2. How are males and females typically represented or portrayed in music video?
E.g.
Men are likely to play a musical instrument
Women are more likely to dance

3.  Men engaged in significantly more aggressive and dominant
behaviour
 Men represented as independent, adventurous, unemotional
and competent
 Stereotypical Gendered occupations apparent (i.e. Males as
FireFighters/Mechanics Women as Cheerleader/Waitress)
 Women engaged in significantly more explicit, sexual and
passive behaviour
 Women represented as objects of sexual advances or as sexual
objects
 Sex role stereotyping and negative attitudes towards females
 Women more likely to be presented in provocative or revealing
clothing
 Women portrayed as decorative objects that dance, pose and
do not play instruments
 Research findings NOT restricted to the Hip Hop genre
Research Findings taken from ‘Joining the
Dots’ May 2009 OBJECT

4. • A movement in which women
questioned their position within
patriarchal society & the ‘private
sphere’ of ‘home/children/domestic
bliss’
• Serves to uncover, challenge and
eliminate oppression and dominant
gender imagery
• Women began to debates the narrow
range of stereotypes present across all
media;
• Women as virgins, mothers or
promiscuous
• Women as sex objects
• Women are inferior to men
• Women as domestic/based in the home

5.  Definition of Voyeurism: Erotic pleasures gained from
looking at a sexual object (who is unaware of being
watched)
 Presence of women solely for the purpose of display
(rather than narrative function)
 Female on display is passive and objectified for a male
gaze regardless of viewers gender
 Voyeuristic treatment of female body in ‘male’ videos –
use of dancers as adornments to the male ego
 The inclusion of women for display is a staple element in
music video’s – across all genres
 Women connote to-be-looked-at-ness and are the
object of the male gaze.

6.  Britney adheres to
traditional gender
stereotypes by taking on
the roles of:
 Secretary
 Air Hostess
 Waitress
 Each occupation
emphasises highly
sexualised costume &
behaviours

7. Buttons
(Pussycat Dolls/Snoop
Dogg)
- Having watch the Pussycat dolls ‘Buttons’ video, (taking Mulvey’s theory)
into account what do you think a feminist reading of the video would say?

8.  Sexual power derived
from physical
attractiveness to men.
 Snoop’s voyeuristic
male gaze/POV shots
invites male viewer to
join in.
 Suggestive body
language.
 The Doll’s used literally
as objects to create
patterns in an aerial
shot.

9. Post-Feminism (1980’s)
• A re-appraisal of Feminist values
• Does not strive for ‘equality’ as this
assumes men are ‘the best’ - they wish to
surpass male achievements
• Objected to theories which position
them as objects of the ‘male gaze’
• Identifies a ‘female gaze’ - women
actively desiring men
•Women began to assert their right to
dress and be sexually attractive

10. • Rihanna is not on show for the benefit of male audiences, but is
enjoying herself experiencing different identities.
• She is successful, independent and in control.
• Connotes messages of Empowerment/Confidence/
Independence to female audience.
In contrast to other representations here
Britney is in control and dominates men within
the narratives. She also takes a variety of identities
e.g. super heroine. There is also opportunity for
the female gaze.

11. Thinking back to the Buttons
video what post-feminist readings
could be made about the
representation of gender?

12.  Offer messages of sexual
empowerment - assertive,
provocative and in control of
‘the gaze’
 Confident, sassy, sexy icons
challenging traditional
assumptions about passive
female sexuality “I’m a sexy
mama/ Who
 Uses a provocative male
address challenging Snoop to
“loosen up my buttons babe”
- however, the dolls prove ‘too
hot to handle’ for Snoop