Representation of Women in Music Videos

Representation of Women in Music Videos  - Rhys Wallett

Women can be represented in the media in numerous ways, both good and bad, and many up for debate. A prime example would be the music video for Little Mix's Power, where there is paramount evidence for both arguments. When arguing that women are represented as confident and proud, the evidence that could support this is that firstly, the mise en scene of the image shows that one of the very first shots is of the side of a van, where the words "Girl Power" are written in a decorative font. This automatically gives a feminist message to the video, as it is supporting the progressive ideology that women can be just as powerful and strong as men. Secondly, the actual lyrics themselves can be used as evidence due to the start of the chorus going "Baby, you're the man, but I've got the power.". This compound sentence clearly suggests how the singer believes that she is in charge which subverts the stereotype that women are submissive and frail, thus creating a feminist ideology, which personally I agree with.

However, there is also evidence critic's can use t suggest the video actually enforces sexist beliefs and hinders a feminism theme. An example would be how each of the 4 band members is showing considerable skin, especially Leigh-Anne which the mise en scene in the wide shot shows her walking down a street showing her undergarments and using hot pink heeled trousers to cover the remaining leg. Therefore you could argue that they are enforcing Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, and how this fairly sexual view of all 4 women represents women as objects of sexual desire, not humans in their own right, which creates a regressive ideology that women are solely for male pleasure. Yet a critic could disprove this as the fact that they are showing considerable skin but still being confident in the video and using direct mode of address which shows they are confident in their body and are trying to show that we should be proud of ourselves. As I said previously, it is very controversial.

Yet even women who are shown in videos either sung by male persons or are intended for men have conflicting views regarding their representation. If we were to use Kendrick Lamar's HUMBLE as an example, you could argue that women are shown as sexual and submissive beings, especially in the second scene which the mise en scene shows women of colour wearing lingerie and organizing lots of money into piles while fanning themselves with said money. It is obvious that this degrades women as sexual beings and again reinforces Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory, as they are working for Kendrick but are being disvalued.

However, there is still potential feministic views portrayed in the same video, which is shown in a scene where Kendrick says "I'm so f*cking sick and tired of the Photoshop." where the mise en scene shows a model walking between a lens of sorts which shows her original look versus her photoshopped look and how she is leaving the photoshopped desirable look. This can be argued that women are represented as strong and confident in the video as it encourages body love and creates a progressive ideology that women are beautiful in their skin, reinforcing feminism.