The music video for “Literally I Can’t,” by Play n Skills, takes objectifying women to an entirely new level. Upon listening to the song, I thought my ears were going to bleed. As a student on a campus where Greek life is such a prominent force and in light of the current sexual assault that happened at the PIKE house, this video really hits home.
The video opens with a group of preppy looking sorority girls entering into a crazy frat house party, where they are offered alcohol and encouraged to do some girl on girl action. The leader of the pack repeats “Literally I can’t” to every offer, exploiting the phrase that younger generations often use in jest, but in this case is just a more ironic way of saying no. The girls are told to “shut the f*ck up” as frat guys begin to obnoxiously rage around them. The majority of the sorority girls eventually give in, succumbing to the idea that getting alcohol poisoning and shaking your butt around is fun, and the leader who continues to refuse the men’s advances is chased from the party.
Here are just a few of the recent twitter responses found under the hashtag #literallyicant.
This wild, but not inaccurate portrayal of misogyny has earned countless comments from the internet, with opinions ranging from full support of the video’s message to disgust and saying that it promotes rape. People could debate for hours about the trivial details of the video, but it ultimately conveys the message that there is something wrong with saying no to alcohol and sex.
“Literally I Can’t” takes a heavy toll on my heart as its message relates to the two prominent scandals that have happened within the PIKE fraternity recently. The first was the Facebook post that read: “It is imperative that we get them out there this weekend so that they bring their hot heart sisters. We can’t afford to let all this hot young box end up loving Persian or Lambda Chai Tea weiner.” Following this is the comment: “PS. These girls are all Pike Virgins, just saying.” The second was a sexual assault at a PIKE house party on November 1, just over a week ago. A woman was given drugs and woke up to find a man named Jake engaging in non-consensual sexual activity with her.
These two recent instances that took place within a Cal Poly fraternity are real life examples of rape culture, and twisting “no” into “yes.” Videos like “Literally I Can’t” promote the idea that these sorts of attacks against women are acceptable, and that women who say no are the villains in these situations. This song says “Get it boys? If a girl refuses you, you just rush her and take advantage of her anyway, because that’s what she secretly wants”. This is not acceptable. Disregarding someone’s boundaries makes you a jerk.
I don’t know what makes me more depressed about this entire situation—the fact that this video exists, the fact that I had to listen to it in the first place or that this is just too close a portrayal to real life.
Aside from all the controversy, the song is less than subpar. My modern female self is not in rapture from the lyrics, nor do I find the persistence charming in any way. Buy me Tiffany diamonds, take me out for a cheeseburger and serenade me with a mellow rendition of a George Ezra song—then we’ll talk.
Final Conclusion: Literally I Can’t with “Literally I Can’t.”