Laura Mulvey is a British Feminist Film Theorist.
She primarily focuses her attention on the inequality on the sexual representation of women in media. She noted that the sexual inequality among men and women is characterised by superior men and inferior women. In this, women gets the expectations of men and try to meet their fantasy.
The image of an artist(s) in amusic video will have been carefully planned. This includes the syle of hair, choice of clothes to the position and act that the character plays.
As audience, we deconstuct this interpretation based on our own cultural references and understanding. As a result, we become accustomed to seeing familiar representation within the videos for particular artists/groups.
The main idea is that "looking" is generally seen as an active male role while the passive role of being looked at is immediately adopted as a female characteristic. It is under the construction of patriarchy that Mulvey argues that women in film are tied to desire and that female characters hold an "appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact". The female actor is never meant to represent a character that directly effects the outcome of a plot or keep the story line going, but is inserted into the film as a way of supporting the male role and "bearing the burden of sexual objectification" that he cannot.
This representation is particular Hip hop and Metal.
However, some artists try to challenge this representation. For example, Alicia keys, as she tries to present herself like a dominant person in her music videos. In her superwoman song, she tries to convey herself as the traditional role of a woman who srives hard to look after her children and not as the negative stereotype given to women.
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