"Your Body like a Carryout"

    Right off the bat the video exudes sex appeal. This video is about sex, and the female gender. The first thing the viewer sees are yellow and orange flashing neon lights and arrows. Bold and bright neon lights, and red spot lights light up the videos backdrop. Neon lights are naturally associated with strip and night clubs, especially those featuring sexy women. The flashing arrows are strategically pointed, at the butt, of the female dancer, and the word “hot cakes”, appears at the level of her butt as well. The background neon lights illuminate the words; “Drive In” in a bold blue color, and “Hot Cakes” in a bright yellow color, both words are implying sex.
    The female dancers are dressed in sexually various forms of provocative clothing; their outfits are tight and revealing, showing plenty of butt and boobs! All of the dancers are wearing stockings attached to garter straps. Of course, both of the male singers are dressed in masculine clothing: jeans, jackets, hats and t-shirts; there is nothing sexually revealing them or the way they’re dressed.
    The song begins with the words “Baby, you looking fine”, immediately the focus is on the women’s bodies.  The dancers shake their butts and lower their upper torso to expose their cleavage. The next series of lyrics are: “I have you open all night, like an iHop”, “I take you home to keep me company”, “You give me some of you, I give you some of me”.  This song is about guys picking up women, taking them home, and having sex.  In the next line of lyrics you hear; “You look good, baby must taste heavenly”, as one of the dancers dips her fingers into a drink with whip cream, she then licks her fingers with her tongue. Other lyrics refer to “super size“, and we see guys in a black sport car, cars represent masculinity, but cars are also a direct reflection of the males sexual ego.      
    As the song plays on the male singers are shown wearing black and white suit coats, two of the female dancers are dressed in black and white skimpy maid outfits. These maids’ outfits illustrate the idea of serving the man. The body movements of the women are feminine, and suggest submissiveness. As stated by Devor, the women are dancing in a feminine and subordinate manner, by positioning their arms and legs closer together (569). Timberlake sings “he’ll take 2 number three’s“, which implies sex with more than one woman.
    Various desserts are seen, some topped with maraschino cherries. One female dancer bites seductively into a cherry, and we hear the lyrics “feed your appetite”; the women are being treated like desserts.  “Take my order cause your body like a “Carryout”; in other words, the female body, can be ordered up, and taken home like fast food to satisfy a mans sexual appetite! “I can feed you, you can feed me, I want you full of me“, “I’m gonna touch you in all the right areas”, “have it your way”, a reference to Burger King.
    This song is selling pure sex, from the masculine prospective. The women in this video are seen as the stereotypical female sex objects, they’re dressed in scanty clothing, clothing which bares a lot of skin. The females wear clothing that is sex related; it’s “gender distinct” (570). The clothing consists of stiletto heels, leather, lace and the seductive colors of black, and red. The women in the video are slim, and attractive, which implies these are the only desirable types of women for sex.  The video shows the women performing for the men, they dance, and they take their order, and serve them.  As stated in the Devor reading, these women are “moving and acting in ways men find attractive” (569).
    The guys sit around and sing; “take my order”, “get it right”, “turn me on”, “what’s your name?”, and “what’s your number?” all stereotypical ways men in society think of women.  Although, the men are not dressed in a sexually explicit way, some of their body movements are typical of masculinity. These men show several forms of masculinity and dominance. This is evident in the sternness of their facial expressions, and body postures. The men move their “hands and arms away from their bodies”, and are seen standing erect and stiff in some of the video. (571).
    Unlike the women, the men bare no skin, the men wear clothing that is double-layered or buttoned to the top, and secured with a bow-tie.  There’s nothing overtly sexy about the men. Timberlake sings; “he does it well”, and “he is well seasoned”, but that’s about as much manly sex appeal as we see coming from these guys. Another stereotypical issue; one guy is extremely heavy, yet, none of the women are heavy. Why didn’t the music company one or more heavier women?  Because society has a view of what is sexy, men can get away with being heavy, and a woman is looked down upon if she’s heavy.  Both the song and video berate women. Lyrics such as “your body like a carryout”, and “drive thru”, are prime examples, of why women in society are viewed just for their bodies and looks, and not much more.  As Devor states, our “cultural constructs”, continue to have a major effect on the way females and males are expected to “act, look, and behave, as witnessed by this video.