Laura Mulvey's Theory
Representation
There are a lot of areas in representation that we discuss; age, gender, ethnicity, place etc.
Laura Mulvey had a famous quote "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."
The representations of women you will get in music videos based on here theory is that women are being objectified, just used as a figure of the men's fantasy etc.
The artist image in a music video would have been carefully planned, from the clothes to the hair, to the situation/ narrative that the artists has been I'm am going to analyse some of the representations of gender within each. here is a list of thing I'm going to think about:
-The reaction of the men to the women
-The reaction women to the men
-What is the video saying about women
-What is the video saying about men
-From whose perspective are we an observer
-Who do u think the audience is for each video
-Could i apply Mulveys quote to the video
Mulvey also discussed the idea that women are 'dismemberd' in all forms of media. there is a focus, not on women as a whole. but a focus on parts of their body ie the body i.e. bidemberd. she argues that this is responsible for some women's focus and obsession with specific parts of their bodies e.g. bums, legs. men she argues are shown as a whole.
The genres that might be specific to this theory are:
-hip hop
-metal
This is a music video that mulveys quote applys to: its called 'candy paint' by E40
The video above is a classic example of how Laura Mulvey's quote is true. the video follows the quote exactly; the women dress how the men want to see them and they act the men want to see them. In this video the reaction of the men to the women is that they treat them like cars, something to be looked at, rode, that their just there for the male fantasy. the video only shows the females more prominent features, they never show them a s a whole person just part to be lusted over, this is how the men look at the women and that is how it is portrayed in the video. in this video we are an observer of the male gaze. the women are reaction how men think they should act for example wearing short cloths working in a garage so that they can be things to be desired by the men. What the video is saying about the men is that their in charge and what ever they like will happen and that people had to do things according them. the audience for this music video is boys/males, its aimed at men, we can especially tell because of the amount of women in that video.
(picture of the girls being viewed in a degrading way.) < i will put this in later, my laptop isn't letting me put it on.
However there are artists that challenege this for example:
-Beyonce
-Missy elliot
-Lady gaga
-Alicia keys
This music video is a performance and a story, its about her being poor and going to get benifit bust being declined it. she ended up being a big business woman at the end of the video, this is an artist that challenges that all women don't have to be showed like that. she is modest and believe in modesty and not making yourself an icon.
Also Beyonce's song 'your the best thing i never had' is about her finding out the truth about a guy and leaving him, she is saying that she doesn't need him and that she is better of and that she wont be 'styled according to him'.
Lady Gaga also breaks the stereotypes around and she shows the world through her videos that she is in charge and has the power. in this song 'the edge of glory' even though she wears revealing cloths which might be controversial you can see that she is confident and sure of herself and that she has power and is strong.
The genres that might be specific to this theory are:
-hip hop
-metal
This is a music video that mulveys quote applys to: its called 'candy paint' by E40
The video above is a classic example of how Laura Mulvey's quote is true. the video follows the quote exactly; the women dress how the men want to see them and they act the men want to see them. In this video the reaction of the men to the women is that they treat them like cars, something to be looked at, rode, that their just there for the male fantasy. the video only shows the females more prominent features, they never show them a s a whole person just part to be lusted over, this is how the men look at the women and that is how it is portrayed in the video. in this video we are an observer of the male gaze. the women are reaction how men think they should act for example wearing short cloths working in a garage so that they can be things to be desired by the men. What the video is saying about the men is that their in charge and what ever they like will happen and that people had to do things according them. the audience for this music video is boys/males, its aimed at men, we can especially tell because of the amount of women in that video.
(picture of the girls being viewed in a degrading way.) < i will put this in later, my laptop isn't letting me put it on.
However there are artists that challenege this for example:
-Beyonce
-Missy elliot
-Lady gaga
-Alicia keys
This music video is a performance and a story, its about her being poor and going to get benifit bust being declined it. she ended up being a big business woman at the end of the video, this is an artist that challenges that all women don't have to be showed like that. she is modest and believe in modesty and not making yourself an icon.
Also Beyonce's song 'your the best thing i never had' is about her finding out the truth about a guy and leaving him, she is saying that she doesn't need him and that she is better of and that she wont be 'styled according to him'.
Lady Gaga also breaks the stereotypes around and she shows the world through her videos that she is in charge and has the power. in this song 'the edge of glory' even though she wears revealing cloths which might be controversial you can see that she is confident and sure of herself and that she has power and is strong.
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