Why do music videos construct certain ideologies around female artists? To what extent is this being challenged by contemporary female artists such as Lady Gaga and Pink?
I chose to do this investigation on this topic as it explores how representation of female artists have changed in the music industry and I am particularly interested in the more positive representations of women provided by artists such as Lady Gaga and Pink. Throughout history we have witnessed how women have been portrayed in the media and how they have been subordinated by men for decades in the name of tradition and family values. The music industry is one of the many institutions which are dominated by men. This relates back to the ideologies of hegemony “dominance achieved by the ruling elite in a society”[1]. Arguably in the 21st century we still live in a patriarchal society and the representation of women in music videos reflect the patriarchal values still present in society, whereby men are the decision-makers and shown to be the dominant ones as they hold positions of power and prestige in the domestic or working environment and women are discriminated against.
In the recent years women in music videos have been shown to be sexually objectified in order to appeal to the Mulvey’s “male gaze”[2]as women are shown to be dressed in shorts, skimpy clothing, with sweaty bodies and orgasmic facial expressions and performing in a sexually charged manner which appeals to the male audience. For example in Nelly’s video for ‘Hot in Here’ the scene when the group of girls are dancing, there is a mid-close up shot of one of the woman running a pink towel between her legs while touching herself. It is clear to see that “women are an object of visual pleasure for the male spectator”[3] and erotic pleasure is gained by the male audience looking at the female dancers “as an object”[4].
Furthermore, ‘Hot in here’ shows how women are portrayed as a purpose of display rather than having a narrative function. The voyeuristic treatment of the female body in this music video shows women as adornments to the male ego providing erotic pleasure. In the music video of ‘hot in here’ Nelly is shown to be surrounded by hundreds of girls in the club as they are being sexually objectified, An example of this would be when one of the women in the club is taking of her top because it’s too hot, there is a close-up shot of her chest, emphasising her large breasts. This idea of female objectification is also showcased in the song lyrics “no teasin ,I need you to get up upon the dance floor (oh), Give that man what he is askin for. It’sgettin hot in here (so hot) So take off all your clothes”.[5]This is reinforced when the use of graphic sexual poses and sexually suggestive 'thrusts' emphasise sexual treatment of the female body when they are taking of their clothes and follow the men’s orders which suggests it is a patriarchal environment where women do whatever to please the men’s needs and demands. This is also showcased in other music videos such as ’Bed Rock’ by Young Money, when a close-up shot of a woman’s breasts is shown while she’s squeezing and touching them.
Goffman; suggests that codes and conventions such as “dismemberment, domination and superiority”[6]can be observed in music videos. For example in the music video of ‘The way you love me’ by Keri Hilson the dismemberment of the female body parts are shown such as the chest, legs, lips, when the women is biting her lips sexuality and doing the booty shake or reclining poses which represents the women as an object and not a person to appeal to the male audience and to please the male dominated culture.
Some female artists are challenging those negative representations of women and allowing society to question whether masculinity is in crisis. For example in Madonna’s ‘Express yourself’, where her image draws the male gaze which Laura Mulvey identified. This can also be seen when she holds her crotch like a man, walking and posing around in the masculine suit she wears in her music video. This shows that Madonna has taken up the courage to challenge the stereotypical representation of women and also put the issue of masculinity in crisis. Gauntlett suggests that men are becoming more worried about their power and their role in society,“ women become increasingly assertive and successful, apparently triumphing in all roles, men are said to be anxious and confused about what their role is today”[7].This shows women are becoming increasingly powerful in society which threatens men and their traditional roles. According to theorist Fiske Madonna’s image has become “a site of semiotic struggle between the force of patriarchal control and feminine resistance.[8] This suggests that Madonna is challenging stereotypical representation of women. Fiske also states that Madonna’s “sexuality is 'hers' to use as she wishes in ways that do not require masculine approval”'[9](1989a:124). Therefore she challenges the idea that women exist to please men.
In the early 90’s we were presented with the female action hero, Lara Croft, who challenged the stereotypes and become a well-known role model in society as she countered the idea of ‘feminine’ women and the idea that only men can fill tough leading roles. In addition, Madonna has always been a confident and assertive sexual icon in the late 1980’s who opened many doors to contemporary female artists such as Lady Gaga and Pink. Madonna challenged traditional assumptions about female sexuality and stereotyping which lead Lady Gaga to follow in her footsteps in the music industry.
In recent years we have seen a rise of female artists challenging the types of ideologies constructed around them since the start of the post-feminist era. In contemporary music, Lady Gaga is the most recent artist to rise to the challenge just a few years after Pink, as her style and representation is very much a recreation of Madonna’s work in the 90’s, for example Gaga is shown to be wearing masculine clothes such as the black leather jacket, with a dominant attitude in the music video of ‘Alejandro’. Gaga’s representation can be controversial as throughout the videos Gaga is shown in a new light when she is represented as an 'Biblical' object when she’s dressed as a nun in a red latex habit, swallowing rosary beads which symbolises the "desire to take in the Holy''[10]. Just like Madonna, Gaga mixes overt sexuality with religion; this is shown when Gaga is rolling around on a bed eating rosary beads.
Lady Gaga has changed the assumptions of the audience about women in her music videos as she shows that women can be dominant. An example of this is when Gaga is shown to be dancing in front of the men and leading them. She is portrayed as the ring leader and a symbolic figure; this signifies that women can also be active. Arguably Gaga herself is being objectified, when she is shown to be wearing very little clothes (e.g bra, pants and stockings) when there is a close-up shot of her dancing around with all the bed looking at her. However at the same time men are shown to be wearing little shorts and high heels with fishnet stockings at the start of the music video, which can suggest that men are being represented as subordinate to women, showing a reversal in gender roles. Other examples include the bed scene as Gaga is shown to be on top of the man on the bed while her hands are tied to the rope onto the bed, this image also signifies the power of Gaga and the control over men which challenges stereotypical role as before women were seeing less powerful and dominant which refers back a the patriarchal society. We can question whether this is objectification of women or they are self-objectifying themselves in music videos as they have the control and power to do so.
Evidence of independency and power is also shown in Pink’s Music Video such as ‘So what’. As the popularity of feisty female icons such as ultra-confident pop star Pink reflected on the idea that passionately assertive women have become a regular part of today’s culture and society, which suggests a change is taking place slowly. Pinks short hair, aggressive attitude and chain saw in this video suggest that women express their feelings by being loud, aggressive and have a bold attitude. Often those characteristics are linked to men however Pink has changed the ideologies of that only men can behave in such a manner. Mavis Bayton suggests that rock music is important in women’s live as she argues that “rock is serious music as there is some sort of ‘natural’ sexuality which rock expresses as this allows for direct physical and psychological expressions of sexuality”[11]. This quote is in relation to Pinks characteristic in this music video as she feels that if she has the guitar in her hand it is a symbol of power and dominance. This is shown when pink has a fight in the guitar shop as this is her way of expressing emotion as her husband had a big impact on their life and behaviour.
Furthermore according to Tessa Perkins “Stereotypes survive by undergoing change and by convincing us that they’re not entirely false”[12].This suggests that there is still evidence that we are now living in a post-feminism society and change is possible as long as the audiences can believe it. In the video of so what Pink is shown to be heartbroken as her husband as just left her, however she does not seem too bothered as she is no longer controlled by him and is doing what she likes. This idea of not caring is reinforced in her song lyrics: “I've got a brand new attitude, and I'm gonna wear it tonight, I'm gonna get in trouble, I wanna start a fight”[13], with a close-up shot to show her facial expression as it shows that her way of getting over her husband is to go out get drunk and being aggressive. This is challenging stereotypes as those behaviours are associated to men and masculinity. Other masculine characteristics shown in this videos are at the start when Pink is shown to be getting another tattoo on top of her other collection as this implies that her image is not very feminine. The female audience can be affected by the hypodermic needle as it injects the idea of being free and not having or needing a man.
Through-out the video Pink shows her ability to take on a man's role and show that stereotypical representations of men and women can be changed if society allows the change to happen. However “women can also interpret laddism as a sign that men would prefer them to go back to being more traditionally ‘feminine’ since men feel they are being more ‘masculine’, [14]by highlighting the fact that they can be their own person and don’t need a man. For example when Pink cuts down the tree with her and her husband’s name on it using a chainsaw this signifies that she no longer needs him and this idea is reinforced when she says: ''I don’t want you tonight'[15]suggesting that she is more dominant and independent as a women.
However according to Sarah Thornton ‘’ girls are not actually one of the boys”[16], Therefore she suggests that even if female artists try to change those ideologies and representation about themselves they will still not be considered as being as masculine as men or belonging amongst the men in society. So therefore this suggests that men are still more powerful than women because in order for women to gain power they have to change their ways and become more masculine. However women like Lady Gaga and Pink are challenging the stereotypical representation of women and changing those negative ideologies constructed around them into positive ones which impacts upon how society view female artists and also shows that women can too be dominate and powerful by breaking the traditional values.
In conclusion, there has been a major impact on how society as a whole view female artists and how artists such as Lady Gaga and Pink have changed the ideologies constructed around women in music video. However even though we have witnessed some changes in the way women are represented in music videos. We can still identify that we live in a patriarchal society and women are still being devalued and subordinated by men in music videos. These patriarchal ideologies will stay in place as long as the media and music industries carry on constantly reproducing the same representation, images and ideologies in the media about women which become the 'norms' to society and more acceptable for women to be treated differently in society. However those ideologies about women are slowly changing by female artists like Lady Gaga and Pink.
According to theorist Judith Butler post-feminism sees “gender as a set of socially construed behaviours, attitudes and expectations which have no essential relationship to a person’s biological sex”[17]. This signifies the fact that people have the power of changing their gender image as gender is socially constructed and not biological. However from a Marxist perspective women feel that they‘re alienated at work because of the “power of the ruling class”[18]. This signifies the fact that women are still being treated unfairly by men even in the working environment, and women feel that they are not able to express their anger because of the power of the men. This is because most of the media industry are owned and controlled by men; according to statistics “women only hold 3% of influential positions in the mainstream media “[19]which shows inequality between men and women. We are still represented with negative representations of women as those traditional values are still maintained by those who don’t believe in equally of men and women as they continue to subordinate women. This reflects back to the dominant and patriarchal society.
[1]The essential word dictionary -(A-Z)
[2] Laura Mulvey visual pleasure and narrative cinema
[3]Feminism, femininity, and popular culture By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press (2000)
[4]Feminism, femininity, and popular culture By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press (2000)
[5] Hot in here by: Nelly, //www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRgtofyvUIA
[6]Goffman, Erving.
[7]Media, gender and identity (an introduction) By: David Gauntlett
[8]Media, gender and identity (an introduction) By: David Gauntlett
[9]Macdonald, Myra (1995) ‘Representing Women: Myths of Femininity’
[10] Feminism, femininity, and popular culture-By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press-2000
[11]Feminism, femininity, and popular culture-By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press-2000
[12]Waghorn, Jane: ‘A Message For The Media: Young Women Talk’, Gulsen Husey
[13] Pink ‘So what’: http://www.metrolyrics.com/so-what-lyrics-pink.html
[14]Weldon, Fay (1983)’ The life and lovers of a she’
[15]Pink ‘So what’: http://www.metrolyrics.com/so-what-lyrics-pink.html
[16]Feminism, femininity, and popular culture-By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press-2000-
[17]Post-feminist in contemporary film article- Judith butler
[18] Feminism, femininity, and popular culture-By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press-(2000)
[19] http://www.womensmediacenter.com/index.php/resources/research-and-stats.html
word count: 2150
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Works Cited:
Feminism, femininity, and popular culture,By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press (2000)
Communication, cultural and media studies the key concepts,By: Hartley, John, Martin Montgomery, Elinor Rennie, and Marc Brennan. Routledge.3rd Edition (2002)
A message for the media: young women talk,By: Waghorn, Jane. Livewire (1999)
Patriarchy, The System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us.” The Gender Knot: Unravelling Our Patriarchal Legacy,By: Johnson, Allan G. Temple University Press (1997)
Media, gender, and identity: an introduction,By: Gauntlett, David.Routledge (2002)
The life and Lovers of a she Devil,By: Weldon, Fay (1983)
A Message For The Media: Young Women Talk,By: Gulsen Huseyi.Waghorn, Jane
Visual pleasure and narrative cinema,By: Laura Mulvey ( 1975)
Goffman, Erving. University of Pennsylvania Press (1981)
Moving Image texts:
Lady Gaga: ‘Alejandro’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4m -(April 20, 2010)
Pink: ‘So What’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XKZh3vWeGc -(August 15, 2008)
Madonna: ‘Express yourself’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsVcUzP_O_8 -(1989)
Nelly: ‘Hot in here’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRgtofyvUIA -(2002)
Eric Prydz :’Call On Me’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fCqg92qks -(14.07.2004)
Young Money: ’Bed rock’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha80ZaecGkQ -(2009)
Keri Hilson: ‘The way you love me ’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUAl1H9_-G0 –(2011)
Media Studies AS & A2 BOOK Key conspectus and skills for Media Studies,By: Vivienne Clark, James Barker, Eleem Lewis
Magazine and Comics By: Roger Thomas
Website:
http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/505923/lady-gaga-to-get-8-madame-tussauds-wax-figures/1/
http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/505857/lady-gaga-wins-3-mtv-ema-prizes/1/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1107540/the_portrayal_of_women_in_music_videos.html
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2449/1/Postfeminist_media_culture_(LSERO).pdf
