Laura Mulvey- And What She Thinks
Representation
“In a world of sexual inequality the pleasure in looking has been split between the active/male and passive/female. We see music videos in the eyes of the male rather than in the eyes of the female. The male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly”
The representation of females in music videos is very sexual and all about the appearance. Hip hop videos are most famous for including half naked females with big assets to portray the 'sexy' female in music videos. Girls are normally the typical convention used in Hip Hop music videos. However artists like Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Florence and the Machine challenge this and portray their sexiness in the eyes of the female not the eyes of the male. Mulvey's opinion is still relevant today as music videos still portray the females as sex objects in order to draw in male viewers who fantasise about them and female viewers who dream of being them.
This video consists of females in bikinis and bathing suits surrounding a few male characters. Watching this video we realise that we are watching through the eyes of the active/male. The men are watching and lusting over the women and the women feed of this and continue flirting and playing around.
The video is saying that women who think are sexy should show off that they are. In this case by wearing little clothes and showing their breasts and bums. When it comes to men the video is saying that men are in control of how they want their women to look like and what they want their women to wear and so they have control. The target audience of this video is mainly the men because we see it only through the males eyes.
Mulvey explains that women are 'dismembered' in all forms of media especially music videos. That there is a focus on parts of their body rather than the woman as a whole. Men however are shown as a whole and this is portrayed very well in Dizzee Rascal's video. Women's heads and arms are cut off revealing only their bum, legs and breasts. These are the parts of body women are obsessed with and that men find attractive.
No comments:
Post a Comment