How do female artists portray themselves in their music videos?
Level 3-
WWW: There are some excellent points in here, some detailed examples and potential top essay, however ..
EBI: Written English / essay structure needs a lot of work. You often fail to provide a topic sentence and therefore loose focus on the question. The are also too many long, clumsy sentences.
Be very careful how you research - the Wikipedia plagiarism on the front page needs to be changed.
The argument as a whole is quite confusing suggesting "24% of women are breadwinners" doesn't really prove equality and then at the end you say nothing has changed since the 80's clearly thinking is required.
In my text draft I'm aiming for a solid level 4, which would be a B/A.
Change all the long clumsy sentences.
Add more to my bibliography.
Change the statistic "24% of women ..."
Make my argument clearer, keep on one side of my argument but show a few examples of the other side.
Start every paragraph with a topic sentence.
Wish List ..
I want to look at a few books that Judith Butler wrote on feminism, if possible something linking to the music industry.
I want to look at the book The End of Men, Hannah Rosin.
I want to look at Madonna in the early 90s and 80s and her controversy in music videos.
Our music video is based upon modern representations of males and females by using a couple (Anita and Desman). We're going to subvert typical stereotypes by representing the female as a strong and powerful character, she'll be showed playing a manly sport such as football or boxing, we want to portray her as an independent woman. Whereas with Desman, we'll start by representing him as a typical man then subvert the stereotypes by making Desman look like the desperate and needy character which is heart broken due to his break up with Anita. We want to portray and highlight the stereotypes of gender that's been created in the media by subverting them therefore creating a very interesting music video which will attract a female audience aged 16 - 28. Using Blumer and Kats theory of Uses and Gratification, our music video will attract women through diversion, the video will provide a sense of escapism, where females can escape their own worries and feel good about themselves. Personal relationship though the idea that women can relate to the characters on a personal level, maybe they've been through a similar situation and personal identity, where females aspire to be like Anita, independent and strong.
Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)
Media Texts ..
My main focus will be, Beyonce's hits ..
"Run the World" 2011
Beyonce Run the World, from the very beginning of the music video shows Beyonce wearing all white which is a very strong colour riding a black stallion, a dominant male horse which straight away represents that she's very important, very powerful, almost prestige, she isn't being represented as a typical helpless damsel in distress or seen as a sex object. I feel the reason she's being represented in this way is to suggest that not all women are weak and vulnerable but in fact quite the opposite. This is an alternative stereotype, it goes against the main topic of discussion in the media which reinforces negative stereotypes on females not only now but, feminism has always been in the media and has encouraged negative thoughts and feelings towards women from the beginning of time.
Mise-en-scene is used very significantly through the use of props and settings, for example, the setting is shown as soon as the beat kicks in, it shows a lost place, broken items on the floor, a bin on fire it highlights the fact that something is about or has happened, therefore attracting an audience to watch the rest of the music video as it looks interesting. One might question whether a woman should be in a dangerous place like this? Beyonce alone would attract many people because in the music industry she is very popular and famous. The use of costume and make-up also would attract an audience using Blumer and Kats theory of Uses and Gratification through diversion and personal relationships because Beyonce's shown in such amazing, extraordinary clothing, her make-up also is very over exaggerated and women would want to be just like her, independent and beautiful.
The editing in the first forty seconds is very quick (quick cuts) which allows the audience to get with the pace of the music, each shot lasts up to one second. The next scene is a low angle mid-shot of Beyonce this time wearing all black which again is a very strong and powerful colour, banging the roof of a car, this part is really effective because the banging is in sync with the beat of the song. The use of a low angle shots is also very effective because it makes the character seem more important and powerful.
The shot then moves onto a crowd of people going crazy cutting straight away back to Beyonce, again the low angle shot allows the audience to see that she's in power, she's the boss. This therefore would impact on the audience in a positive way, reassuring women that they to can be powerful and strong and don't have to rely on a man. The scene then changes to a long shot of Beyonce on the Stallion as it rears up which means the horse is either excited or frightened. The scene then shows a bull, a very powerful, strong and aggressive animal in the middle of all the chaos, it then shows a group of police officers running on top of cars with all their armour and uniform on, this whole build up is very effective in terms of attracting an audience because it looks exciting making the audience curious.
The shot then cuts to Beyonce wearing all black standing on top of the car with her arms out, the background is white/creamy which makes her stand out through the contrast between both colours. Again using an low angle shot which is very effective because it makes Beyonce look so powerful, more important than all the police officers in the scene. Even though Beyonce's song goes against a lot of the hegemonic stereotypes like the idea that men are more powerful than women, she still reinforces or hints the idea that women are sex objects through the fact that majority of the women are showing off their skin/wearing revealing clothing, this has a negative effect on younger girls who are very impressionable, they too would want to look or act a certain way because they see Beyonce as a role model.
People may believe that we have freedom however Marxism believe the media manipulates the audience into thinking a certain way, the way female artist portray themselves effects young girls to also act and look in a certain way thus creating moral panic for parents and adults. The shot then shows Beyonce and her group of girls standing behind her all looking very powerful and strong, the main colours in this shot are red and black, two very vibrant and striking colours.
Next to Beyonce is a Lion which represents pride, power, strength and courage, in other words, Beyonce wants the audience to think the Lion represents herself in this music video and women in the world, very independent. The last shot is a close up of Beyonce's face which is really effective as it allows us to explore her facial expression, in this case she looks very serious and scary which would attract an audience again through curiosity as they'd want to see why she's so serious. Also, it indicates that she's the one in charge and nobody should mess with her, this is an alternative stereotype because women in the media are seen as helpless and needy.
"Dance for You" 2011.
Other Media Text's 2
I'll be looking at other artist such as,
Nicki Minaj "Starships" 2012
I'll also be making a reference to:
Pink "True Love" 2012
"The media is out of control. It's this great pedagogical force of communication and no one's regulating it, especially when it comes to the messages our kids are receiving — messages that women's value lies in their sexuality or their beauty, not their intelligence or ability to lead"
"The more TV that young boys watch, the more sexist they are in their attitudes and behavior towards women. And the more TV girls watch, the lower their self-esteem, and the more insecure they are, the less hopeful they are."
"The more women you have in the pipeline to leadership, the more you'll see a country that values education, the environment, healthcare, and women"
"We need more women in leadership, and more women's voices heard on issues that affect our culture."
Academic texts/books/media magazines
Ronald Weitzer, Charis E. Kubrin:Men and Masculinities (2009)
"Rap music has a reputation for being misogynistic, but surprisingly little research has systematically investigated this dimension of the music."
"This study assesses the portrayal of women in a representative sample of 403 rap songs. Content analysis identified five gender-related themes in this body of music—themes that contain messages regarding ‘‘essential’’ male and female characteristics and that espouse a set of conduct norms for men and women."
Michelé M. Prince:The Representation of Women in Popular Music (2009)
"The central question is whether representations of women in popular music culture shape the ways in which women are largely viewed in the respective society"
Dr Maddy Coy: Milkshakes, Lady Lumps and Growing Up to Want Boobies: How the Sexualisation of Popular Culture Limits Girls’ Horizons
""
RANA A. EMERSON: “WHERE MY GIRLS AT?” Negotiating Black Womanhood in Music Videos
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Donna Troka: FEMALE AGENCY AND AGGRESSION IN CONTEMPORARY RAP MUSIC
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Michelle E. Kistler: Does Exposure to Sexual Hip-Hop Music Videos Influence the Sexual Attitudes of College Students?
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Christy Barongan and Gordon C: Rap Music and Aggression Towards Women
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Oxford University Press: World Cinema
(Page 756)
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English & Media Centre:
Issue 45, page 56 (December 2012)
- Iggy Azealia a female raper was told by Interscope Records that most of the people who listen to music nowadays can't even write a sentence, nobody cares about the intricate stories you put into your songs
"This woman is one of the countless artist who've been told to 'dumb down' their material in order to make it more marketable to the wider world."
Issue 42, page 48 (December 2012)
Common conventions of hip-hop videos & publicity images fro the period include:
"Women framed as sex objects & denied any agency or their own gaze"
Music Special: Issue 19, page 11-13 (Febuary 2007)
"De-constructing Britney siren, stereotype, slut or signifier"
"Sex appeal is often used in MTV to gain popularity, the images presented in music videos are
often loaded with sexual content and feature highly sexualized women" page 2
"Women artists presenting women-as-objects in music videos suggest that women accept and are willing to perpetuate gender stereotypes and gender roles." page 2
"The content of music videos would be minimal without the scantily clad women dancing around performing thinly disguised pantomimes of sex act" page 7
"The redundant theme of overt sexuality also is apparent in Madonna’s videos, in which she frequently portrays herself as a sex object" page 7
"Madonna has been a trendsetter and idol on MTV and has shown the most conflicted and controversial images of women: bad girl, virgin, pregnant teen, glamour queen, and stripteaser." page 7
"Music is a means of sexual expression, and a mode of sexual control denying the concept of feminine respectability" page 9
"Music videos presenting offensive stereotypes do not provide positive role models for young women." page 10
"The women who appeared in the videos were dressed provocatively and were portrayed as sex
objects meant for a man’s sexual conquest." page 10
"Kalof (1999) found women who were exposed to traditional images not only had greater acceptance of interpersonal violence than women not exposed to stereotyped imagery, but also had scores higher than the men in the experimental group. This research suggests that women may be more receptive to such messages and more tolerant of sexual mistreatment." page 13
"Feminist scholarship also uncovers the ways male-dominated media institutions produce mediated representations of women that enforce an ideology of hetero-normative asymmetrical social relations in which women are both a subordinated class and also sexualized objects rather than subjects with agency." page 17
"Men and boys monopolize traits that are prized in America and in business; girls and women, however, are portrayed as incompetent and fearful, often represented in domestic roles and frequently as victims of masculine hostility and degradation." page 17
"Mulvey’s (1975) first discussion of “the male gaze” sparked much controversy, which led to a follow-up article explaining her original rationale. Critics were curious about women in the audience, but Mulvey (1989) backed her original “visual pleasure” argument, explaining that while women in the audience exist, it is not a woman’s point of view that audience members identify with. Mulvey’s (1989) “male gaze” explored “the relationship between the image of the woman on the screen and the 'masculinisation' of the spectator position, regardless of the actual sex (or possible deviance) of any real live movie goer”" page 19
" However in other genre music videos females could be seen as more powerful and domineering, where the males are depicted as inferior, for example R&B and pop music videos."
"Another genre of music where there isn’t a clear definition of gender representation is mostly Indie music as both male and female are usually place on the same level of importance."
"In music videos such as ‘Beyonce: We Run the Word (Girls)’ females are seen to be dominant, powerful and respected, which is very much complimented to the song lyrics of ‘Who run the world, Girls!’"
"An example of this is highly seen in indie music videos where if a male and female is within the video they will be doing very similar things or in very settings and mise-en-scene."
Comedy Central: Chris Rock on Rap Music
Chris Rock expresses his feelings on rap music, the representations and objectification of women in music videos. He speaks about women just accepting what is said in these songs, using the excuse that it isn't about them therefore it's okay.
"Young female artists were routinely "coerced into sexually demonstrative behaviour in order to hold on to their careers"."
"The music business is "a male dominated industry with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality" and increasingly wants "sex objects that appear child-like", Church claimed."
"The star accused record labels of encouraging young singers "to present themselves as hypersexualised, unrealistic, cartoonish, as objects, reducing female sexuality to a prize you can win"."
"She continued: "When I was 19 or 20 I found myself in this position, being pressurised into wearing more and more revealing outfits. The lines that I had spun at me again and again - generally by middle-aged men - were: 'You look great, you've got a great body, why not show it off?"
"The irony behind this is that the women generally filling these roles are very young, often previous child stars or Disney-tweens, who are simply interested in getting along in an industry glamourised to be the most desirable career for young women."
"Rihanna’s latest video for single Pour it Up, which has reached 40 million views on YouTube, and said the sexually charged piece was making money for the men who run her production company. She warned this would have a negative impact on women, whether they were working in the music industry or not."
"Church branded the music world "a male-dominated industry, with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality."
"Women were being “coerced” into sexual roles to cling on to their careers, while those using sexual imagery to boost their careers such as Rihanna and Cyrus were classified as “unattainable sexbots”."
Charlotte Church - "When I was 19 or 20, I found myself…being pressured into wearing more and more revealing outfits and the lines that I had spun at me again and again (generally by middle aged men) were ‘you look great you’ve got a great body why not show it off?’ or ‘Don’t worry it’ll look classy. It’ll look artistic."
