Ideology and representation;
Ideology –“ Doctrine, philosophy, body of beliefs or principles belonging to an individual or group; The study of the origin and nature of ideas”
Representation – “a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something”
When dealing with the issue of representation, music videos offer excellent material to analyse, becoming ever more daring as the years pass, music videos have transformed from a fun, happy go-lucky 2-5 minutes to scandalous late-night after watershed hours screenplay, with controversy ranging from things such as nationality, culture, religion, race, and the two favourite, gender and sexuality – what messages do they convey? What norms and values? And how do they relate to aspects of our life.
Music videos are an essential element of any popular music release, and many producers have been known to push the boundaries of ‘genius’ to create appeal for mass audiences, But as the main character in music video will be a girl in her late teens, My research into ideology and representation will consist of information on the way which girls/women are viewed in music videos and the roles which they play, whether it be erotic, stereotypical or new-age.
Voyeurism
Referring to the notion that erotic pleasure can be gained whilst looking at a sexual object, usually when the ‘object’ is unaware it is being watched, hence the phrase (Peeping Tom)
This psychoanalytical theory comes from Sigmund Freud. It has been said that because many filmmakers, directors and producers are predominantly male, The presence of women is used only for ‘display’ rather than them having an actual purpose within the narrative, the purpose of this ‘display’ facilitates a voyeuristic response, which transcends into the ‘male gaze’ (apparently regardless of the gender of the spectator) The person may feel a somewhat controlling gaze at the female which is on display who is powerfully objectified and inert.
Although it is argued that the female is objectified through a combination of camerawork and clever editing, body shots are said to be fragmented, emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star. Within the male performance videos, the female body is used as an adornment to the male star’s ego (Very apparent in many ‘rap’ videos).
Although this idea becomes much more complex when the roles are reversed and we see the male body on display – The post – feminist ‘female gaze’ women are no longer objects of ‘the look’, but hold some power by viewing the men as sexual objects too. (Quite controversial, one of the first female stars to do this was Madonna)
Exhibitionism http://www.madonna.com/
The more powerful independent female artists of recent years, such as Madonna, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, have ‘added’ to the complexity of looking at gender/cultural debates, by moulding sexual provocative’s, inviting a sexualised gaze and being in control – This could be termed as the opposite of ‘voyeurism’.
Ideology –“ Doctrine, philosophy, body of beliefs or principles belonging to an individual or group; The study of the origin and nature of ideas”
Representation – “a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something”
When dealing with the issue of representation, music videos offer excellent material to analyse, becoming ever more daring as the years pass, music videos have transformed from a fun, happy go-lucky 2-5 minutes to scandalous late-night after watershed hours screenplay, with controversy ranging from things such as nationality, culture, religion, race, and the two favourite, gender and sexuality – what messages do they convey? What norms and values? And how do they relate to aspects of our life.
Music videos are an essential element of any popular music release, and many producers have been known to push the boundaries of ‘genius’ to create appeal for mass audiences, But as the main character in music video will be a girl in her late teens, My research into ideology and representation will consist of information on the way which girls/women are viewed in music videos and the roles which they play, whether it be erotic, stereotypical or new-age.
Voyeurism
Referring to the notion that erotic pleasure can be gained whilst looking at a sexual object, usually when the ‘object’ is unaware it is being watched, hence the phrase (Peeping Tom)
This psychoanalytical theory comes from Sigmund Freud. It has been said that because many filmmakers, directors and producers are predominantly male, The presence of women is used only for ‘display’ rather than them having an actual purpose within the narrative, the purpose of this ‘display’ facilitates a voyeuristic response, which transcends into the ‘male gaze’ (apparently regardless of the gender of the spectator) The person may feel a somewhat controlling gaze at the female which is on display who is powerfully objectified and inert.Although it is argued that the female is objectified through a combination of camerawork and clever editing, body shots are said to be fragmented, emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star. Within the male performance videos, the female body is used as an adornment to the male star’s ego (Very apparent in many ‘rap’ videos).
Although this idea becomes much more complex when the roles are reversed and we see the male body on display – The post – feminist ‘female gaze’ women are no longer objects of ‘the look’, but hold some power by viewing the men as sexual objects too. (Quite controversial, one of the first female stars to do this was Madonna)
Exhibitionism http://www.madonna.com/
The more powerful independent female artists of recent years, such as Madonna, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, have ‘added’ to the complexity of looking at gender/cultural debates, by moulding sexual provocative’s, inviting a sexualised gaze and being in control – This could be termed as the opposite of ‘voyeurism’.
An on
-going debate – Is female flesh being on display a cynical ‘exploitation’ of the female body, so heavily increase male- profit margins, or is it in actual fact an assertation of female self-confidence which shows sexual independence? This all poses interesting questions on the diversity of audience experiences of music videos and the very contidictory values and messages that they may evoke.The consequences of objectification are not easy to measure. There is no way to link dangerous behaviours such as eating disorders or crimes such as rape directly to media objectification-- and it would be irresponsible and inaccurate to do so. However, we live in a world filled with the objectification of women, and this objectification contributes to social problems; Sexual violence, eating disorders, backlash, pressure on young girls to be more sexualised?The reality is that music videos and lyrics are a small slice of an entertainment industry that use the notion of sex sells to create a buzz about their products and services. Advertisements utilise women's bodies to sell products with a high proportion of them depicting women in scantily clad clothing.
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