Sexualised music videos

In media we looked at a video called 'Stacy's Mum' - Fountains of Wayne and linked it to traditional and post feminist views.

This is what we found out:

Traditional feminist:
In the video women are being exploited by the lack of clothing they are wearing i.e. short gym skirt, brief bikini (swim wear), sexy underwear, short dress while cleaning, pole dancing wearing leather boots and stockings scantily clad. Throughout the video of Stacy and especially Stacy's mum are seen as sexual objects.

Male desires also come into play with this video as one of the locations is very significant. This is after 'Stacey's Mum' is cleaning in her kitchen and then it turns into a night club. The night club location can also imitate a strip club by the flashing lights and loud music. Also through the whole video it is seen through the eyes of a male's perspective. This relates to the 'Mulvey's Gaze'. Voyeurism can also be seen in this video as it shows the boy looking at her - daydreaming about her.

We then wrote how a post-feminist and a radical feminist would react to this video.

Post-feminist:
In the video women are using their sexuality to overpower men / boys. This would be seen when Stacy's mum was pole dancing when she knew the boy was staring at her putting him in a daydreaming trance. This can also be seen when the boy was mowing the lawn and Stacy's mum was getting a massage naked and the masseur was making eye movements to the boy suggesting 'nice' which could make the boy feel like he is missing out on something good, whist staring at Stacy's mums bottom when he lifted the towel. All of this shows the boy is seen as weak as his crush on Stacy's mum is all seen as fantasy.

Also in this video women are seen as showing they have confidence in their bodies. This would be seen when Stacy's mum is receiving a massage from the masseur and she is comfortable lying their naked. Her big house, nice car, swimming pool and her business suit (looks as if she has come back from a business trip) shows she is a dominant female and looks as if she is a very successful woman, because of this power her masseur looks as though he is her servant.

During the last scene of the music video we see the boy in the bathroom looking at Stacy's mum coming out of the pool, the boy closes his eyes and his fantasy starts as he is thinking of Stacy's mum walking through the rain undoing her bra, he uses these images to 'pleasure himself'. He is then caught by Stacy walking in on him making him look stupid and depowered.

We also looked at another example which was called Shakira - She Wolf. We did the same as Stacy's mum and analysised it by looking at post and traditional feminist views.

 

Traditional Feminist
This video shows that women are exploited as she is wearing skin coloured and skin tight body playsuit which is extremely revealing to her body. Also thoughout the whole video she is in a cage where two messages can be perceived. One of the messages that can be seen is that she is an animal on show like in a circus, even though you do not see an audience, you can imagine that there is an audience looking at her. Another message that can be seen is that she can be portrayed as being a sex slave to male desire locked in a cage. This can percieved as women being degraded and not having the same rights as men.

Also in the video, Shakira uses provocative movements and behaviour in order to stimulate sexual behaviour. This would be strongly suggestive of male desire.

Post-Feminist
In the video she comes across very confident and looks as if she is enjoying herself. She is also comfortable about being the centre of attention and confident about her body as she does not mind other people watching her dance provoctively. This can also been seen as her using her sexuality to have power over men making them want to watch her.

Change in Gender Roles

During one of my media lessons we had to answer a question which was 'How have perceptions of sex and gender changed over the past century?'. To answer this question we went through historical context for feminism and other changes. I made a timeline of what we learnt:



Also in the lesson we watched a clip from Dynasty centered on a woman who comes across as very dominant and very empowered over men.

 

 

 We then answered questions on this, these were:

 

Why would men feel threatened by this woman?

• Traditionally a man not a woman would be giving orders.
• Her words get straight to the point.
• She speaks with a lot of confidence.
• Straight faced - no funny business.
• She is smart and wearing professional clothing - this makes her look as if she has authority and power so therefore people will listen to her.
• She is elegant with a beautiful face.

Why would radical feminists dislike her behaviour?

• They do not believe in equality.
• Men should be like men and women like women.
• The men should be giving out the orders and women complying.

What does this tell us about men's status in Britain after Thatcherism?

• Women had more equal rights.
• Mens status was lowered.
• Factories were closed, which meant that men were out of jobs.
• Women began to work more which made them see more in control. 





'Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys'

In media we watched a documentary called 'Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys' and it is about a woman called Nel Hedayat who investigates the questinable world of music videos and meets the girls who dream of being in them. We then made a table of what we found out. Here is what I found out and I put it into a Prezi presentation to make it more interesting.

'Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys' on Prezi

Radical Feminism vs Post-Feminism

What is Radical Feminism and Post-Feminism ??

Radical Feminism is a current way of looking within feminism that keeps their attention on the theory of patriachy as a system of power. This means that it organises society into complicated relationships based on true-false statements that male supremacy has the exercise of authority, cruelity or unjst manner to women. They aim to challenge and overthrow patriachy by going against standard gender roles and oppression of women.

Post-Feminism is a term which is not very well explained. However, they belive that the sexism struggle has been partially resolved by men and women having more equality.

Similiarities

• They both believe that women (throughout history) have been dominated by men - thus meaning they has always been a sign of inequality.
• The Male Gaze is when the audience, or viewer, is put into the postion of a heterosexual male. In other words the audience gets a romantic or sexual attraction or behaviour between persons of opposite gender, in this case we are men looking at women in this way.

Differences
Radical Feminism

• Militant approach - This is when activists change must be forced.
• They wish to challenge and overthrow patriachy.
• Patriarchal culture exploited womens sexuality. This is when women are 'victimised' by male desires - objectified and dehumanised. Men are encouraged to see women this way.

Post-Feminism

• Not as militant - celebrate victoriesas they think we live in a more equal society.
• In a more equal society women are in control of their own sexuality (not 'victims').
• Men do not have the same desires, which were forced on women.This means mens desires have weaken men, meaning that women can exploit this.

How will this affect my descions when planning my own music video?
When doing my own music video I shall have to make sure that we look into feminism more as this shall affect the outcome of the music video.