably, violent) white masculinity. In most media accounts. Timberlake's performance of white masculinity was left unquestioned. The erasure of Timberlake's behavior and agency encouraged the audience to read
Timberlake's conduct as inconsequential, particularly when compared to
that of Jackson, hecause he was simply a pawn in Jackson's perverted
142 Women's Studies in Communication
Stunt. Additionally, news media's preoccupation with Jackson's motives
focused the public's attention on her deviant Black female Othemess, thus
normalizing Timberlake's white male identity. The normalization of Timberlake's white maleness as well as his performance of hypersexual white
masculinity reinscribed particular race, gender, and sexual power relations. White (1999) explains that images of African-American women's
lasciviousness have often been used as a means to justify white men's
authority and violence. Media accounts of the halftime performance
reinforced the privileges associated with white masculinity, even the
privilege to behave in violent, sexist, and racist ways, by ignoring Timberlake's active participation and/or by describing his performance as part
of her lewd scheme rather as an enactment of violent (white) masculinity.
Seducing Timberlake
The representation of Jackson as a contemporary Jezebel was also
explicit in media discourse that overtly blamed Jackson for sexually
duping Timberlake. Although both Jackson and Timberlake presented
public apologies for allowing the routine to "go too far," the apologies did
little to quell public interest regarding the performers' premeditation of the
incident. Moreover, despite Jackson's claim that she and Timberlake
choreographed the finale together, many mainstream newspapers continued to focus attention on Jackson's involvement in and potential orchestration of the event. Of the 200 articles examined, one-third favored
Timberlake's denial of his involvement in premeditating the act. The most
frequent way in which mainstream media drew attention to Timberlake's
denial was by presenting it as an unchallenged statement. Approximately
40 of the articles examined mentioned Timberlake's denial without mentioning that Jackson was challenging his denial. For example, writers for
The Boston Globe and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted that Timberlake apologized for his role in the event, describing the event as
"unintentional" and "completely regrettable" (Marino, 2004, p. Al; Gilbert, 2004, p. B7). Significantly, although these reports acknowledged
Timberlake's involvement in the "unfortunate" event, they did not suggest
that Timberlake orchestrated the "stunt" but rather was merely present
when the "regrettable" incident occurred. Other articles featured in the
Columbus Dispatch, The Milwaukee Sentinel, and the Dally News reported
that although Timberlake was not completely innocent and knew about the
shocking finale, he believed that Jackson was also sporting a lacy red
bodice under her leather outfit (Naegele, 2004, p. E2; Shapter, 2004, p. F2;
Shannon L, Holland 143
Rush and Hutchinson, 2004, p, 8), A writer for the Pittsburg Post-Gazette
reported that Timberlake "thought only Jackson's bustier would be revealed, not her breast, when he yanked at her costume" ("Laying Bare,"
2004, p, D2), News media's representation of the event as an unintentional
event that "went too far" not only minimized Timberlake's involvement
but also absolved Timberlake from blame, at least in part, by focusing
attention on the degree of exposure rather than on the act itself. That is,
media accounts suggested that the offending aspect of the performance
was Jackson's breast rather than Timberlake's performance of hypersexual
and aggressive white masculinity.
Approximately, one-quarter of the articles not only detailed Timberlake's lack of involvement but also explained that Jackson had used
Timberlake as a pawn to better her own career. According to Mark
Naegele (2004) of the Columbus Dispatch,
As the fallout grew, Timberlake was claiming to pals that he was
bamboozled by Jackson, "She lied to him," a Timberlake buddy
told the New York Daily News. "Justin had no prior knowledge of
the shenanigans. He thought there was going to be a red bodice
when he ripped off her top, and, lo and behold, there was a
nipple," Another friend said: "She took advantage of him. She's
a 37-year-old singer who's using a hot young star to keep her
career alive," (p, E2)
Additionally, in an article in the Daily News titled "Justin Rips Off
Booby-Trap," staff writers Rush and Hutchinson (2004) stated, "Now
even Justin is mad at Janet, Justin Timberlake is telling friends Janet
Jackson blindsided him with the last-second, breast-baring addition to
their Super Bowl act" (p, 8), The authors quoted MTV Chief Executive
Tom Freston as stating, "Janet Jackson engineered it, , , , We were Punk'd
by Janet Jackson" (p, 8), Writers for both The Milwaukee Sentinel and the
Columbus Dispatch commented on Timberlake's adamant denial that he
had no prior knowledge of "Jackson's scheme" and reported his claim that
he had been duped by Jackson ("Jackson's Grammy," 2004; Shapter,
2004), Moreover, Timberlake explained to the Daily News that "when
what happened happened, [he] was shocked and appalled" (Rush and
Hutchinson, 2004, p, 8), According to both the Pittsburg Post-Gazette and
the Daily News, Timberlake did not have time to practice the entirety of
the routine so he had "no idea" how the routine would end ("Jackson
144 Women's Studies in Communication
Reconsiders," 2004, p. W12; Rush and Hutchinson, 2004, p. 8). Although
few news stories touted Timberlake's complete innocence, the representations of Timberlake's "unfortunate" guilt suggested that Timberlake's
culpability for the incident was a matter of guilt by association, or, rather,
by manipulation.
These excerpts of Timberlake's denial conjured new images of the
contemporary Jezebel, the black widow spider, panther, puma, or other
"large sleek cat" who seized the opportunity to sexually "pounce her prey"
for her own economic, political, and physical desires (Anderson, 1997, p.
89). As White (1999) explains, the seduction of white men by AfricanAmerican women still has a certain mythological ethos in American
culture. During slavery, many African women did use their sexuality in
order to make themselves "available" for concubinage rather than endure
the hardships of field labor. Thus, although African women's use of their
sexuality was a survival strategy, many white men (and their wives who
endured the infidelity of their husbands) often interpreted Black women's
willingness to offer themselves as a cunning ploy to secure favors from
their white slaveholders. As a contemporary appropriation of this mythology, mass media's attention to Timberlake's denial of responsible and their
tendency to report his denial as an undisputed fact sustained the mythology surrounding the cunning Black female body. In this light, Jackson's
"bamboozling" of Timberlake seemed illustrative of the consequences that
inevitably accompany white men's willingness to trust African-American
women. Thus, Jackson became the engineer of the spectacle, and, once
again, the naive white male was victimized by a Jezebel.
Additionally, mainstream newspapers' reporting of the controversies
surrounding the conflicting apologies delivered by Jackson and Timberlake further reified the image of Jackson as the Jezebel incarnate. Timberlake's denial not only created a "she said, he said" controversy over the
incident, but it also functioned to insulate his white masculine privilege
from public scrutiny. The breast-baringfiascooccurred during the segment
of the routine that starred Timberlake, making his claim that he had "no
idea" how the routine would end particularly doubtful. However, when
interpreted through the lens of the Jezebel myth, Timberlake's proclamation that he was manipulated by Jackson is consistent with the racist,
sexist, and colonialist mythology surrounding Black female deviance.
Mainstream newspapers' reporting of his denial, which often berated
Jackson for her seduction of Timberlake, provided many audience members with another rationale for censuring Jackson in particular and Black
Shannon L. Holland 145
female sexuality in general. Additionally, in many news accounts, Jackson
was depicted as being culpable of a dual scheme in which she exploited
her own body on national television and then falsely accused a white man
of willingly participating in the orchestration of her scheme. According to
Anderson (1997), "Sometimes the Jezebel represents dangerous sex; falling prey to her charms means trouble to her and her male victim" (p. 89).
News media not only constructed Jackson as her own assailant as well as
the saboteur of an innocent white man, but also left Timberlake's performance of hypersexualize white masculinity unchallenged.
Conclusion
According to Lisa Jones (1994), the ability for African-American
women to subvert white, patriarchal images of Black female sexuality
depends, to a large degree, on African-American women's ability to
control the circulation of these images. Although one might argue that
"controlling" the circulation and consumption of any representation is
difficult (if not impossible) under all circumstances, the marketing of
Black female sexuality via mass media exacerbates the difficulties associated with image subversion. Moreover, African-American women's ability to control the Jezebel image is often complicated by the context
surrounding the circulation of the image. That is, although the Jezebel
image might function as a site of empowerment in certain contexts, the
image often assumes a pejorative connotation when articulated within
dominant white culture. Indeed, mainstream newspaper coverage of the
Jackson/Timberlake scandal reflected the contemporary appropriation of
the antebellum Jezebel image. That mythology was then used to allay
white masculine responsibility for the incident and to justify the disciplining of "deviant" Black female sexuality. By depicting Jackson as the
lascivious temptress who masterminded the sexual exploitation of her own
body and then framed Timberlake as a co-conspirator in her scheme to
rejuvenate her own stardom, news media often reaffirmed the ongoing
narrative regarding the innate immorality of the Jezebel whose sexual
insatiability preys upon innocent men and the privileges of white masculinity.
News media's construction of Jackson as a hypersexual deviant not
only reinforced racist and sexist stereotypes regarding Black female sexuality but also normalized Timberlake's performance of white masculinity
(a performance that might be read as inherently violent). Many news
146 Women's Studies in Communication
accounts depicted Timberlake as the victim of Jackson's publicity stunt
rather than as an autonomous agent who willingly engaged in the performance. Such reports encouraged the public to reprimand Jackson for
exposing her body and, simultaneously, to excuse Timberlake's active role
in the lewd event. Ironically, by constructing Timberlake as a victim or
passive participant in Jackson's lascivious plot, news media reinforced
Timberlake's white male privilege by justifying his behavior with the
familiar "she asked for it" defense. These reports are significant because
they diverted criticism away from the damaging consequences associated
with performances of hypersexual masculinity in general and of hypersexual white masculinity in particular.
Additionally, mass media representations of Jackson as a contemporary
Jezebel constructed an interesting paradox regarding the subjectivity and
agency of African-American women. On one hand, media depictions of
Jackson, or at least her body, as the architect of the "stunt" encouraged the
puhlic to read Jackson as a sexual opportunist rather than as a passive
participant or even a victim of aggression. Hence, in its reappropriation of
the Jezebel image, many news sources credited the body of Jackson
(which, arguably, became a metonymical representation of the bodies of
all African-American women) with an extreme amount of agency. On the
other hand, however, mass media's tendency to equate Jackson with her
"offending breast" reduced Jackson to a sexualized bodily container, thus
negating Jackson's agency and subjectivity. As depicted in mainstream
newspapers, Jackson's body was the instigating agent of the debacle that
victimized both herself and Timberlake during the performance. These
representations of Jackson reiterated the historical mythology of the
Jezebel, whose body has a libidinous "mind of its own" yet lacks the
rationality to discipline its sexual cravings. By animating the action of the
breast and reporting the incident using passive terminology, media accounts implicitly reified depreciatory images of uncontrollable Black
female sexually, images that have been used to justify the disciplining of
African-American women for centuries (hooks, 1990). Furthermore, the
relationship between the paradoxical agency of Jackson and the subject
position of Timberlake, as articulated in mass media, illustrated the
limitations and constraints surrounding her ability to subvert the Jezebel image.
Hortense Spiller (as cited in James and Sharpley-Whiting, 2000) explains that the term Black woman "demonstrate[s] a sort of telegraphic
coding" because it is a marker "so loaded with mythical repossession that
Shannon L. Holland 147
there is no easy way for the agents buried beneath to come clean" (p. 57).
Although I agree with Spiller's conclusion that the hegemonic underpinnings of Black womanhood often create difficulties for African-American
women who attempt to escape the mythologies of "woman" and "Blackness," I am skeptical of inventing ways to "clean" the "agent" underneath.
Perhaps a more fruitful task would be to interrogate white male subjects'
dependence on Black female Othemess. That is, perhaps asking the
question, "How do African-American women reclaim their agency within
hegemonic power structures?" is a misguided question that leaves intact
the taken-for-granted assumptions of subjectivity, which is defined as
white, masculine, and heterosexual. Instead, a more productive question
may be, "How does the framing of Black female Othemess produce the
white masculine subject?" This question challenges the centrality of white
masculine subjects and can open opportunities for interrogating the historical and contemporary mythologies that sustain hegemonic gender,
racial, and sexual power relations. Collins (2004) explains that the juxtaposition between "normal" white masculinity and "deviant" Black femaleness, which is located at the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality,
functions as a master binary that incorporates and produces other secondary binaries (p. 96). Thus, this essay suggests that conceptualizing Black
female bodies such as Jackson's as sites in which white male subjects are
produced is productive for understanding the ways in which oppositional
logics reproduce bodies and subjects that sustain hegemonic power stmctures. Additionally, by contextualizing the circulation of representations of
Othemess, such as the Jezebel, we can better understand the complexities
surrounding the progressive potential of subversive acts and, conversely,
the recuperation of identities that could potentially challenge dominant
power relations.
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