Representation comes across many different areas e.g.
gender, age ethnicity etc. The most obvious representation shown in music
videos is of gender. Laura Mulvey said
‘In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking
has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male
gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly.’
What she basically means when she says this is that when you
are watching a female perform, it is watched from a males point of view and
what they perceive as being the ideal. The male has a more active viewing role
whereas the female is seen as the object for the pleasure of males. This
representation is shown most often within the Hip Hop and R&B genre.
The artist’s image in a music video is carefully planned
out; from their costumes to their hair and makeup to match the narrative that
they are going to be placed in for the song. The audience will then break down the
representation and interpret it to their understanding. Because of this, we get
used to seeing these representations with other similar artists.
An example of a music video portraying the male gaze on
female is in Dance (A$$) by Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj. The video shows
different women dancing on top of the artist and a lot of shots that are
repeated are closes ups of the women’s body parts.
Females also play into the idea of having the male gaze on
them for example in Dance for You by Beyonce. She is seen to be dancing
provocatively for the man to see and also she is dressed in a way to make the
man lust after her.
However, there are some artists that challenge Mulvey’s idea
on representation. For example, in Who You Are by Jessie J. The video to this
is simple and she is wearing casual clothing to fit the mood of the song.
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