Reprosentation in music videos

How are women represented in music videos with male artists?

There are many different things that are represented in music videos but one that is the most interesting in my opinion is how women are represented in music videos when the artist is male. This can be applied to almost all genres of music and the general stereotype is that men are dominant and women are seen to be either the subject of the song and this can make them seem that they are the men's property or the video has lots of women in it throwing themselves at the artist who's song it is. 

An example of when women are the subject of the song is Paolo Nutini’s Jenny don’t be hasty and the title give a clue to the song it is Paolo singing about a girl called Jenny who wants to leave him and he is singing as a message to her which is obviously don’t be hasty in making a decision. The use editing here is effective as it cuts from the performance to the narrative and this connotes his efforts to get her to stay and what Jenny is doing to get back at him.

An example of when the video shows women throwing the-selves at the male artist is in Snoop Dogg's Sweat; Snoop Dogg plays the pimp and walks around like he owns the place and that includes the women. He is the main protagonist and the camera is almost always on him which makes him seem dominant. The women are all interested in snoop and as soon as they sit down they are all over him and this gives a negative light to them. The use of meise-én-scene and lighting are important here as it is a club with low lighting and this gives the impression of the underworld, however, this is typical of Snoop Dogg videos.

Another example of how women are represented in music videos is Taio Cruz’s Dynamite the reason that women are in this video is as it would appeal to a more male audience. It is used as an aid to sell the song and the use of women is to widen the audience. The use of women in an atypical role works as it is not something that the audience is expecting to see (women working on cars and with power tools). They mise-én-scene consists of a junk yard in what looks like a desert or in a dry American state such a Texas. In terms of cinematography the framing consists of Taio Cruz in the middle and the two women both sides of him this connotes that he is in charge and is dominant.

In all of the examples above the sound is not as important as it is when analysing TV or cinema but it is dominant. Music videos tend to only usually the have soundtrack and this is the centre piece of any music video, however some artists have some diagetic sound before the performance or narrative starts and the video is matched to it. There really aren’t any theories of representations but some academics speculate with TV and cinema that if there are women working in high positions behind the camera such as producers or directors there tends to be a better representation of women on screen.