Thursday, 4 October 2012

Laura Mulvey's ideas on representation

Laura Mulvey believes that music videos tend to portray women from the view point of the 'male gaze'. This is the way in which a hetro-sexual male would/would like to view females. This emphasises the power inbalance between men and women. The male gaze in some ways objectifies women and this is portrayed very often within music videos through a combination of camera angles, editing, mise en scene and even sound (modern lyrics could be argued to be sexist in some cases).

Women's bodies tend to be shown at flattering and sexual angles to the point that it's as if the woman is being advertised. This is done fundamentally to show men what this woman has to offer. As a result of this, the audience have the opportunity to look at this woman in a sexual way and feel like it's what they're supposed to be doing.

An example of a music video that reflects the male gaze is Dizzee Rascal - Holiday

No comments:

Post a Comment