Research into gender representation in music videos

Male representation in music videos

Ø  They are presented to have a higher status than women (dominant, surrounded by submissive girls)

Ø  The use of prop (mise-en-scene and setting) in a lot of the videos shows them to have a lot of money (being wealthy individuals) with frequent reference to drug use (dealing). This is most common in pop and R&B music videos

Ø  Males within music videos tend to stick to genre trends; none of them standing out as ‘trend setters’ or making their ‘mark’ on their music video (themselves); in the way female artists do (for example, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry)

A good example of this is Lil Wayne ft. Static- Lollipop 

Ø  Although a lot of male artists stick to the more ‘macho’ and ‘gangster’ stereotype (representation); some male artists are the opposite

For example Ed Sheeran and Milky Chance. These are good examples of artists that instead of ‘showing off’ their aspirational lifestyle; instead are more performance based (both these artists featuring with their guitars rather than any other props-e.g. submissive girls and money/drugs) 

 

àAlthough Ed Sheeran used to create videos that are a contrast to stereotypical male videos; he has begun to release videos that in fact now follow the stereotypical representation of male artists in music videos. This suggests that as time goes on more and more male artists will become more stereotypical to the representation of male artists (not standing out-with their own personality/brand to differentiate themselves)

For example, Ed Sheeran-Sing (in contrast to his early video-Lego House)

Female representation in music videos

Ø  Female artists are presented as emotional and vulnerable throughout many female music videos (in contrast to the majority of male artists)

Ø  The use of performance is very common; dancing being used in order normally sexualise the female artistàbeing used for sex appeal/to sell the song; sexuality being one of the main focuses of most female artist’s music videos

A good example of female artists sexualising themselves is Rihanna-S&M 

A good example of the same artist (Rihanna) showing herself to be very emotional; yet sexualising herself at the same time (conforming to both stereotypical representations at once) is Rihanna- What Now

When looking at female artists presenting themselves as sexual beings (being sexualised) artists such as Miley Cyrus use this in order to change their image/brand (the way the social media/their fans view them).

You can see Miley Cyrus’s dramatic image change when contrasting one of her past and present music videos (showing the different way she presents herself sexually)

  

 Ø  Female artists are also represented as much more individual and experimental (with their image/music videos) in contrast to male artists. Many female artists differentiate themselves through style (both clothing and style of their music video) allowing themselves to stand out in both the music industry as well as in social media. The two Miley Cyrus videos above showing how she created a large 'hype' about herself and her change from being 'Hannah Montanna' to the new sexualised Miley

A good example of this is Lady Gaga- You and I 

Ø  When adapting the theory of ‘Gaze’ to music videos; you can see women being admired through being sexualised and how they are presented within certain music videos (having a notion of looking from both male artists/actors within music videos and how the audience are shown female artists/actresses through the use of camera work)

   A good example of this is Scouting For Girls- She’s so Lovely 

Ø  Although the majority of female artists conform to these stereotypical representations; some do not or even try to ‘rebel’ against them (enhancing their image/brand-individuality). Some artists even playing on the stereotypical female representation in the music industry (social media)

An example of this is Lilly Allen-Hard Out here