Music videos started becoming popular and vital towards artists music careers when MTV was launched on August 1, 1981. In music videos, a popular trend that is seen throughout many genres of music, especially rap music, is the sexual objectification and representation of women. In many music videos we see, women are dehumanised and seen as an object for a man to have power over and there just for the male gaze. There are also music videos in which females objectify themselves which gains attention from males, adding to their male fantasy and making the viewer sexualise them further. There are many videos where usually women challenge the stereotypes about females and the representation of females that have become normalised. Music videos that …show more content…
This creates the effect that males are the superior gender and males can control women. The Animals video shows the stereotype that women are a trophy which creates the message that a woman's value and worth is determined by their physical looks and sex appeal and the status that the female provides the male with. The effect this stereotype has is that women are seen as an object and not a real human being with emotions and that women are only there for a male's possession which dehumanises the women and degrades them. Both of these videos show violence towards women which affects the audience as children get exposed to this content then grow up believing violence against women is okay. In the US, 1 in 4 girls experience violence in teenage relationships and 1 in 4 women are abused by their partner in their lifetime. Jean Kilbourne from the documentary Miss-Representation says, “turning a woman into a thing is almost always the first step to accepting violence towards them” showing that the objectification of women in media has influenced men to become violent towards women as there's nothing wrong with being abusive as they are just an object. Since such large audiences see these music videos and are exposed to the disturbing content of women getting objectified, it normalises the idea …show more content…
Self-objectification appears in the music video Dirrty by Christina Aguilera. A scene from the music video shows Christina being brought down in a cage whilst surrounded by men, symbolising her as an animal in a cage and she's there for the males satisfaction. The costuming for this video is very provocative as she wears a bikini top and crotchless pants shwoing she is flaunting her body. The scene then goes on showing Christina and 5 other women inside of a boxing ring, wearing very minimal clothing and doing highly sexualized dances while she sings the lines “Dancing getting just a little naughty”. The camera focuses and lingers on Christina's exposed body and then zooms out revealing hundreds of men surrounding the boxing ring, also symbolising that the women are objects in a cage for the male's pleasure. In this music video, Christina is objectifying herself and is meant to be the dominant one in this situation, but the amount of males outnumbered the females and the females are the ones trapped in the cage getting watched by men. Also when Christina wins the fight and her prize is a man who raps about her and she is lifted by men. The attention she gains from males in this video positions her an object for the male's desire and part of the male fantasy, which reinforces that she wants and needs
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
wardrobe, band members wear is a little different from what is trending in the modern society. Ripped skinny jeans or shoes, hoodies in the dark shaded colors are common type of clothing members wear. Additionally, many seem to understand that band individuals have poor hygiene due to how many men have long hair and not a clean cut shave. As said before, many of the stereotypes are not fully wrong. According to Makewav.es, in the article Misconceptions About Rock Music, by Maddie Smith and Talia Alvarez, who both stated, “Will not try to defend the fact that some artists in the industry, like Danny Worsnop and Ronnie Radke, are recovering addicts.” The authors explain that some truth behind what is said about alcohol or drug consumers on band members is true. It has been indicated that not just the act of a small groups has produced a negative image on people who play
Most generations have been influenced by a trend of music that inspires them to dress, behave, and talk in a certain way. There are people who have the special talent of making others relate to their emotions, thoughts, or ideas by creating music. In current society most artists decide to create videos to make their lyrics visual for their listeners and to earn more profit. The negative thing about the creation of music videos is the way in which females are stereotyped. In a lot of music videos, especially hip-hop/rap, females are portrayed in a negative way, which causes a harmful influence on the people who view them.
Since the explosion of music videos in 1981, a large portion of their popularity has been due to the objectification of women and their sexuality. “Early content analyses showed that anywhere from 40% to 75% of music videos contained sexual imagery”(Arnett, 2002). Hip-hop music videos especially have a reputation of degrading women. In these videos “women are often depicted in positions of submission to men” (Sommers-Flanagan, 1993).On the flip-side Country music videos are “known for [their] socially conservative themes”(Frisby & Aubrey, 2012).
According to Dr. West, “rap music identifies young black women in five sexual personas: Diva, a woman who trades sexual favors for luxury; Gold Digger, a woman who trades sexual favors for basic necessities and leaves men bankrupt; Freak, a sexual powerhouse; Gangster B----, a "tough" girl; and Baby Mama, a child's needy mother” (Saengianpittsburgh, 2008). Since the 80s, hip hop artists has been accused to objectifying women. It captures the idea of controlling and demeaning women by “pimping them.” In “Why do music videos portray black women as exotic sex objects?”, the author draws attention highlighting what is put on bodies of African American women, which are “seen as inherently sexual and animalistic, with a heavy focus on body shape, particularly the posterior. The black woman’s ‘butt’ has been considered a distinct point of fascination for centuries” (Larasi, 2013). Although, rap and hip hop get more attention in popular media for sexualizing women, it is also being represented in other
Gender is a social construct that humans use as a method of distinction between the two biological sexes. The separation of the two sexes into separate distinct genders creates expectations for how each gender should look, behave, and preform their assigned gender. Our understanding of gender and gender binaries influences our understanding of music, how it’s preformed, and who is preforming it. This essay will examine three songs: “Be Your Bro” by Those Darlins, “Lola” by the Kinks, and “Boys Wanna Be Her” by Peaches. Frist I will analyze the lyrics and their connection to the theme of breaking or adhering to gender binaries. Next I will analyze the performance and sound of the music and discuss its contribution to how gender is represented and preformed.
Today, the media plays an essential role in the Western civilization. Considering this, entertainment, social media, and the news are all intrinsically valuable media literacy devices. In addition, the media “helps to maintain a status quo in which certain groups in our society routinely have access to power and privilege while others do not” (Mulvaney 2016). For instance, both in the music and pornographic industry the female body is perceived as a sexual object. In Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video, Sut Jhally mentions that “examining the stories that music videos tell us about both male and female sexuality, about what is considered normal, allows us to do more than just understand one aspect of our culture” (Jhally 2007).
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
Music videos began to rise in the 1980 's and ever since then have had a long lasting effect on both the music and television industries. One of music videos most groundbreaking successes was that of MTV, which had a monolithic appearance in the cable TV industry and in American culture. However, MTV as a channel is now that of a dying one. The music video industry continues to thrive due to the developments, expansions, and improvements in technology over the years. In this Post-Network Era, different methods of distribution, for example, YouTube, has allowed there to be a much growth in regards to music videos. Music videos are no longer made by just big television network corporations. They are also made by regular people that can get their
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.
You keep listening anyway, because it’s cool and everyone else seems to like it. Plus, what important harm can this do? As with popular music, the perception and the effect of music-video messages are important, because research has reported that exposure to violence, sexual messages, sexual stereotypes, and use of substance abuse (CoCo by O.T. Genansis) in music videos might produce significant changes in behaviors and attitudes of young viewers who might later be the cause of the disrespect and abuse toward women and others. On the other hand, music has also shown everyone to respect women in a way as most people will argue and it is now an instrument to spread a positive message to the people of the world. Music of all cultures are singing the praises and the sexual use of women at all ages who then take and apply that song to everyday life.
A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems
There is a direct relationship between what is portrayed in music and the effect it has on its audience. Generally speaking, in modern music, woman have been placed in a certain mold. The molds portrayed in music have caused women to have negative self-perception. Through the lyrics presented in the songs and the images portrayed in the music videos, certain hip-hop songs may cause women to view themselves in the same light portrayed in the songs. The tone, lyrics, and images presented in the songs effect the intended audiences immensely. Hip hop music that objectifies black women negatively affects their self-perception because they view themselves as commodities.
It has been played in many other countries and is listed in many major hit charts in those countries. It became one of her best-selling singles. Beyoncé has been singing about women’s independence since she was in the hit group “Destiny’s Child”. Many of her songs support women’s lifestyle and keep cheering up girls with her powerful and expressive vocals (Armstrong). In addition to her songs and lyrics, her beautiful appearance fascinates many female audiences and influences from teenagers to grown-ups as if she was a role model. A negative side of the video is that the video gives the impression that men are always to be blamed and women are always “victims” of the relationships, which is not
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...