Guru Randhawa to Britney Spears: The troubling schoolgirl trope in pop culture

The sexualisation of young girls in media isn’t new, but it continues to rear its head in disturbing ways. Recently, Guru Randhawa’s music video has become the talk of the town, but for all the wrong reasons.

From pop music videos to Bollywood songs, the repeated use of school uniforms as a symbol of desire normalises harmful stereotypes. In the video, the singer is shown directing a photoshoot where young schoolgirls perform dance moves in their school uniforms. That is just the beginning of the problem. Let us expand on this.

Guru Randhawa’s ‘Azul’ sparks outrage

If you have watched Guru Randhawa’s latest release, ‘Azul’, you will understand why it is problematic. In the video, the singer is shown directing a photoshoot where young schoolgirls perform dance moves in uniform. Guru Randhawa, clearly way older than the girls around him, is seen looking at the girls lustfully. The male gaze is so apparent, it's just there in your face.

What’s more troubling is the lyrical context, girls are compared to expensive alcohol while dressed as minors. Many viewers have flagged how the video hyper-sexualises schoolgirls, reducing them to objects of male gaze.

In an era where conversations about safeguarding children are louder than ever, this imagery has been called tone-deaf and irresponsible.

Remember the Britney Spears video?

Millennials would remember Britney Spears' Baby One More Time, her debut single. It was written by Max Martin and produced by Martin and Rami Yacoub. Released on September 29, 1998, by Jive Records, the song became a worldwide success. However, the image of Britney dancing in school uniform did not sit well with many.

An entire generation was influenced by one major pop culture moment. In 2010, the music video for "...Baby One More Time" was voted the third most influential video, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

Remember Sneha Ullal from ‘Lucky Lips’?

Closer home, Bollywood too has indulged in this troubling narrative. In Salman Khan-starrer ‘Lucky: No Time for Love’ (2005), an 18-year-old Sneha Ullal was cast in the song Lucky Lips as a schoolgirl. Surrounded by peers in uniforms, Ullal was choreographed to seduce older men.

The scene normalised a schoolgirl doing seductive moves at men, double/triple her age.

India's child abuse rates at all-time high

While entertainment normalises such tropes, the real-world statistics paint a devastating picture. According to NCBI government data, India, home to 19% of the world’s children, faces alarmingly high levels of child sexual abuse.

Studies suggest nearly every second child experiences abuse, with prevalence estimates ranging from 4%–66% for girls and 4%–57% for boys.

How can pop culture affects our minds?

Psychotherapist Jyoti Das, in conversation with Hook, revealed how media and pop culture can have a long term effect on the brain. She said, “Pre-pubescent girls have been an object of desire in media overtly and covertly - from anime to music videos to movies. The kind of images and narratives we consume, especially as puberty is changing our minds and bodies, can be quite long lasting. The sexualisation of school girls leaves young women perceiving and treating themselves and their bodies as objects of desire and place value upon being wanted by older men. This is particularly problematic because it promotes and encourages grooming of young girls by older people thus, allowing abusive interpersonal relationships owing to unequal power dynamics.”