Gender Representations (Feminism, Post Feminism and the Male Gaze)

Gender stereotypes is a controversial, sensitive topic when it comes to the music industry. Stereotypes are usually used to help the audience identify themselves with characters. Men and women are the main stereotypes portrayed in music videos.
Men, in music videos, are shown to have the following qualities:

• dominant
• independent
• womanizers
• rough and tough
• carefree

Women, in music videos, are shown to have the following qualities:

• sex objects
• sexual
• aroused
• dependent on men
• provocative

The representation of women in this way is known as Feminism. It was a movement that started in 1960s where women were completely against these stereotypes and generalisations. Voyeurism is another term that is heard when hearing about Feminism. It supports the fact that women are ill-represented and that erotic pleasure is gained by looking at 'sexual objects'.

A theorist, by the name of Laura Mulvey, believes that women in all industries have the sole purpose of showing their bodies off as sexual objects and that they have a to-be-looked-at-ness quality to them. This is known as the 'male gaze', a theory thought up by Mulvey. She thinks that it is this provocative behaviour that is the centre of the 'gaze'. This is evident in quite a few music videos as we see that in some videos, a male music artist is surrounded by female dancers, wearing revealing clothes.

However Post Feminism (1980s) says otherwise. Post Feminism says that there is no 'male gaze' but in fact a 'female gaze' - females desire the men and that they can be 'as attractive' as they want to be, but maintaining control.