Representation Of Women In Music Videos Essay

Music videos have become a huge part of the music industry, acting as a marketing tool that adds a visual component to recorded music. The first music video was introduced as an “illustrated song” in 1894 by Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern (Indiefilm, 2011). The duo hired an electrician and performers to bring their single "The Little Lost Child" to life. Series of still images were projected on to a screen, while the duo played their song simultaneously (Indiefilm, 2011). Since then, music videos have flourished and become a huge carrier and disseminator of culture – especially with the advent of television shows like MTV and websites like YouTube. Like all forms of media, music videos have the ability to influence society in a number of different

A loaded topic of discussion, “studies have…found music videos to influence how women feel and think about their bodies” (Mischner et al., 2013). This essay will seek to expose how women have been objectified and misrepresented in music videos and explain the influence this may have on women and their understanding of beauty, as well as how it can alter society’s perception of a woman’s role. The essay will look at different genres of music, including pop, country and rap – and examine how women are represented differently in music videos across these three genres. Because a genre of music contains so much culture, it is likely that there are variances in the way that each genre will portray women and

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