Entertainment

Tove Lo's New Video Is All About Female Pleasure & Provides Some Much-Needed Instructions

by Shannon Carlin

With her brand new video, Tove Lo is here to teach you about oral sex with help from a few of her friends. Tove Lo's video for "Bitches" featuring Charli XCX, Icona Pop, Elliphant, and ALMA is a hilariously NSFW look at pleasuring your female partner that lets women know they deserve good sex. And to show them how to get it, Tove Lo is having a little fun with Broad City actor and producer, Paul W. Downs.

Think of Tove Lo's video, directed by Broad City director and producer Lucia Aniello, as a tutorial for any guys who don't know how to go down. It's all in good fun, of course, with Downs, who also happens to be Aniello's longtime partner, playing Alex, a hapless guy who needs a little work on his form. That's where Tove Lo and her friends come in, leading a seminar that's all about getting this man — specifically, his tongue — in tip-top shape.

The Swedish singer and her girl squad put him through the ringer — not to mention in a studded dog collar and cage, alongside his partner Greta (played by Jessy Hodges) — to figure out how to make oral sex with him better than ever. And by the end of the video, it seems as if it worked — maybe too well, since Greta decides to break up with Alex after four years to go back and join Tove Lo and her crew for another round of lessons. Practice makes perfect, after all. Alex is cool with it, though. He even goes on to suggest to other young men that they should check out Tove Lo's seminar.

Not everyone is an Alex though, and this clip might make men uncomfortable for just how real it is. But at the same time, it definitely shouldn't, since open conversations about sexual needs and wants is something all sexually active couples should be having. Tove Lo is known for using her art to help de-stigmatize female sexuality

Tove Lo's progressive video is just getting the conversation started in a light and funny way that might encourage more people to speak up about what they want in the bedroom. Not to mention, make conversations about female oral sex less taboo. In a 2017 interview with Time Out New York, Tove Lo said she wasn't going to apologize for depicting female sexuality in her short film "Fairy Dust," which features female masturbation. “Seriously, we can see a guy get shot in the head without any problems," she said. "Yes, I’m masturbating, but why is female sexuality so scary?” It's a question Tove Lo seems to be asking again with "Bitches."

In fact, Tove Lo's latest feels especially timely after a video from 2014 of DJ Khaled saying he doesn't perform oral sex resurfaced last month. In it, he said that he doesn't perform oral sex on his wife, but thinks she should. “A woman should praise the man — the king,” Khaled said in his interview with The Breakfast Club.

No surprise, there were many people who thought Khaled had gotten it all wrong with his comments, not to mention that he was missing out. Westworld's Evan Rachel Wood tweeted, “You’re seriously missing out man. Take it from someone who has pride and thoroughly enjoys pleasuring women. You should grow up.” Then Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweeted, “As a man, I take great pride in mastering ALL performances." Now, Tove Lo is looking to help others master their performance and her video is a forward-thinking way of showing that.

Clearly, some men still have problems going down on their significant others — and of course, no one should participate in something if they don't feel comfortable. But Tove Lo's video offers a lighthearted look at how to talk to your partner about satisfying your needs in the bedroom, taking the fear out of it by educating her fans. Here's hoping the video helps spread the word. The more you know, right?