Gender Representation
In Music Videos today, males and females are represented in very different ways, even among all genres there are still similarities in how they are portrayed. Below I have discussed some of the key points of how men and women are represented and the difference between them, along with some example videos in which the representation is particularly obvious.
Males:
- High Status, men are often represented to be very important, shown in the clothes they wear and how they act throughout the video.
- 'Players', this shows men to be very popular with women, having lots of submissive girls surrounding them.
- Dominant
- Rich, lots of money, emphasizing their high status.
- Gang- orientated, often with other men around them who are backing them up, acting as a gang.
- Violence
- 'Macho', this shows a males strong image, being able to do things that women can't, coming 'to the rescue'.
- Some are the opposite, 'Poets', playing guitar.
-Follow the same trends, none that particularly stand out as being unique or individual.
Females:
- Shown to be sad and heartbroken, they are very emotional and vulnerable.
- They have a lot of performance in their videos, with lots of dancing.
- They often wearing revealing or provocative clothing, as they are usually objects of sex appeal, some example of this could be things like Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, a very controversial video revealing women to be sex objects.
- Women tend to be much more experimental/individual, and very creative, such as Lady Gaga or Katy Perry.
- Their videos are usually more focused on relationships than male artist's videos.
- Shown to be sad and heartbroken, they are very emotional and vulnerable.
- They have a lot of performance in their videos, with lots of dancing.
- They often wearing revealing or provocative clothing, as they are usually objects of sex appeal, some example of this could be things like Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, a very controversial video revealing women to be sex objects.
- Women tend to be much more experimental/individual, and very creative, such as Lady Gaga or Katy Perry.
- Their videos are usually more focused on relationships than male artist's videos.
Example Videos:
Scouting for Girls- 'She's so Lovely'
This video shows different types of males being represented. It shows the 'typical' male, which is a man surrounded by submissive women, being powerful and dominant, this was the 'boyfriend' in the video. There was also the representation of the main male in the video, the one who is singing the majority of the song, and he is shown more as the 'poetic' male, who doesn't have loads of girlfriends, and doesn't look at women in the same way as the males represented as 'players'. There are lots of parts of the video in which we see 'the male gaze', which shows how men look at women, and how he is admiring her throughout the video.
Natasha Beddingfield- 'I Wanna Have your Babies'
This music video is about a woman idealising a man, (wanting to 'have his babies'). Although there are still lots of shots of Natasha Bedingfield wearing not very much clothing, and lots of shots of her that would be considered sexual. There are also scenes in which you see other women in bikinis when at the same time there is a man fully clothed. This shows how the music video often contradicts the lyrics of the song in how genders are represented.
This music video is about a woman idealising a man, (wanting to 'have his babies'). Although there are still lots of shots of Natasha Bedingfield wearing not very much clothing, and lots of shots of her that would be considered sexual. There are also scenes in which you see other women in bikinis when at the same time there is a man fully clothed. This shows how the music video often contradicts the lyrics of the song in how genders are represented.
Beyonce- 'Run the World'
This video is also very focused on women having power, which goes against the stereotype, although in a different way to lots of other videos that go against stereotypes. It is very exaggerated in the way it shows women's power, through their body movement and dancing, they are very physically intimidating.
Christina Aguilera- 'Candyman'
Robin Thicke- 'Blurred Lines'
This video is also very focused on women having power, which goes against the stereotype, although in a different way to lots of other videos that go against stereotypes. It is very exaggerated in the way it shows women's power, through their body movement and dancing, they are very physically intimidating.
Christina Aguilera- 'Candyman'
This video is set in a past time, so it is supposed to be different, although it shows women to be very objectified by the men. Women are represented in this in a very different way than we are used to seeing nowadays, although it shows us what was fairly normal during that time. In this, Christina Aguilera is being very experimental and individual, which is something much more typical of women currently, as men tend to all have very similar looks, and very similar, more simple videos.
This video is very controversial and is a very good example of showing women as objects and showing men being surrounded by submissive women, although much more emphasized than in many other music videos with similar representation. Women in this video wear little to no clothing, whereas men are wearing suits, and are fully clothed, showing them as 'dominant' and 'rich' males.
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