People who lived in the 1980s in Europe probably remember Sabrina Salerno, who was a prominent pop singer with the breakthrough hit 'Boys' in 1987. The music video for that song was allegedly banned on MTV because of the very famous nipple slip in the video clip that was originally made as a segment for an Italian TV show. She was criticized by feminists as being a sex object, using sex and provocative appearances to further her singing career and not offering much else to the world of music. She was compared with other "sexy" female pop singers of the time, including but not limited to Samantha Fox, who, like Sabrina, had been a well-known topless model.
After two successful studio albums of the Italo disco genre, it seemed that Sabrina had disappeared. She did continue her singing and acting career in Italy, though, and frequently gives interviews. She also appeared on the music video for a folk cover of 'Boys' by the Finnish singer Sansa in 2011.
We didn't hear much about feminism in the 1980s. We didn't care much about what Sabrina or any other pop star actually said in interviews. Everybody knew she had breasts and that her style was not especially... modest. Some had even seen her music videos (I hadn't, as we only had two TV channels at the time). She seemed to have gigs in Finland, my home country, every year.
On the surface level, for many, she seemed like the worst example of a sexy pop star chained by her producers and managers to perform suggestive songs about sex. For me, the Italo disco beats in Sabrina's hits such as 'My Chico' convinced me that there is actually some "adult music" (as in not children's music) that is worth listening to and later this evolved fascination about electronic music in general and techno music specifically.
But who was (or is) Sabrina and what did she actually say?
Thanks to the Internet and YouTube, there's a lot of material to work with. Having studied at an international school, she had no trouble giving comments in English or appearing at music and talk shows around the world. It is actually striking to see this 19-year-old woman casually discussing her music and views, exhibiting total self-confidence, challenging the interviewer, questioning the interviewer's questions.
In this 1988 interview with MTV, she says she admires Madonna due to her strong personality and the control she has over her career. She stresses that she does not try to be sexy - she tries to be Sabrina, it is up to others to decide whether they think she's sexy or not.
In another interview with Super Channel, Sabrina says "I'm not an object, I'm a subject". She asks why athletes such as football players are respected and understood but as a pop singer she has to explain why she trains dancing and singing and has to take care of her body.
In 1989 she had an interview with the Swedish show Bullen, in which she says she has never fallen in love and discusses how she cares too much about her career to settle down and start a family. She also says having been abandoned by her parents and living alone since the age of 16, she has grown independent and worked hard to prove herself.
In other interviews she has discussed the conservative Italian family-centered society and its expectations for young women. She says her "sexy" appearance is body positivity - she says she feels she is beautiful and has the right to show it and is perplexed why anybody questions her right to do it.
On her second studio album, 'Super Sabrina', she collaborated with the producer trio Stock-Aitken-Waterman ald also with the disco legend Giorgio Moroder. She co-wrote the hit 'My Chico' and shared that she aimed to perform more music written by herself. She also wanted to evolve and not continue the same disco/pop career as before, which led to conflicts with her producers and mangers.
I understand that the "sexy" image (expectation) of female pop singers can be problematic. However, Madonna, among others, has used the image while building her career, and is nowadays seen as, in many ways, an exemplary strong and independent woman, even as an "almost sacred feminist icon".
While Madonna and Samantha Fox seemed sophisticated and their videos polished, Sabrina seemed more provocative and uninhibited, openly asking why she should hide what she is or thinks.
She asked for respect for her rights and work as a singer and as a woman and as a teenager questioned the subjugated role of women in the society. She said she wanted to do good and change the society by being herself. And she said all this before even turning 21.
Sabrina's feminism (if you want to call it that, and she did not use the word) isn't always what you would expect from something described as feminism. Maybe she doesn't look like a feminist. But arent't the themes what feminism is about, especially as seen through the progressive lense of the 2010s society? Or, at least, shouldn't her career and comments be at least considered as expressions of feminist ideals, to some extent, just like feminists from so many different backgrounds can have completely valid ideas and approaches?
Did you remember what Sabrina said?
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