(Research) Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey idea of representation in the music industry is as follows. In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male glaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled “accordingly”. My interpretation of what mulvey is trying to say is that Males are shown to be dominant and women are always shown in a sexualised manor. Women are mostly seen as passive in music videos and styled in a way that would appeal to the stereotypical fantasy of a man. This in some ways links back to Victorian times where the role of a woman was almost non-existent, they were there to be seen and not heard.

As you would expect there are the obvious few genres of music in which this applies to, pop, R&B, hip-hop. Nevertheless the industry is changing more and more every year so I wouldn’t really be that surprised to see this ideology applying to other genres outside the obvious few. However there is one or two female artist that goes against this theory, Adel, Ellie Goulding, Florence Welch and many others.

 Mulvey also discusses the idea that women are “Dismembered” in all aspects of media (Print, visual, ect); that there is focus not on women as a whole but on specific parts of their bodies (legs, chest, ect). She also argues that men are always shown “whole”.  With pop music arguably becoming more ‘fake’/ manufactured, every aspect from the styling of the artist to the narrative of a music video is carefully planned; and then the audience will make there own interpretations on how a specific gender is represented or how that gender is “meant” to be represented. By doing this, the audience becomes accustom to seeing familiar representations within music videos.

An example of a music video that corresponds with Mulvey’s theory is Christina Aguilera – Candyman. However there are not many shots where they entirely focus on one body part; but one thing I can say was that this music video was created almost entirely with the “Male gaze” in mind. I only say this because in the beginning the artist is shown to be brunet, blond AND a red head; this is the directors way of basically saying “Take your pick guys; there’s something in there for everyone”.

Another example that relates to Mulvey’s theory is Eric Prydz - Call On Me. Throughout this video women are shown in a sexualised manor, with multiple close-ups of various female physical assets. with the ever changing music industry, videos that show women in a sexualised way are becoming more and more common; which is why females in today's society might feel pressured to look like; lets say their favourite female artist .