Laura Mulvey

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects it's fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly". (1992)

What can be told?

This quote indicates that the world is male dominated and that men should enjoy women being looked at. From this, the representations of women that would be expected to be seen in music videos is that they're overly sexualised and they should look tall, think and beautiful.

This would be seen across the genre of:

Rap, Pop, RnB and Hip Pop.

Any artists that challenge this are:

-Adele

-Missy Elliot

-Sia

I believe that Mulvey's opinion is still relevant to today's society as it has become more common and expected to be seen in music videos.

What else does Mulvey discuss?

That women are 'dismembered' in all forms of media. Also that there is a focus, not on women as a whole, but a focus on their body parts. She argues that this is responsible for some women's focus and obsession with specific parts of their bodies (bum,legs etc). She also argues that men are shown as a whole.

Text

As seen above, these are 2 shots from the Dizzee Rascal music video "Holiday"

Can also be seen?

In the song "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, there is another 'dismembered' shot scene. Except in this scene, the woman leaves the shot for good without the viewers actually seeing her face.