Case Study: Representation of women in pop videos

Women today in the music industry are objectified, esepecially in hip hop and rap genres, they come across extremly provocative in their tiny outfits and exotic dancing - the exact portrayal of women being seen as sex objects. Sometimes in music videos, the woman’s face is not shown. Instead, her body becomes a showpiece and is put on display to be viewed by members of the public, including young maels and females. It depicts females as not having an identity or a sense of individualism.

Very recently in the BBC News, there is a very striking news article about Charlotte Church's opinion on the way in which women are represented in the music industry. Charlotte has experienced a negative influence on image herself when she was at the young age of between 19 and 20. She was encouraged to wear very revealing clothes everytime she performed, shot a music video and took part in a photoshoot. Church stated that she felt extremly uncomfortabl however was forced to dress and act this way as the recor dlabel executives kept reminding her was "just whose money was being spent."  The music business is "a male dominated industry with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality" and increasingly wants "sex objects that appear child-like", Church claimed.
Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24528022

Miley Cyrus (birth name Destiny Hope Cyrus) born in Tennessee is a singer/actress seen as a teen idol after being cast in the Disney Channel television series 'Hannah Montanna'. In 2007, Miley released 'Hannah Montanna 2' along with a soundtrack. It was a debut album and it sold three million copies in the United States, and produced Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single. From all of this success as a disney star, Miley evolved a huge and obsessive fanbase of young girls from ages as young as 6 to 16. 'Hannah Montanna' is still an obsession today for young girls. Below is a link to a video of a recent Miley Cyrus performance with Robin Thicke. In the video, Miley is seen repetitively thrusting her pelvic region, sticking her tongue out and 'grinding' sexually against Robin Thicke. Miley is an idol to many young girls, and her drastic change from a sweet American singer/actor to a rebellious, half-naked rapper/singer that sings about sex and drugs is being viewed by young girls that still look up to her.

http://www.celebuzz.com/2013-08-25/watch-miley-cyrus-and-robin-thickes-awkwardly-inappropriate-vmas-performance/ -miley cyrus performace

Rihanna in her latest music video 'Pour It Up' spends most of the video dressed in nothing but a jewel-encrusted bikini and platformed stiletto heels. She sings about strip clubs, alcohol and money and is seen sliding provocatively and pulling various 'racy' positions upon a gold thrown. She repeatdelty referes to 'strip clubs and dollar bills' with woman dancing on poles. With such a young female fanbase, many parents are concerned with what their daughters are watching and being influenced by. Rihanna has sold out completely to the commercialisation and objectification of women’s bodies and their sexuality. Rihanna appears to be showing off her body in extremly raunchy and axposing outfits. At 1:25 and ocassionally at other points, shots of Rihanna are shown with notes of money hanging out of her kickers; exposing her bottom. The image of the money surorunding her crotch and bottom area greatly amplifies the theme of women becoming sex objects that can be sold.... later on in the music video, Rihanna is seen in an outift that strongly serves a prostitute i.e. her wearing a fishnet outfit with just her underwear underneath. Not only does the outfit that she wears illustrate this particualr character but the way in which she erotically dances on the floor, throwing money over herself,  suggesting it's the money in which she has sold herself for. And now she’s promoting it to girls as well as boys. The illegal motion of prositution and strippers is always throwned upon in the media and is always exposed as a negative exertion. However,  Rihanna, an idol to many young females, exposes this particular behaviour so that this postitution/stripper enterprise is seen as acceptable and the new 'classy'. Whether this new image is forced upon my executives and producers of the record label, it nonetheless objectifies women and therefore demeans women by casting them in this way. (Below is the music video in which Rihanna expresses the 'whore' like image)
 


In other music videos, the way in which men view women in strongly showed and not in a positive way. Rapper 2 Chainz wrote the song titled “Birthday Song” featuring Kanye West. This song was place number 7 on Billboard’s top 100 rap songs and has its music video has over 30 million views. “All I want for my birthday is a big booty (girl)” are lyrics from the song and are clearly degrading towards women, judging them simply by their looks and body features. Not only do these lyrics give unrealistic examples to young men who listen to this kind of music, but it also gives young women a chance to feel insecure about their bodies and strive to be the impossible dream woman.

Music videos like these show hip-hop/rap men that are looked up to by young males all around the globe. The rappers views towards women in chart music today are seen as stereotypes, created by the media producers. The rappers' have a stereotypical view of what their ideal woman should look like. Women are passive and acted upon, like objects to be gazed at by males. Although this behaviour in songs attracts a widers audience, especially of young males, it gives girls a sense of insecurity as they feel they will not be attract male attention as they don't look this paricular way. Music involvinig woman objectification also influences young girls to act a certain way, believing that this is the new norm.