This investigation will focus if the media has increased
in the sexualisation of women in music videos and how this might have an effect
on the audience. A hypothesis on this topic would be that although the
introduction of feminism and their power, music videos do sexualise women in
their videos more than ever. ‘The videos are an appropriate companion piece to
the this wider trend’(1), ‘Although the music videos are male centred in that
they assume a heterosexual male viewer.’ (2) Many changes have occurred within
the media that have cause moral panics.
The word feminism refers to the advocacy of women's
rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. According to Emma
Watson who is U.N Women Global Goodwill Ambassador the world has become
'uncomfortable one' because of the male domination that still exists today she
also adds that " We should stop defining each other by what we are
not and start defining ourselves by who we are." (3) the Perks of being a
wallflower star added. "I want men to take up this mantle so their
daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so their
sons have permission to be vulnerable and human." (4) The male audience
might want to feel escapism when they watch music videos that sexualise women
according to Katz and Bumbler users and gratification theory and this is recent
music videos are able to provide. In the other hand, certain audiences who are
most likely to be feminists might react differently to music videos who
sexualise women such as 'Anaconda by Nicki Minaj.' Lia Latchford of Imkaan's
young women's team said: 'For years young women have been telling us that they
are not happy with the representation of women in popular culture, including
music videos." (5) Dr Justin Coulson says " Nicki Minaj's hit
Anaconda features dozens of women gyrating their exposed flesh to the lyric My
anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun, classy isn't it?" (6) He
also adds "I am sick of trying to teach my daughters how much they have to
offer the world, only to have everything I say undermined by the sleazy,
unhealthy messages that someone with no respect for womanhood promotes to the
mass market to make some more money." (7) There could be a possibility
that audience to Nicki Minajs video including females might see it as an
entertainment to see sexualisation of women in her video. This could justify
the constant music videos being released that sexualise women. The more views a
music video receives, the more of similar music videos from supposedly other
artists are released, for instance the music video 'Booty' by Jennifer Lopez
and Iggy Azalea. The fact that there are so many videos being realised
that sexualise women, it's almost as if it justifies these videos. ‘In attack
on black female identity was multifaceted’ (8), ‘Moreover, the women are often
presented as vacuous, doing nothing but swaying around seductively’ (9), ‘Even
the manner in which the women dance is a signal of cultural destruction’ (10)
this shows how negatively women are represented in the media and how they have
a assigned characteristics.
Within these videos that sexualise women, there
is some sort of sense of male dominance. In reference to 'The way you move' by
Ne-yo, T-pain and Trey Songz, all the girls shown in the video are performing
for the males singers by doing dance moves. This is a stereotypical example of
music videos led by males singers. Women are highly sexualised and male are
shown to have some sort of dominance as they just sit back as the women dance.
As Shirley Chisholm says 'The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping
of females begins when the doctor says its a girl.' (11)In the videos where
women are sexualised there is some very unique narrative. Women are
usually as good as naked with a lot of make up and the hair done, women in
these videos are usually trying to impress the men and satisfy them. The males
in the other hand are usually dressed in a manner in which it makes them
look 'cool' and attractive. Males usually have a lot of money in which they
'splash' (spend like it's nothing) on women. This unique narrative makes the
males look very dominant and rich whereas, the women are shown to be in need of
money. Women are seen as sex objects in sexualised videos as they are
represented as giving up their body for some money. In contrast to this, Nicki
Minaj's videos there is some female dominance. In reference to 'Super
Bass' although Nicki remains sexualised, she seems to have dominance over the
males in the videos, as she makes them half naked and goes from one to another.
This pop videos influence males as much as they influence women.
They make males feel as they are above females which is why
they treat women as if they are below them. As a famous sociologist Ann Oakley
says, 'women are the takers of the shit' (12) as they allow these type of
videos to be released and therefore emphasise these stereotypes. Regardless,
this video still sexualise women as all the other performers as well as Nicki
are dancing half naked on top of the males. This is a good example of
alternative representation of males. In today's society, witnessing
sexualisation of women in music videos is almost normal. as in if a video
didn't include it, it wouldn't sell as it should. In reference to Trey Songz
music video 'neighbours know my name' in which there numerous sex scenes. The
scene which highly sexualise women is when Trey Songz puts his hand on top the
female performer in order to stop her from screaming. To go against
videos that sexualise women, you'd have to be a feminist or some sort of anti
women sexualisation. ‘There has been a feminist presence in hip hop since
the 1980s’ many changes have occurred in the media during the late 19’s. many
people believe that ‘Many black women are the mates of men who are imprisonment
and black imprisonment in particular.’(13) Due to this, black music has a
bigger effect on the media. People now tend to misinterpret the fact that women
expose themselves in order for them to express themselves. ‘Arguing that
women shouldn’t be objectified by the media doesn’t mean that women should be
ashamed of their bodies or their sexuality. Let’s remember the difference
between sexualization and a healthy self-expression of our sexuality.’ (14)
The article 'The feminist war on sexist pop videos is
fuelled by ugly, misanthropic prejudices of its own' (15)on the telegraph says
'Declaring itself "sick of sexist and racist music videos"(16), it is
calling on the government to slap age ratings on pop videos, in order to
prevent youngsters from being able to access them online, and is calling on the
music industry to "change its norms and practices" by no longer
"portraying women as constantly sexually available" (17). This goes
to show that there are people who are worried about the portray of women in
these videos that might influence young females into doing the same. The
article continues to say 'Yet this idea that pop videos – those three-minute slices
of fun and nonsense – can determine how individuals view the whole of
womankind, black people and the world in general is mad.' (18) The author of
the article shows some strong concern about how 3 minutes videos of pop music
can harshly influence women. He also mentions that this started back in the
80's where children where exposed to videos in which women were represented as
'Amazonian' beauties whose main role was to play guitar next to suited men. He
also mentions the 'theory of 'media affect.' (19) This means
that we are what we see. If we see violence on television, we become violent.
If we see racism in news papers, we become racist and if we see music videos
that make us hate women we will hate women. I think this article is very
accurate in the time we live in as media tends to make people believe things
that they want to put in peoples head. The author goes on to talk about
how back in the 80's it was horror movies that posed a 'threat to the social
order' but now this changed as pop music pose threats as they influence people
into getting quick money (illegal methods) and sexualising women. A website
called 'anti-feminist music videos of all times' talks about the music video
that sexualises women the most. This video is called 'Tip Drill' By Nelly. In
this site, the author mentions how women are 'treated slightly better than sex
slaves.' The author goes onto talking about the narrative of this video. This
video takes place in a party where the room is crowded with women that being
objectified. The author goes on to talk about how women are degraded in todays
society. ‘ Women hip hop artist who are self-consciously sexy in their
appearances, style and words have a much more difficult road in craving out a
feminist space in hip hop’ (20) ,‘Given the powerful influence of the media on
the dissolution of many of the boundaries between our current society and the
family, that's a pretty scary thought’(21)These quotes show how many authors
believe that the effect of the media is dangerous as young people’s mind can be
easily swayed. ‘Mostly advertising has gotten much more powerful than ever
before, much more intrusive than ever before’(22)advertising is such a powerful
tool in the society we live in and therefore they are able to play with
people’s minds. ‘It’s hard to ignore the sexualization of women and girls
in the media these days; it’s everywhere, from Carl’s Jr. ads to films
supposedly meant to empower women’ (23) the sexualisation of women is
everywhere and the media and it cannot be ignored.
The mise en scene follows the conventions of rap music with
female dancers in very little clothing doing very sexual dance moves. The video
is set in a tropical rainforest where Nicki is with her heard or followers
which are her dancers. There is soft high key lightening which makes the
setting look even more glamorous than it already is. There are constant costume
changes as the video progresses. The shots being used in the video are Medium
shots, Close of Nicki Minaj rapping, longshots to show the costumes they are
wearing, High angels to show off the choreography, Nicki Minaj is always in the
center of the frame as she is the main focus of the video. The editing is
mostly cutting from scenes to scene. There is use of slow motion when Minaj is
twerking. A series of photo montages of fruit throughout the video.
The copycat theory a way that younger generation would be
influenced from idols on tv. Girls would idolise her as she presents
herself as the ‘Female Boss’ who is able to do many things that include dancing.
The way she talks and dances and has dominance over people has gotten a lot of
girls to be influenced by her and start listening to her music. There is some
sort of moral panic that has was raised from Nicki Minaj's videos. This is
because she is changing many young girls by showing them her lifestyle. She
tries to justify sex and not 'love em or cuff em.' This refers to not have any
emotional attachment after engaging sexual. This causes young girls to be
justified and to think that engaging with sexual intercourse without 'love em
or cuff em.' Many parents have raised awareness. There was also an article on
the guardian about how she is teaching young girls an alternative lifestyle.
This is a very hard genre that recognises females. This genre is usually for
male rappers but Nicki Minaj was able to show an alternative to this by being
one of the most successful female rappers. She is able to rap as well show some
sense of dominance in her videos which make her have more power over the men in
her videos. She does show some sort of gender possession in her videos as she
shows that she is dominant over the males in the videos such as 'super bass'
where she pulls one the performers ties in a manner that shows dominance and
power over him in her music video.
The users and gratification includes an audience that seeks
entertainment and escapism; this is because they want to be amused and watch
something interesting as well as watch something that includes things or a
lifestyle they desire. Many people wish to be rich and recognised like Nicki
Minaj is. It is everyone’s wish to be in fancy cars, to have men running
after them and to be making big sums of money. Not many people are in a
position in which they could live the fancy lifestyle so the audience are most
likely to feel some sense of escapism from reality by watching her videos.
Also, in today's society not many females are seen as dominant over males like
she is in her music videos. This could reassure her audience as she shows an
alternative lifestyle in her music videos. vOne could argue that in her music
videos, Nicki Minaj presents an alternative lifestyle and by ding this she
changes the cultural norms. After doing some research on different cultures, I
found out that there is no culture that accepts Nicki Minaj lifestyle.
Religions, in the other hand, don't accept this. Nicki Minaj was able to
introduce different norms for young girls as she is seen as role model from
young girls. Nicki Minaj does challenge religion, cultures and popular norms by
offering an alternative lifestyle. In most cultures, women shouldn't be too
outgoing and in most cultures women do not posses the dominance over males. By
showing dominance over males and by showing confidence in showing her body she
challenges most of religions and cultures and causes moral panic.
In comparison to Nicki Minaj, she doesn't present
herself in half way naked manner in her videos. She seems covered. Also, in
Nicki Minajs videos there is always men surrounding her and dancing along with
her. In Dianna Ross's video, she is most likely to have someone who she is
singing about in her videos rather than random men who just perform around her
for no reason. Although she doesn't do the same things that Nicki Minaj does in
her videos, and has more of classical music videos, Dianna Ross was a very
famous singer who made a lot of money in the music industry. Till this day, her
music is still known and listened to. Her music is definitely different from
Nicki Minajs music as she most likely sang about love rather than being
dominant or female’s body parts like Nicki Minaj. In the society that we
live in today, female singers or rappers who want to gain fame and wealth feel
the need to show off their bodies and their dancing skills? In a newspaper,
there was shown the ratio to how many females are in Hollywood films compared
to women, the ratio was 5:1. Also, it was shown that the percentage to how many
females get naked for the camera compared to males is much higher.
The zeitgeist of that era shows that female was not
necessarily seen as sex objects like today. Regardless to how they
presented themselves they were still able to gain wealth and fame. The culture
that still existed during Dianna Ross's time was much different than the culture
that is reflected by society today. Although females in the music industries
were less than today, and although females had much less rights than they have
today. females were not seen as toys, as something that males have there to
just use. One could argue that although females are gaining more rights, they
are losing more respect for themselves and that is shown harshly in the music
industry. Many sociologists claim that females feel the need to make
themselves for more attractive for the camera. The differences in the content
of the music videos show how as time goes by, females begin to respect
themselves less and less every day. They feel like the only way for them
to be famous and recognised is by impressing men, this is known as the male
gaze. This refers to how everything on television and music videos is most
likely to be there to impress males (MULVEY) "Such films objectify women
in relation to ‘the controlling male gaze’ (24), presenting ‘woman as image’
(or ‘spectacle’) and man as ‘bearer of the look’ (25). Men do the looking;
women are there to be looked at. The cinematic codes of popular films ‘are
obsessively subordinated to the neurotic needs of the male ego’(26)
1) WHO(SE) AM I? The Identity
and Image ofWomen in Hip-Hop https://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/03_Perry_Pg136.pdf
2) WHO(SE) AM I? The Identity
and Image ofWomen in Hip-Hop
https://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/03_Perry_Pg136.pdf
3) Emma Watson: Gender
equality is your issue too Date : 20 September 2014 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too
4) Emma Watson: Gender
equality is your issue too Date : 20 September 2014 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too
5) Emma Watson: Gender
equality is your issue too Date : 20 September 2014 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too
6) Sexualised music videos
only teach women how to sell out JUSTIN COULSON THE DAILY TELEGRAPH http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/sexualised-music-videos-only-teach-women-how-to-sell-out/story-fni0cwl5-1227070613498?nk=e93a97dd78128e942447916e8f615265
7) Sexualised music videos
only teach women how to sell out JUSTIN COULSON THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/sexualised-music-videos-only-teach-women-how-to-sell-out/story-fni0cwl5-1227070613498?nk=e93a97dd78128e942447916e8f615265
8)
WHO(SE) AM I? The Identity and Image ofWomen in Hip-Hop https://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/03_Perry_Pg136.pdf
9)
WHO(SE) AM I? The Identity and Image ofWomen in Hip-Hop https://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/03_Perry_Pg136.pdf
10) WHO(SE) AM I? The Identity and Image ofWomen
in Hip-Hop https://study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/03_Perry_Pg136.pdf
12) As Sociology by Robb Webb
13) Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics
in Hip Hop By Imani Perry
14) Future of Feminism: No More Media
Sexualization of Women http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/03/09/future-of-feminism-no-more-media-sexualization-of-women/
15) The feminist war on sexist pop videos is
fuelled by ugly, misanthropic prejudices of its own By Brendan O'Neill http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100245877/the-feminist-war-on-sexist-pop-videos-is-fuelled-by-ugly-misanthropic-prejudices-of-its-own/
16) Medias growing sexualisation of women http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/08/11/medias-growing-sexualization-of-women/28539.html
17) The feminist war on sexist pop videos is
fuelled by ugly, misanthropic prejudices of its own By Brendan O'Neill
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100245877/the-feminist-war-on-sexist-pop-videos-is-fuelled-by-ugly-misanthropic-prejudices-of-its-own/
18) The Chigaco school of media theory https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/affect/
19) D
20) D
21) Future of Feminism: No More Media
Sexualization of Women http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/03/09/future-of-feminism-no-more-media-sexualization-of-women/
22) Notes on 'The Gaze' Laura Mulvey on film
spectatorship http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
23) Notes on 'The Gaze' Laura Mulvey on film
spectatorship http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
24) Notes on 'The Gaze' Laura Mulvey on film
spectatorship http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
Books citied
Robb, Martin. Communication, Relationships and Care: A
Reader. London: Routledge :, 2004. Print.
Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop By
Imani Perry https://www.dukeupress.edu/Prophets-of-the-Hood/index-viewby=title.html
Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in
Hip Hop. Durham: Duke UP, 2004. Print
Pine, Joslyn. Book of African-American Quotations.
Newburyport: Dover Publications, 2012. Print
Books
Dines, G. (1995). Gender, race, and class in media: A
text-reader. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.
Cole, E. (2005). Featuring females: Feminist analyses of
media. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
White, A. (2002). Rebel for the hell of it: The
life of Tupac Shakur (New ed.). New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
Wollstonecraft, M., & Poston, C. (1988). A
vindication of the rights of woman: An authoritative text, backgrounds, the
Wollstonecraft debate, criticism (2nd ed.). New York: Norton.
Vernallis, C. (2004). Experiencing music video aesthetics
and cultural context. New York: Columbia University Press.
Cochrane, K. (2012). Women of the revolution: Forty
years of feminism. London, Great Britain: Guardian Books.
Webb, R. (2009). A2 sociology: The
complete course for the AQA specification. Brentwood: Napier.
Magazines used
Emma Watson: Gender equality is your issue too
Date : 20 September 2014 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too
Sexualised music videos only teach women how to sell
out JUSTIN COULSON THE DAILY TELEGRAPH http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/sexualised-music-videos-only-teach-women-how-to-sell-out/story-fni0cwl5-1227070613498?nk=e93a97dd78128e942447916e8f615265
Future of Feminism: No More Media Sexualization of
Women http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/03/09/future-of-feminism-no-more-media-sexualization-of-women/
Medias growing sexualisation of women http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/08/11/medias-growing-sexualization-of-women/28539.html
Internet
Notes on 'The Gaze' Laura Mulvey on film spectatorship http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
Medias growing sexualisation of women http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/08/11/medias-growing-sexualization-of-women/28539.html
Sexualised music videos only teach women how to sell out
JUSTIN COULSON THE DAILY TELEGRAPH http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/sexualised-music-videos-only-teach-women-how-to-sell-out/story-fni0cwl5-1227070613498?nk=e93a97dd78128e942447916e8f615265
WHO(SE) AM I? The Identity and Image ofWomen in Hip-Hop
