Blog 13 Sexism in pop videos

Blog 13 Sexism in pop videos


In 2013 "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus provoked controversy.
Lily Allen's "Hard out Here" video parodied black music videos that reduced black women's bodies to lurid props.
The questions people are asking are:

Are pop video sexist?

Are Woman objectified and viewed merely as sexual objects?

In this Blog i am going to analyse these three pop videos fully to see if they are sexist and explain how far they conform to Goodwin's categories?


Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory

The theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance.

The theory suggests woman can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective

However the presence of a woman in main stream film texts is something that is vital.
Often a female character has no real importance herself, it is how she makes the male feel or act that is the importance.
The female only exists in relation to the male

The male gaze leads to Hegemonic ideologies within our society
Hegemonic is ruling or dominant in a political or social context.

"Mulvey argues, for women the result of media being presented from the perspective of men and through the male gaze, women find themselves, at times, taking of the male gaze. Women then gaze  at other women in the same way as a man would, and thus end up objectifiying other women."

Visual Pleasure

Laura Mulvey states that role of a female character in a narrative has two functions

1. As an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view

2. As an erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view

Gender roles in film

The characters that look at others are seen as the active role (Male)

The characters that are to be looked at are passive (female) They are manipulated, under control of males gaze and only exist for visual pleasure.

Females often slow the narrative down, they act as inspiration for men to act.

Males on the other hand, push the narrative forwards and make things happen and are seen as active.

Mulvey also discussed the term scopophilia

Socophilia - literally means 'Love watching'

Movie-making and movie-viewing have long been analysed as socopilic practices .
We sit in a darkened movie theatre and observe the activities of people on the big screen who are unaware that they are being watched (The term Socophilia derives from Freud's study of psyche)

Patriarchal society

Patriarchal society means that the men dictate the rules, Laura Mulvey argued that we live in a patriarchal society in which men set the majority of the rules and are the ones contract and represent the ideal visions, role and male dominance over woman.

The worry is a passive audience will be influenced by this representation of reality and copy it and it will actually become reality....if it hasn't all ready.

Summary

Laura Mulvey's theory relates to classical Hollywood cinema. However, we can apply some of her ideas to our work on the pop video.
The male gaze:
This is when women are viewed as the objects of male 'Erotic' desire. (In film and audience)
Men are active and women are passive.
Women do not have agency- 'they do not move the plot forward'

The audience is forced to identify with the male gaze and the cinema reflects patriarchal society.

<------Male gaze
what men see women as.











Miley Cyrus


"Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus"



I think the main reason why this video caused so much outrage was because Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) was seen as a child idol, more specifically, an idol for young women and ended up doing things that shocked most of the world. She stripped naked in one of her music videos and was showing erotic movements using props as well as displaying herself as a prop of erotic desire.

I think Miley made this video in order to make as much profit as possible. I think she knew that we live in a patriarchal society and that men are in charge so in order to make a lot of money she had to change audience for her music.
I believe she is exploiting and being exploited at the same time because men are manipulating her and she, in away, is trying her best to manipulate them.


Lily Allen



"Hard out Here - Lily Allen"

I think this is a 'Feminist' pop video and that Lily Allen specifically made this video to talk about men putting half naked women in their music videos and using them as tools.
In a way Lily Allen is making a parody and is sexualising women herself but only to show what some people do in order to make money in music videos.


Robin Thicke


" Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke ft. T.i & Pharrell "



It was on the news and internet that this video was banned from 20 different university Student Unions. I think the reason why it was banned was because of the lyrics and the videos. Some of the lyrics these artists wrote objectify women in many ways, stating that they are tools for intercourse etc. There were two different versions of the video and one of them is more explicit and shows topless women, this was probably another reason why this video and song was banned in student unions.


" Booty - Jennifer Lopez Ft. Iggy Azalea





This is another example of another music video with scenes that objectify women and show that some female music artists could be exploited, then again these two artists Iggy Azalea and Jennifer Lopez could be trying to make money and are aware they may have to make the target audience men.


Key features of music videos

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (Either illustrative, contradicting or amplifying)

The demands of the record label will label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist(s) and they may develop motifs which recur across their work for example Katy Perry / Michael Jackson.

There is frequently reference to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

There is often intertextual reference (To films, Television, programmes and other music videos)