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?
This critical investigation is on ‘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 this gender shows how the roles of female artists have changed over the year in the music industry as it covers exciting development in contemporary music videos showcased by artists such as Lady Gaga and Pink. Throughout history we have witness how women have been portrayed in the media and 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 highly controlled by men across the media platform, this related back to the ideologies of hegemony “dominant and subordination in the field of relation structured by power”, this quote by Stuart Hall reinforced that idea that dominant and subordination is controlled by power and in the music industry power means domination, this shows that the music industry is male dominated and women don’t have much say, this signifies that even in the 21st century we are represented with a patriarchal society.A patriarchal society is whereby men are the decision-makers and shown to be the dominant ones as they hold positions of power and prestige in a domestic household or a working environment as women are discriminated against. The music videos which I will be exploring are Madonna’s ‘Express yourself’ which shows the start of a historical change by the end of the 19th century, the other two texts will be by contemporary female artists in the music industry such as Lady Gaga’s'Alejandro' and Pink’s ‘So what’ which explores the ideas and views of female artists today and the effecton today’s audiences.
In the recent year women in music videos have been shown to be sexually objectified in order to appeal to the Mulvey’s male gaze as women are shown to be dressed in shorts, skimpy clothing, with sweaty bodies and orgasmic facial expression and performing in a sexually charged manner which appeal to the male audience and as it contains sexually assertive female, this appeals to Mulvey’s male gaze as the male audience gain visual pleasure and male fantasy “Women are an object of visual pleasure for the men spectator”, This signifies the idea that men gain erotic pleasure by“looking at another person as an object” She argues that it is a woman who is coded as an erotic object for a male gaze.
This can be evidenced in music videos such as ‘Hot in here’ by Nelly whoshows how women are portrayed as a purpose of display rather than narrative function. The voyeuristic treatments of the female body in male videos are shown as adornments to the male ego and 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, 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. Itsgettin hot in here (so hot) So take off all your clothes”. 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 off their clothes and follow the men’s orders which suggests it’s a patriarchal industry where women do whatever to please the men’s needs and demands.
The emphasise of the female body parts can reinforce the theory of by Goffman; who suggests that codes and conventions such as dismemberment, domination and superiority can be observed in music videos “ in the portrayal of men and women, the following codes and conventions can be observed”. For example in music videos the dismemberment of the female body parts are shown such as the chest, legs, lips which shows women are physically portrayed in sexual or reclining poses yet again to appeal to the male audience and to please the male dominated culture.
Gender, race and class in media: second edition (A text-reader) by: Gail dines, Jean M.humez
Feminism, femininity, and popular culture By: Hollows, Joanne. Manchester University Press (2000)
‘Nelly’ - //www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRgtofyvUIA
Goffman (1972) – ? POWERPOINT
A culture that seems to be rich in misogyny and sexism as these negative representation reinforces idea that we are still living in a patriarchal society.We can often question why even in today’s society the division between men and women are still around and are represented clearly even with the pass of feminism and the entering on the post feminism era.Feminism is an equal rights movement against men for women and we thought to be said in a post-feminist era. Post feminism is a society where men and women have gained equality and opportunities.
However we as an audience are still surrounded by the dominant ideology of the men still being in power and controlling the music industry, this can be made up of producers, label companies, songwriter and even the singers themselves which seem to be dominating the music world as we witness how men seem to be superior to women in society. As where in a society where men have power and control whereas women are disadvantaged, lower in class and status. Theses patriarchal ideologies will stay in place as long as the media and music industries carry on constantly reproducingthe same representation, images and ideologiesin the media about women which become the 'norms' to society and more acceptable for women to be treated differently in society.
According to a Marxist perspective “women are thought to absorb the anger that males face when they're alienated at work because of the power of the ruling class”as the division of men and women continue to take place. Even though only a few female artists are challenging those stereotypes and allowing society to question whether masculinity is in crisis, according to Sarah Thornton’s ‘’ girls are not actually one of the boys”, by the sub-cultural capitalism which means when a certain group or people are ‘objectified’ or ‘embodied’ in having the right look. 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 having a sense of belong amongst the men in society. As we are constantly shown how women are just a decoration for men to boost their ego, manly status and self-pleasure in music video.
Those ideologies constructed around female artists are misleading as they are often shown in a negative light and there always seem to be a division on how the audiences view female artists in music videos.From theaudiencesperspective women are “either idealised as Goddesses or dreaded as man devouring monster”, however this is not always the case as we have witnessed in Madonna’s ‘Express yourself’, where her image draws the male gaze which Laura Mulvey identified and also said ‘it is always possible that the female spectator may find herself so out of key with pleasure on offer with its ‘masculinisation’ that the spell is broken’. 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”.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, of capitalism and the subordinate, of the adult and the young”, this emphasis on the power Madonna had on her audience as she offers her fans access to semiotic and social power as she has become ‘a cultural resource of everyday life’, this signifiesher power and dominance in the music industry.
Back in the early years in history we was presented with a female action heroes like Lara Croft who challenged the stereotypes and becoming a well-known role model in society as she countered the idea of ‘feminine’ women and that only men can fill tough leading roles which Madonna famously challenged. Madonna’s has always been a confident and assertive sexual icon in the late 1980’s who open 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.Gauntlett suggests that Madonna’s erotica album blurred “gender confusions, fluidity of sexuality, and transgression of masculine and feminine stereotypes”, which changes the way audiences view sexuality and gender.
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