Monday, 24 September 2012

Research: Laura Mulvey's Theory


“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/female and passive/female. The determining faze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly”

Music videos are shot for the men’s gaze. Men dominate and women are seen as sexual objects often dressed in little clothing, happy to be seen as the object of men’s desire. They are willing to be treated as such.

This is evident in a large number of music videos both past and present. For example

Benny Benassi - Satisfaction




Eric Prydz - Call On Me


These two videos are perfect examples on Laura Mulvey's theory. The obvious and gratuitous objectification on women causes them to become more like porn than music videos. This is typical of the dance genre.


Another example is Rihanna's S&M


As the artist in this video is female, the dynamics change slightly compared to the first two videos. Although heavily sexualised throughout the video, Rihanna maintains a sort of dominance as opposed to a vulnerability which is shown through her use of direct address as she looks directly at the camera. 



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