Music videos play an extremely important role in our society, as a medium for creativity, serving as a way for artists to express themselves. Often times, similarly to film and television, music videos play upon the idea of the male gaze. Through character point-of-view, camerawork, editing, lyrics and spectatorship, we as a society are expected to not only see the visual media through the eyes of the male protagonist, but understand his goals and sympathize with his desires. We want him to succeed as he has character and depth, where the woman represented are shallow and unimportant. This has been used heavily across all forms of media to amplify the man and his image, while simplifying the women he is objectifying. Using the song and music …show more content…
As the video progresses we are introduced to dozens of other people in various shots, angles and settings. As the male protagonists of the video, Chance the Rapper, Quavo, Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber sing the lyrics to the song, there are, at all times, various women in short skirts, bikinis or tight clothing, dancing behind them. Laura Mulvey discusses the idea of scopophilia in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Media, where women in entertainment and media are simply seen as objects for sexual gratification and pleasure. Instead of being taken seriously or utilizing their skills, talents or ideas, the women are only seen as a way to satisfy the desires of the male protagonist. In the music video for “I’m The One”, scopophilia plays a major role in the style. None of the women in the video speak or sing and are in no way involved in the creation behind the video that is ultimately fueling the visuals and lyrics. The women in the video wear far less clothing than their male counterparts, and the clothing they are able to wear is extremely revealing and provocative. The male singers on the other hand, wear long, loose, baggy ensembles that express …show more content…
Both the title and chorus throughout the song follow the pattern of the male protagonist being “the one”. It seems to imply that the woman he is referencing needs to understand that he is the best option she has so she does not have much of a choice, “don’t let the only real one intimidate you, I’m the one”. At another point in the song, male protagonist, Quavo, raps “you can run inside my life on that fame bus, ‘cause I promise when we step out you’ll be famous” meaning that he is being heroic by associating her with himself and she will be famous she everyone is able to see her appearance. He is only with her so that he can show her off through objectification. Towards the end of the song, singer Justin Bieber, repeats, “don’t you know girl, I am the one for you”. These lyrics also anchor the male gaze as they refer to the adult woman he is referencing as “girl”, which weakens her making her seem naive or
In his most recent album, Kanye West raps, “Now if I fuck this model/ And she just bleached her asshole/ And I get bleach on my T-shirt/ I 'mma feel like an asshole.” He suggests that it is the girl’s fault for getting bleach on his tee shirt, which she only did to make herself more sexually appealing. This misogyny in hip-hop culture is recognized to bring about problems. For instance, the women around these rappers believe they can only do well in life if they submit themselves to the men and allow themselves to be cared for in exchange for physical pleasure. In her essay, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hoes”, Joan Morgan argues that the same rap music that dehumanizes women can be a powerful platform for gender equality if implemented correctly.
Overt sexual and gender stereotyped messages have become commonplace in the American music video scene. Nicki Minaj 's video for her hit single “Anaconda” is no exception, with its graphic images of scantily clad women with vibrating and shaking bodies dancing around in an exotic jungle setting with plenty of phallic imagery. Not all of the messages conveyed by this video are immediately apparent; upon scratching the surface, viewers will see gender messages that are far more covert. And while there may be a temptation to assume the worst about the video 's representation of power, gender, sexuality, and stereotype, the video is also strangely empowering. On the surface, Minaj portrays the female gender as highly sexualized and disempowered and yet some of the deeper messages in this video also reflect a sense of female empowerment, confidence, and an embracing of sexuality and sexual assertiveness.
Objectification of women and misogyny is a common trend in song lyrics, but it is often socially accepted and further perpetuated. Finding a song in which the roles are reversed and a woman depicts a man as a sex object is incredibly difficult because when women try to break norms in the music industry, they are often criticized. In “Blah Blah Blah” by Kesha, she reverses the typical gender roles in song lyrics by objectifying men. Kesha has her own struggles within the male-dominated music industry because her producer sexually abused her and trapped her into a record deal. However, Kesha lost her court case, which illuminates gender issues within the music industry and the larger society. In 2010 when Kesha’s songs were popular, people weren’t aware of her battle with her producer. Instead, her lyrics classified her as more of a party figure and people even saw her as “trashy.” This song
Not only do celebrities misrepresent women, but music adds to this problem. Specifically rap music, the vulgar lyrics and over sexualized music videos give people the wrong idea of American women. Rappers like ASAP Rocky, Lil’ Wayne, and Jay-Z use their lyrics to describe women in derogatory words that would devalue a woman’s self. Music videos also show women wearing extremely revealing clothing and dancing in provocative ways. Most of these rappers are male, and t...
In the lyrics of male R&B/Hip-Hop artists in the early 1980’s, there is a noticeable shift in the language used to portray women and then themselves. The language shift is in choosing words that are filled with love and emotion to overbearing words that aim to separate men and women by social status. During the 1980’s, many of the popular songs by male hip-hop artist tend to focus on the relationship aspect of male and female interactions. This observation is similar to Frith’s (1986) finding, where most successful pop songs centers around being “happy in love”, “frustrated in love” as well as having sex interests. The “happy in love” factor that Frith notices in pop songs is seen in early R&B/Hip-Hop music. Instead of using derogatory terms
Traditionally, an image of Honky tonk girls permeate the collective unconscious of the American country music (Wilson, 2000). Honkey tonk are referred to bars that play country music and women in country music are represented as corrupted temptresses who sit in honky tonks with painted lips and tinted hair to seduce men or as innocent virgins who are loving and patient (Wilson, 2000). However, contemporary female country musicians reject this traditional view on women because such simplistic dichotomy fails to recognise diverse identities that are adopted by women in a contemporary world (Wilson, 2000). In other words, country music provides a space for female musicians to challenge normative gender roles that dominant culture embraces and
Putman, D. (1990). THE AESTHETIC RELATION OF MUSICAL PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE. British Journal of Aesthetics. 30 (4), 1-2.
Throughout Ludacris’s lyrics, Ludacris describes himself in a way that portrays him having more power than the woman. Many of his lyrics signify that women are only useful for sexual pleasures and entertainment, whereas males like to have control and a powerful figure; he reiterates this by saying how he is going to “own her” and “make her obey him” throughout the entire song. The woman is clearly being portrayed as a submissive to Ludacris, as the woman has no say in what she is doing while Ludacris is throwing these demands at her such as, “Better call yo ' boss, tell him that yo ' daddy 's home Take a couple days off and take it off” (Ludacris, Sex Room). The last aspect of Ludacris’s song that supports the existence of patriarchy is how Ludacris refers to his woman in a multitude of derogatory terms such as “girl”, “bitch” and “hoe” while he refers to himself as “yo daddy”. In today’s society it is becoming more rare to find songs that reflect women in a positive, respectful, and equal light, which would likely influence society’s view of gender
In this music video the use of his soft tone voice, and the choice of clothing. are used to the subtly fool women into believing they “love” the them. Where as their only true intention is to have sexual intercourse with them. In reality it 's just another woman used for satisfaction, in plain English a player. It 's awkward to think that a genre with singers who have some of the most soft tone voices can be so derogatory. It 's a contradiction for sure, but I think this contradiction isn 't even a contradiction to begin with, they uses feminine strategies to attract woman, which only further proves their masculinity. Why? The soft voice easily attracts the women into falling for them, and once they have them in the palm of their hands that 's when the player mentality comes out. An article done by Kristie A. Ford speaks on how “fake masculinity can be used to achieve real masculine behavior” (Ford 13). In other words the fake masculinity which is the soft voice and the choice of clothing, are used to achieve real masculine desires which is sex. So even though Devor says that men are viewed as masculine by looking aggressive, intimidating who carry a heavy voice, R&B singers use tactics which contradict that masculinity Devor speaks of in order to achieve something regarded as much more masculine, Sexual intercourse with multiple women. Adding to this One article
The singer talks about a man who wants to be involved with her romantically. However, she is only interested in friendship and wants to do more conventionally masculine activities with the man who is romantically pursuing her. She talks about wanting to play in the dirt, getting into fights, and drinking till the early morning which actions that are typically associated with men. The lyrics of this song layout strict gender binaries as to what “bros” do. The key part of the song that addresses the contradiction of biological determinism and preforming gender arrives when the lead singer states, “I may have girly parts, but I have a boys heart”. The singer is addressing the fact that other she was born female her actions and behaviors are not determined by the gender she was assigned to because of her biological sex. This theme corresponds to the music video by which the female artists have visibly apparent underarm hair, displaying their defiance to what is expected of females by not preforming their gender and engaging in altering their secondary sex characteristics through hair
Pop. Traditional. Classical. These are all genres of music. These all serve a purpose. These are all important. Pop music has been used to help inform and motivate the general public during movements like environmental protection and gay rights. Traditional music has helped to guide us by telling us stories of the past from the church to the fields. Classical music has been played for royalty and help dancers spin a story. Some can be considered art while others can’t, but it often differs because the definition of art is in constant motion. The definition of art is a subject philosopher’s debate because it can be defined strictly or loosely. For the purpose of this essay, let art be defined as anything that can be touched or heard, and it causes a mental and physical reaction. Classical music is truly an art form because it invokes a mental and physical reaction from both the audience and the performers, and it has contrast to make it more dynamic.
There are many times when feminism is incorporated into song lyrics to give a sense of women’s empowerment in an audience. Alicia Keys is an American Hip hop and R&B songwriter and singer who wrote the song “Girl on Fire” that was released in her fifth studio album in 2012 (Girl on Fire (song), 2014), and was inspired by her son, Egypt. This song is about a lonely girl who is starting to be comfortable in her own skin. It says how everyone is staring at her as she goes by because everyone can see the flame burning and glistening in her eyes. In my paper, I will talk about how the lyrics in this song are very bold that can be applicable to all girls. I will analyze “Girl on Fire” using a method that was developed by Kenneth Burke called cluster analysis (Foss, 2009). Through this method, I can identify key terms in this song and put them into clusters to discover the meaning behind the key words explained: girl, hottest, and on fire.
In society today, media such as movies and music share huge roles in the dynamics of culture especially concerning communication. In Dream Worlds 3: Desire, Sex, and Power in Music Video we see how famous singers and producers in the making of their music videos have the power of illustrating our language and beliefs. From the music we listen to and things we watch, we are constantly gaining new knowledge by the message that is being presented to us. The main focus of this specific documentary was how women in the music or media industry all together are treated. From this documentary and lectures in class we see that media objectifies, stereotypes, and degrades women and their bodies as advertisements and money makers. Themes in the film discussed
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
When I think about living in the hypothetical world such as If I were a bird, rich, or president, I usually imagine about it with my wish, hope, and favorable expectation. In her music video, “If I Were A Boy”, Beyoncé acts like a man and behaves in the way she thinks what is like being a man. It reveals gender stereotype that we may have subconsciously, while also implying her hope for women to be strong and positive beyond the gender stereotype.