Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze:
Mulvey believes that in film, audience have to ‘view’ characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. She believes the camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man’s reaction to these events. She believes film relegates women to the status of objects and the female viewer must experience secondarily, by identification with the male.
Some criticise this theory as some women enjoy being looked at. Also, the gaze can also be directed towards members of the same gender for several reasons, not all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or in clothing.
Berger: "Men look, women appear". Similar to Laura Mulvey, Berger argues that women are there solely for the objectification of men.
Bell Hooks:
Hooks argues that skin colour is a code. Lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into the western ideology of beauty.
Richard Dyer - Star Power Theory:
Dyer argues that institutions use stars to attract a larger audience to the text.
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The first video I looked at is Chris Brown's 'Loyal' music video, which I would classify as RnB/rap.
It is clear from the beginning that this video heavily objectifies and sexualises women, through the choreography of their dance moves as well as the costumes and positioning within the scene. For example, in both the screenshots of the video above and below, we see the women in positions which can be seen as vulnerable and exposed, as the flexibility of their bodies is emphasised. The girls in the image above also wear very little clothing, whereas in the image below they are dressed in tight fitted clothing to accentuate their bodies. On the other hand both Chris Brown and Lil Wayne are fully clothed. It is interesting to note that in both of these shots there are multiple girls surrounding the male rapper, suggesting they are all attempting the get his attention. In addition to this, the image below is shot from a low angle which shows rapper Lil Wayne much higher than the other girls, and ultimately adds to the degrading of the women. We are able to see the face and front side of Lil Wayne however we can only see the backside of the girls, quite literally, suggesting that their faces aren't important, merely their body parts.
In the images to the left we see how the women are looking for the attention of the rappers, whilst they are clearly giving none to the females. This shows that the purpose of women in RnB and rap videos is to comfort the male and be his accessory, which conforms to Mulvey's 'The Male Gaze' theory. If we compare all of these screenshots from the music video, it could also comply with Bell Hooks' theory where he suggests that skin colour acts as a code. In the image that shows Lil Wayne with the dancers, they are fairly dark skinned women and unlike the women in the other images, we cant see their faces well, suggesting they are less important. On the other hand, the images on the left show details of the faces of the lighter skinned women, suggesting they are perceived as more beautiful.
The second video I want to analyse is Fifth Harmony's 'Worth It' video.
The opening images in this video show sky-scraper office buildings and stock market figures, which displays the girl band's name 'Fifth Harmony' as well as the phrase 'women in power'. Immediately, we gain a sense of empowerment to women and link this demographic with money and business. This disobeying the usual representation of women in music videos, such as that seen in Chris Brown's 'Loyal' video. Instead, women are portrayed as powerful and independent - they can work to provide for themselves rather than relying on a man to take care of them. It also addresses an issue which still exists in some parts of the world, where women are paid less than men despite doing the same job.
We are soon shown the girl group together during a long shot of their dance routine:
It is interesting to witness how the representation has changed. The women here are shown similarly to how they are in Chris Brown's 'Loyal', where their dance displays them in what could be seen as provocative or vulnerable positions. In addition to this, their costumes are all rather tight fitted and in some cases revealing. This applies with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory and it seems that although they are attempting to promote female empowerment, they still need to display women through 'the male gaze' to attract the audience. However, it can be argued that they are shown as independent as their costumes don't follow a theme or match, which suggests that the females are unique individuals than make their own decisions, rather than dressing how others want them to or following a dress code. The act of objecting against wearing a uniform could be symbolic of how they are trying to rebel against the typical female stereotype.
The rapper Kid Ink is featured in the video, which allows us to compare how male and female artists are portrayed in this video.
We first see the rapper accompanied with a model sitting next to him whilst another is approaching him. Immediately we can link this with the females in Chris Brown's 'Loyal', where their sole purpose is to accompany the men, whilst they are paid no attention in return. Both females are also wearing heavy make-up which could show them as very appearance conscious, perhaps because they know that their purpose is to be watched. In addition to this they are both wearing low-cut clothing and seem to be wearing a uniform, which opposes the notion that the girl group displays regarding being an individual. This element also applies to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, as well as Berger's theory. It could also apply to Bell Hooks' theory that argues that skin colour is a code, as these women and Kid Ink are light skinned, suggesting that they have purposely been included as they are more attractive.
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