Panic! at the Disco recently released a music video for its new song “Girls/Girls/Boys.” It features lead singer Brendon Urie mouthing along to the lyrics of his song, such as lead singers do in any other music video. Oh, but he’s also naked. 

Don’t worry; this new music video is not any form of porn. The camera does not go below the belt but you can definitely see a lot of him and can infer that his bottom half is as nude as his top.  

As I was sitting at my computer with a few friends, viewing the video for about the 10th time (give or take—well, give—a few views), a thought entered my brain that I could not shake. If a female released a music video similar to this one, all hell would break loose. Feminists would riot in the streets. The same teenage girls who comment “He’s so dreamy” on Panic!’s video would hypocritically author comments such as, “Wow I can’t believe how little self-respect she has. What a (insert word choice here).”

This is exemplified in the comments section of Miley Cyrus’ newest video for her song “Wrecking Ball.” Some of the YouTube commenters called Cyrus derogatory names. Other commenters feigned concern, asking “What happened to her?” or talked about how she will impact young viewers. The point is, few comments actually related to the song itself. 

Conversely, many comments about Panic!’s new video are complimentary toward Urie.

Commenters go on about how much they love and want to marry him. But these comments are at least more evenly mixed with comments about the content of the song, its lyrics and its melody.  

The top comment on Panic!’s video surprised me in a good way. “Can’t wait till the media concern trolls him for sexualizing himself. Oh wait, we only do that to women,” it said. This is sad but true. Cyrus was at least sometimes wearing clothes in her video. Sure, clothing may have been scarce, but she was covered. Urie was wearing absolutely no clothing, but I don’t see any headlines about how he is changing for the worse or flying off the handle. Commenters as a whole seem to view Panic!’s video as art and Cyrus’ as a cry for attention. 

What makes the two so different that they receive such a wide range of opposing reactions? The music industry is supposed to primarily judge musicians based on their voices and talents, not on what they do or do not wear. And if we are going to judge based on clothing or lack thereof, it’s only fair to judge men and women the same. Artists should be judged based on the difference in their vocal chords, not the difference of their external organs.