Representation of Music Artists

Women:
 

Women are being exploited every day within the media. Media within our society constantly degrades women and sends out negative messages about the way in which women should be treated. Music videos are one of the types of media where women are demoralised and are seen as sexual objects.

 

The objectification of women is that they are disposable and interchangeable. Women’s own sexuality only exists in relation to men. Women are passive and there to be watched by men. The male gaze is a concept, which deals with how an audience views the people presented. In this case it is how men look at women. Male gaze and feminist theorist, Laura Mulvey developed the term ‘Male Gaze’ in 1975. She believed that in media, audiences have to ‘view’ characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.
 

It is the stereotype that women are ‘cheap’ and ‘easy’. In music videos, the majority of women are only used for their bodies and are therefore powerless in comparison with men. Women get rewarded for sexual behaviour, either through money or through fame. Sometimes in music videos, the woman’s face is not shown. Instead, her body becomes a showpiece and is put on display. It depicts her as not having an identity or a sense of individualism and therefore reinforcing her role as a sex symbol.

This is portrayed similarly in many rap music videos, where there is a frequent use of misogynistic images and shots, showing a view of women and therefore the sexism that they experience in the music industry, as they are objectified within these music videos.
 

Young People:
 

Young music artists are highly influenced by today's stereotypes of both men and women within the music industry. They tend to follow popular celebrities and music artists, in order to gain popularity. This has led to young artists, such as Miley Cyrus disgracing herself on TV. Young music artists are part of a highly impressionable group, in which they are all united through behaving and acting the same and also wearing the same, on trend clothing. This is very influential to youngsters across the world, who want to look and behave in the same way as their idols. Fitting in with the crowd, leads to a rebellious attitude, evident in many young music artists. Similarly to the representation of women in music videos, young music artists will degrade and objectify themselves, in order to get noticed. This creates a sense of youngsters innocence being snatched away from them as they become part of a youth sub culture, all following the crowd.
 

Richard Dyer’s ‘Star Theory’ represents shared cultural values and attitudes, and will promote a certain ideology. Fans of young music artists who agree with that set of values will support the star. Youngsters will imitate these famous young music artists in an aspirational effort to get ‘closer’ to the glamorous, fantasy lifestyle they appear to have. This may take the form of ‘dressing up’, imitating performances, adopting behaviour etc.